Trends in political science

Ithiel de Sola Pool, ed.: Contemporary Political Science: Toward Empirical Theory, McGraw‐Hill, New York, 1967, pp. 276, $7.90.     

Geography and political science

Political geography can make distinctive and important contributions to both geography and political science, but this will require attention to the boundaries of these disciplines, emphasis on the comparative advantage of geographers with respect to the study of the shapes of physical space, and systematic consideration of boundaries as problematically institutionalized norms. Mapping, per se, cannot be the core of any discipline.     

Islamology,political science and history

ARABIC THOUGHT IN THE LIBERAL AGE 1798–1939. Albert Hourani. O.U.P., 1962.

THE INTELLECTUAL ORIGINS OF EGYPTIAN NATIONALISM, J. M. Ahmed. O.U.P., 1960.

AHMADIYYAH (A Study in Contemporary Islam on the West African Coast). Humphrey J. Fisher. O.U.P., 1963.     

The impact of feminist scholarship on Australian political science

The discipline of political science has remained male dominated in most parts of the world. Women have organised within political science associations both to raise the status of women in the profession and to try to transform the discipline. This article is a personal account of the 25‐year history of the Women's Caucus of the Australasian Political Studies Association and its successes and failures. While the status of women in the profession has improved and the journal has become more gender inclusive, the impact of feminist scholarship on political science curriculum remains patchy. Space has been made for gender scholarship and a chapter added to textbooks and disciplinary histories, but the approach is additive rather than transformative. One contributing factor may be increased fragmentation of the discipline.     

No proxy for quality: why journal rankings in political science are problematic for political theory research

ABSTRACT

Journal rankings for political science have been regularly published, from the 1970s onwards, by the American Political Science Association’s ‘state of the discipline’ journal. Politics journals have also been officially ranked by the Australian Political Studies Association into four bands (A*, A, B and C) from 2007 onwards. This article shows, first, that the assumption grounding these exercises (namely, that disciplinary journal rankings can serve as proxies for the quality of articles in their pages) is undermined by the findings of the broader research evaluation literature, especially with respect to sub-disciplines (like political theory, Australian politics, and some types of qualitative comparative politics) that bear certain characteristics. Next, outlining the findings of a 2018 survey, it is argued that the disciplinary use of journal rankings in political studies not only has damaging effects on research in political theory, but also advantages other sub-disciplines. The paper closes with two recommendations.     

Assessing the value of political science in the era of relevance and impact

The political science profession, like other social sciences, is under pressure from many quarters to demonstrate its ‘relevance’. This need arises primarily from requirements for universities to justify public investment in their teaching and research. Competition across the full range of science and humanities disciplines for public and private funding makes this an important challenge for all. This article reflects on how political scientists have seen the public value of their professional work. It concludes by suggesting some alternative ways of thinking about relevance, value and impact.