A Discipline Divided: Schools and Sects in Political Science Book

A Discipline Divided is a collection of coherent and timely articles that discuss the emergence and divergence of the two dominant camps of political science: ideology and methodology. In the first part Almond examines the `hard' versus `soft' science argument, the history of model fitting in communism studies, the strengths and weaknesses of the rational choice movement and the historical forces and processes that have shaped political culture. The second part addresses the problem of transmission of methods and findings within the discipline. Almond asserts that a wide gulf exists between the pre-and-post 1965 scholars. He discusses the current emphasis on pluralism among political theorists in communist countries while a corresponding devaluation of this concept is occuring among scholars in western democratic countries; he concludes with an evaluation of the neo-statist movement and the evolution of political development. In the appendices Almond hopes to demythologize the culture of the Chicago school while paying tribute to its creativity.Read More