Just How Relevant Is Political Science?

Political scientists are "vigorously debat[ing] the field’s direction, what sort of questions it pursues, even how useful the research is."

...

Jeffrey C. Isaac: " 'We’re kidding ourselves if we think this research typically has the obvious public benefit we claim for it,' he said. 'We political scientists can and should do a better job of making the public relevance of our work clearer and of doing more relevant work.' "

...

"In [Joseph Nye's] view statistical techniques too often determine what kind of research political scientists do, pushing them further into narrow specializations cut off from real-world concerns. The motivation to be precise, Mr. Nye warned, has overtaken the impulse to be relevant."


And more!