The question “What is political science?” is nearly as old as the
discipline itself. Political science continually self-examines the
discipline to evaluate who we are and how we have changed. In
addition, there are numerous studies of groups within political
science, including political science in the U.S. South and women in
political science. There are also reviews of the development and
state of subfields, e.g., urban politics , international relations,
comparative politics, and political theory. Each of these histories
provides an image of what political science is or what it should be.
These self-reviews provide images of the discipline that shape our
identities as political scientists and advance the progress of
political science. Even if the images do not affect future
directions in political science, they are “an important dimension of
identity and critical reflection on the theory and practice of
political science”. Developing and critiquing these images are
important academic exercises.J. Tobin
Grant is assistant professor, department of political science,
Southern Illinois University, Carbondale. He is coauthor (with
Thomas Rudolph) of Expression vs. Equality: The Politics
of Campaign Finance Reform (Ohio State University
Press, 2004).I thank
Badredine Arfi, Gregory Kasza, Scott McClurg, Thomas Rudolph,
Edward Schatz, and Herbert Weisberg for their comments and
suggestions on this article.