Liberal Democracy And Political Science (The Johns Hopkins Series In Constitutional Thought),New

Do Political Scientists In A Liberal Democracy Bear A Special Responsibility That Goes Beyond Their Academic Persuits? In Liberal Democracy And Political Science James W. Ceaser, A Wellknown Scholar Or American Political Parties And The Presidency, Argues That They Do, And He Challenges Collegues And Students To Reexamine What They Do As Political Scientists.Ceaser Begins With The Observation That Liberal Democracy Is A Compound Of Two Elements Not Easily Wedconstitutionalism And Republicanism. As Such, It Has A Problem Maintaining Itself. The Role Of Political Science, He Argues, Is To Perform The 'Superintending Function' Of Keeping These Parts Together. Ceaser Shows How Traditional Political Sciencean Amalgam Of Historical Sociology, A General Political Science Of Regimes, And A Specific Political Science Of Different Countriesonce Provided A Foundation For Performing This Function. He Then Describes The Failing Of Contemporary Political Science, Both Predictive And What Ceaser Call The 'New Normativism,' In This Regard. What Is Needed, Ceaser Argues, Is A Reconstruction Of Political Science That Borrows Freely From Both Past And Presentday Practice.Ceaser Concludes With A Case Study That Puts His Theory To Workand Analysis Of The Susceptibility Of Our Political Culture To The Influence Of Intellectuals And To Contemporary Critics Of The Constitution.