Making Political Science Matter brings together a number of prominent scholars to discuss the state of the field of Political Science. In particular, these scholars are interested in ways to reinvigorate the discipline by connecting it to present day political struggles. Uniformly well-written and steeped in a strong sense of history, the contributors consider such important topics as: the usefulness of rational choice theory; the ethical limits of pluralism; the use (and misuse) of empirical research in political science; the present-day divorce between political theory and empirical science; the connection between political science scholarship and political struggles, and the future of the discipline. This volume builds on the debate in the discipline over the significance of the work of Bent Flyvbjerg, whose book Making Social Science Matter has been characterized as a manifesto for the Perestroika Movement that has roiled the field in recent years.Contributors include: Brian Caterino, Stewart Clegg, Bent Flyvbjerg, Mary Hawkesworth, Patrick Thaddeus Jackson, Gregory J. Kasza, David Kettler, David D. Laitin, Timothy W. Luke, Theodore R. Schatzki, Sanford F. Schram, Peregrine Schwartz-Shea, Corey S. Shdaimah, Roland W. Stahl, and Leslie Paul Thiele.
ContentsAcknowledgments Introduction: Reframing the Debate Brian Caterino and Sanford F. SchramPart I: The Flyvbjerg Debate1. Return to Politics: Perestroika, Phronesis, and Post-Paradigmatic Political ScienceSanford F. Schram2. The Perestroikan Challenge to Social Science David D. Laitin3. A Perestroikan Straw Man Answers Back: David Laitin and Phronetic Political ScienceBent Flyvbjerg4. A Statistician Strikes Out: In Defense of Genuine Methodological DiversityPatrick Thaddeus Jackson5. Re?ections on Doing Phronetic Social Science: A Case StudyCorey S. Shdaimah and Roland W. StahlPart II: Phronesis Reconsidered6. Social Science in Society Theodore Schatzki7. Power and Interpretation Brian Caterino8. Contesting the Terrain: Flyvbjerg on Facts, Value, Knowledge, and PowerMary Hawkesworth9. The Bounds of Rationality Stewart Clegg10. Making Intuition Matter Leslie Paul ThielePart III: Making Political Science Matter11. Conundrums in the Practice of Pluralism Peregrine Schwartz-Shea12. Unearthing the Roots of Hard Science: A Program for Graduate StudentsGreg J. Kasza13. Political Science and Political Theory: The Heart of the MatterDavid Kettler14. Finding New Mainstreams: Perestroika, Phronesis, and Political Science in the United StatesTimothy W. LukeReferences About the Contributors Index
