Political science, judging by the reading material that reaches my desk, has become much more of a science than it was more than 50 years ago when I served on the faculties of the University of Minnesota and Bennington College. It is important that this development not distort the reality that politics and government remain fundamentally human institutions. My own movement from the academy to practical politics, to private life, and to government service has reinforced my view that the unpredictable human ingredient is an essential part of the political process—an obvious observation but one difficult to quantify.Max M. Kampelman was counselor of the State Department, U.S. ambassador to the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe, and ambassador and U.S. negotiator with the Soviet Union on Nuclear and Space Arms. He is now chairman emeritus of Freedom House; the American Academy of Diplomacy; and the Georgetown University Institute for the Study of Diplomacy.