Political Science in History : Research Programs and Political Traditions

In the social disciplines there is a growing interest in disciplinary history as a means of accounting for the present status and possible futures of various modes of social and political inquiry. In this collection of essays, scholars take up the challenge of disciplinary history by exploring the themes and movements that have shaped political science today.

The guiding theme of this volume is that contemporary political science owes much of its present character to its past. In twelve essays, the contributors - all practising political scientists - explore the emergence and transformation of political traditions and research programmes that have helped make political science what it is today. Included are histories of political themes and ideals (democracy, race, political education), conceptual and philosophical frameworks (the state and pluralism, behaviouralism, policy analysis, public opinion, biology and politics), and theoretical projects and programmes (realism in international relations, spatial theory of elections, rational choice and historical approaches to institutional analysis). Each essay provides special insight and a distinct approach to particular episodes, moments, trends, and aspects of the history of academic political science; the volume as a whole provides a general overview of the history of the discipline and the variety of ways disciplinary history can illuminate the present.