
A Critique of Political Science
A History of the Caucus for a New Political Science
Clyde W. Barrow(Author)
The University of Michigan Press
Published on 6. April 2026
Book
Hardback
452 pages
978-0-472-07805-9 (ISBN)
Description
The Caucus for a New Political Science (CNPS) was created in 1967, when several hundred dissident political scientists walked out of the annual meeting of the American Political Science Association (APSA) to protest the Association's refusal to take an official position against the Vietnam War. The CNPS soon expanded its mission to challenge the APSA's behavioral and pluralist orthodoxy, protest a lack of democratic procedure and transparency in the organization, and oppose ties between the leadership and government agencies involved in covert activities. It remains unique among the more than 50 Organized Sections of APSA as the only section that defines itself ideologically and politically, rather than by research topic, methodology, subfield, or identity status.
A Critique of Political Science distinguishes between the discipline of political science (methods and concepts) and the profession of political science (persons and institutions) to move disciplinary history beyond its current form as intellectual history toward a politics of political science. The book argues that understanding the development of a discipline requires the same type of theoretical analysis that political scientists apply to other political institutions. By examining universities and professional associations as political institutions, this approach puts political struggles and ideological conflict at the very core of disciplinary history. In reviewing 50 years of debate, controversy, and in-fighting in the political science profession, the book serves as a critique of the profession and the discipline of political science, which remains woefully disengaged from the concerns of ordinary citizens, particularly the working class and the poor throughout the world.
A Critique of Political Science distinguishes between the discipline of political science (methods and concepts) and the profession of political science (persons and institutions) to move disciplinary history beyond its current form as intellectual history toward a politics of political science. The book argues that understanding the development of a discipline requires the same type of theoretical analysis that political scientists apply to other political institutions. By examining universities and professional associations as political institutions, this approach puts political struggles and ideological conflict at the very core of disciplinary history. In reviewing 50 years of debate, controversy, and in-fighting in the political science profession, the book serves as a critique of the profession and the discipline of political science, which remains woefully disengaged from the concerns of ordinary citizens, particularly the working class and the poor throughout the world.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Ann Arbor
United States
Illustrations
3 Illustrations and 10 tables
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
ISBN-13
978-0-472-07805-9 (9780472078059)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Clyde W. Barrow is Professor of Political Science at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley.
Content
List of Tables and Figures
Acknowledgments
Abbreviations
Preface
1 Disciplinary History and the Caucus for a New Political Science
2 Political Science: Discipline, Profession, and Ideology in the 1960s
3 Intellectual Origins of New Political Science, 1953-1967
4 Political Origins New Political Science, 1967-1969
5 The West Coast and the Radicals, 1970-1974
6 The Caucus Left Turn, 1974-1979
7 From Organizational Revolt to Organized Section, 1979-1991
8 The Period of Quiet Institutionalization, 1992-2021
9 The Future of Critical Political Science
Appendix A Election Platform 1969
Appendix B Members of the Ad Hoc Committee, 1974
Appendix C Program of the Conference on Socialist Perspectives on Social Change in the
United States, 1975
Notes
Bibliography
Index
Acknowledgments
Abbreviations
Preface
1 Disciplinary History and the Caucus for a New Political Science
2 Political Science: Discipline, Profession, and Ideology in the 1960s
3 Intellectual Origins of New Political Science, 1953-1967
4 Political Origins New Political Science, 1967-1969
5 The West Coast and the Radicals, 1970-1974
6 The Caucus Left Turn, 1974-1979
7 From Organizational Revolt to Organized Section, 1979-1991
8 The Period of Quiet Institutionalization, 1992-2021
9 The Future of Critical Political Science
Appendix A Election Platform 1969
Appendix B Members of the Ad Hoc Committee, 1974
Appendix C Program of the Conference on Socialist Perspectives on Social Change in the
United States, 1975
Notes
Bibliography
Index