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Scholars in comparative politics and international relations routinely evaluate causal hypotheses by referring tocounterfactual caseswhere a hypothesized causal factor is supposed to have been absent. The methodological status and the viability of this very common procedure are unclear and are worth examining. How does the strategy of counterfactual argument relate, if at all, to methods of hypothesis testing based on the comparison of actual cases, such as regression analysis or Mill's Method of Difference? Are counterfactual thought experiments a viable means of assessing hypotheses about national and international outcomes, or are they methodologically invalid in principle? The paper addresses the first question in some detail and begins discussion of the second. Examples from work on the causes of World War I, the nonoccurrence of World War III, social revolutions, the breakdown of democratic regimes in Latin America, and the origins of fascism and corporatism in Europe illustrate the use, problems and potential of counterfactual argument in small-N-oriented political science research.

Discusses subject matter and research methods of political science and describes ways in which political science research has aided policy makers nationally and internationally, brought benefits to humanity, and provided knowledge critical to other fields of study; 7 articles. Contents: Evaluating political science research: information for buyers and sellers, by Arthur Lupia; Strategies for preventive diplomacy and conflict resolution: scholarship for policy making, by Alexander L. George; Government formation and public policy, by Michael Laver; Political science and fundamental research, by Michael C. Munger; The danger of self-evident truths, by Elinor Ostrom; Contributions of survey research to political science, by Henry E. Brady; The contributions of international politics research to policy, by Randolph M. Siverson.

Observations by a journalist about differences between political scientists and journalists who cover government and politics; US.

An analysis of the development of political science in GB, with particular focus on post-WWII US influences. The formation of the Political Studies Assoc in 1950 occurred late with respect to other academic organizations, & its timing was not propitious due to increased governmental attention to other social sciences & a new technocratic outlook that excluded political scientists. The strong influences of logical positivism, linguistic analysis, & the philosophies of Karl Popper on political science methodology & philosophy are chronicled. It is argued that British skepticism toward the concurrent work of US colleagues had the effect of damaging the international standing of political science as an academic discipline & profession. Even the expansion of the field that followed the Robbins Report & the creation of polytechnics could not completely overcome the low level of professional esteem that continues to plague the field. Its current interactions with the media, public services, & political activity remain flawed by this sense of inferiority within the discipline, heightened by academic demoralization in the face of educational cutbacks. Hope for the future is seen though, particularly with the reemergence of political theorizing & political scientists' willingness to address the general public on contemporary issues. K. Hyatt

"The most respected researchers in the social sciences in France were each invited to write an essay presenting a book of interest, significance, and influence in the social sciences for a general readership, addressing its contributions and impact as well as its shortcomings, the lingering questions it leaves, and the work remaining to be done, to offer a new, nuanced portrait of the field's foundations"--

International audience Mauna Kea, the tallest volcano on Hawai'i Island, has become a mountain familiar to many in the Pacific and around the world, as a result of the massive mobilizations in which those who identified as kia'i (protectors) of the mountain opposed the construction of a giant Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) at the summit. This article retraces the history of the Mauna Kea access road, based on a study of the English-language newspaper recordas well as ethnographic and archival material. From the road's inception in the 1930s onward, economic interests, political conflicts, and relations of domination appear intertwined with the very materiality of the road: its route, surface, safety, maintenance, as well as features such as cattle grids, crosswalks, and guardrails. Three political strategies centrally involved the notion of a Mauna Kea access road. Starting in the 1930s, businessmen and government officials pushed for a road, and later for its improvement, in order to make the mountain more accessible, in particular for skiing. As of the 1960s, this push was paralleled and contradicted by another strategy which consisted in keeping the mountain not too accessible, in part because ofwhat some perceived as a competition between recreational and scientific uses – skiing vs. science. A third political strategy involved the road as a site from which to question the notion of public ownership and to affirm sovereignty. The history of the Mauna Kea access road appears as a synecdoche of the political conflict over land and sovereignty that defines Hawaiian history since the nineteenth century.