What Is Political Science?

During the past three years or so, as an undergraduate government major, my study of political science has been carried out in a very liberal arts fashion, with concentrations of political philosophy, American politics, and comparative politics. However, within this field, my concentration has been in political philosophy. A question that has emerged within our particular department—one taken up in 1990 by the American Political Science Association— is “Does political science have a core?” And if so, “What is it?”

The responses fall into two main camps. Some, like Gabriel Almond, argue that there is a core to political science and clearly it’s political philosophy. Others, like Kenneth Shepsle, say there is no core to political science; rather, it operates within a few key disciplines. What I find is that these responses represent two radical approaches that should be avoided. One argues for a core to political science and then proceeds to monopolize what that core is—Almond. The other spreads the discipline so thin that it specializes and silos the fields of study and ultimately creates islands of thought that do not have to communicate ideas—Shepsle.

Out of the extensive views brought forth by the 1990 panel, Joseph Cropsey reminded all of us that, sure, political science is composed of a plethora of fields and disciplines and it may, perhaps, have a core. But we are mistaken as political scientists if we no longer recognize that a key question has not gone away and

I dare say they will not go away…. I think it’s a question which if political scientists don’t address, they are indicating that our discipline has undergone a certain impoverishment … if political scientists or social scientists don’t ask themselves how human beings fit into the larger context of existence, if they don’t ask themselves how do we somehow or other fit into the large world in which humanity is planted, I think there is something missing.

Cropsey doesn’t argue for a particular discipline to drive or attempt to answer this question, but it must remain posed. If students and professors of political science forget the role human nature plays in the formation of politics and political institutions, our field of study will no longer be able to promote order, liberty, and equality. As James Madison reminds us in Federalist No. 51, “If men were angels, no government would be necessary.” Thus it is necessary that the nature of men be considered when crafting political institutions.