The Scientification of the Study of Politics: Some Observations on the Behavioral Evolution in Political Science

Bond, Jon R.

doi:10.1111/j.1468-2508.2007.00597.x

Cited by 20 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 41 publications

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“…Validation and design have become separate domains in PPA research. In line with the broader trend towards 'scientification' in the social sciences (Bond, 2007), the bulk of PPA research focusses on validation by studying current/past behaviours and cognitions in order to identify generalisable patterns and build theories of policy and administration (e.g. Kenis and Provan, 2009;Levi-Faur, 2012;Sarto et al, 2016).…”

Section: Towards An Inclusive Methodology For Design and Validation Imentioning

confidence: 99%

Applying design science in public policy and administration research

Romme¹,

Meijer

2020

Policy &Amp; Politics

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There is increasing debate about the role that public policy research can play in identifying solutions to complex policy challenges. Most studies focus on describing and explaining how governance systems operate. However, some scholars argue that because current institutions are often not up to the task, researchers need to rethink this ‘bystander’ approach and engage in experimentation and interventions that can help to change and improve governance systems. This paper contributes to this discourse by developing a design science framework that integrates retrospective research (scientific validation) and prospective research (creative design). It illustrates the merits and challenges of doing this through two case studies in the Netherlands and concludes that a design science framework provides a way of integrating traditional validation-oriented research with intervention-oriented design approaches. We argue that working at the interface between them will create new opportunities for these complementary modes of public policy research to achieve impact.

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Section: Towards An Inclusive Methodology For Design and Validation Imentioning

confidence: 99%

Applying design science in public policy and administration research

Romme¹,

Meijer

2020

Policy &Amp; Politics

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“…Up to the late eighteenth century, “science” generally was defined as a “body of organized knowledge”; since then, “science” increasingly is defined as a “certain type and quality of knowledge and procedure” (Waldo 1984, 182 n. 50) Thus, “science” drifted more and more toward narrowly defined positivist and empirical knowledge that is based on facts that are established independently from the observer’s or researcher’s personal biases (Bond 2007, 897). This drive for better “science” was in large part a function of the increased desire of governments for facts and was matched by the scholarly desire to emulate the Newtonian model of the natural sciences.…”

Section: Concluding Observations: Trends and Futurementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Scholarship prioritized the discovery of better methods (tools and techniques of research) and better methodology (guidelines for the use of methods) over epistemology. This approach to knowledge was supported by David Hume’s conviction that fact and value should be distinguished if not separated (see Bond 2007, 899), with major consequences for public policy and for scholarship.…”

Section: Concluding Observations: Trends and Futurementioning

confidence: 99%

Trends in the Study of Public Administration: Empirical and Qualitative Observations from Public Administration Review, 2000–2009

Raadschelders

Lee

2011

Public Administration Review

116

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What are the apparent research and methodological trends in PAR’s content over the past decade? From the perspective of the journal’s 70‐year history, with its aim to “mesh” practitioner and academic knowledge creation, topical coverage since 2000 reflects striking continuity, emphasizing many of the “bread and butter” administrative issues such as planning, human resources, budgeting, and public management. A marked increase in coverage is apparent in the application of more sophisticated quantitative statistical methodology, as well as in the number of female authors, while the number of practitioner authors declined sharply. Throughout the first turbulent decade of the twenty‐first century, three intellectual themes stood out: evaluations of New Public Management, connections between practitioners and academicians, and responsiveness to immediate social, economic, and political challenges. Given the constant demand for usable knowledge, scholars seem to have marginalized attention to the historical context and epistemological foundations of the study. The central challenge in the years ahead will be to effectively use research methods in response to the big questions of government and society that defy measurement. Since many [empiricists], especially the younger, do not know very much about epistemology, they tend to be quite dogmatic about the one set of canons that dominate them. —C. Wright Mills, 1959

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“…Bevir (2006) highlights how battles between historicists and those advocating an increasing move to find a 'science' of politics were played out in the US, ultimately with the latter coming to dominate. This route to 'scientism', for Crick (1959), became entrenched as a result of the behavioural 'turn', particularly as espoused by the Chicago school (however, see Bond, 2007). The behavioural 'revolution' provided a new set of methods and an emphasis on behaviour and processes, rather than institutions.…”

Section: Origins and Histories Of Ir And Politicsmentioning

confidence: 96%

Looking Back to Move Forward: Historicising the Construction of Disciplinary Narratives in European Political Science and International Relations

Savigny

2010

Eur Polit Sci

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Politics and International Relations (IR) tend to be discussed as separate disciplines. Rather than emphasising their shared divisions and methodological differences, dominant narratives separate the two, but these narratives also serve to reinforce and legitimate (to slightly differing degrees) the dominance of American positivism. As such, it is argued that if we are to understand the contemporary state of both disciplines, it is useful to reflect on their historical development. The aim of this article is (briefly) to map critically the development of Politics and IR as disciplines that, while having differing historical beginnings, have developed as parallel rather than integrated disciplines facing similar internal epistemological, methodological and cultural divisions. It is noted, however, that their parallel development is uneven, with challenges to the mainstream coming far earlier in IR than Politics, and as such opening the way for much greater acceptance of the notion of methodological pluralism in contemporary IR (outside the US) than in the study of Politics. Further, it is argued that the writing of histories of the disciplines thus far have served to legitimate and reinforce dominant Western conceptions of IR and Politics both descriptively and normatively.

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The Scientification of the Study of Politics: Some Observations on the Behavioral Evolution in Political Science

Cited by 20 publications

References 41 publications

Applying design science in public policy and administration research

Applying design science in public policy and administration research

Trends in the Study of Public Administration: Empirical and Qualitative Observations from Public Administration Review, 2000–2009

Looking Back to Move Forward: Historicising the Construction of Disciplinary Narratives in European Political Science and International Relations

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