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The Founding of the American Political Science Association: Discipline, Profession, Political Theory, and Politics

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 November 2006

JOHN G. GUNNELL
Affiliation:
State University of New York, Albany

Abstract

In the evolution of the social sciences, disciplines (forms of research, training, and instruction) preceded professions (distinct occupational identities). Although professionalism has often been viewed as a conservative force, what was arguably the most prominent transformation in the history of political science was the result of a professional challenge to the discipline. The founding of the American Political Science Association represented not only an ideological break with some of the principal voices in the discipline but a reformulation of the reigning vision of the relationship between political science and politics. Despite the markedly different circumstances, the dissenting claims emanating from the subfield of political theory during the behavioral era reflected, in many respects, a similar form of confrontation.

Type
“THE EVOLUTION OF POLITICAL SCIENCE” ESSAYS
Copyright
© 2006 by the American Political Science Association

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