Suchergebnisse

To what extent is Swedish political science influenced by its international surroundings? It is a commonly held view that the US has hegemony within the political science discipline. Using three different indicators -- percentage of foreign references in doctoral dissertations, percentage of foreign references in the articles of Statsvetenskaplig tidskrift, & a questionnaire to the professors in political science at the five major universities -- this article demonstrates that the alleged US hegemony is a myth. It is more appropriate to talk of an Anglo-American axis of dominance. Although Swedish political science is strongly influenced by international theory & methodology, we have not found any major changes in foreign reliance (apart from internal variance) over the last 30 years. Hence, Swedish political science -- according to Swedish political scientists, at least -- is as strong as it was one scholarly generation ago. 7 Tables, 2 Appendixes, 18 References. Adapted from the source document.

In 1870, political science was established as an academic discipline, attached to history, at the Lund University. In 1877, a chair in history and political science was created. Twenty-five years later, it was transformed into a chair in political science and statistics. In 1926, that symbiosis was put to an end and political science was awarded a chair of its own. Pontus Fahlbeck, professor from 1889 to 1917, was a historian who developed into a social scientist with broad interests: political science, statistics, economics, and sociology. Several of his books were also published in foreign languages and he had many contacts with colleagues abroad, particularly in France and Germany. However, the critical period in the modernization of political science in Lund happened just after the middle of the 20th century, with Nils Stjernquist, holding the chair from 1951 to 1983, at helm. The dependence of history and legal science waned; the influence of social science, especially in its American version, increased. The result was a modern political science department with broad interests and worldwide contacts. References.

First, the state of Swedish Political Sciences is commented, after a recent evaluation of the Office of Higher Education. Recommendations included deeper research activity together with more effective teaching. Difficulty of how to handle an increased student mass with decreased resources for research & education is discussed. Solutions could include online courses & conferences, increased collaboration & identity between institutions, & increased role for the Federation of Political Science & its publication. An increased quality of the work of graduate students is also important. References. Adapted from the source document.

This article aims to identify what critical categories are applied to review of doctoral dissertations in political science & what patterns of change might impact these same categories through time. Some of the fundamental concepts entailed in faculty review of dissertation are presented here on the basis of centuries-old thought. While these concepts remain valid today, their application is assumed to have changed. Through a content analysis of reviews made of political science dissertations over a 20-year period, a notable shift in emphasis is made from critical attention to source material & empirical analysis to critical attention to perspective of the writer & theoretical approach. Important developments in the composition of review committees are also discussed, including an increase in the committee's number of professors within one discipline, international profile, & departmental balance regarding the department of the dissertation author. These & other changes are here situated in the larger framework of character shifts that have affected political science & other disciplines throughout the last generation. 2 Tables, 14 References. C. Brunski

Comparative politics is the only one of the political science subdisciplines that is defined in methodological rather than substantive terms. Since, however, scientific enterprises are always and unavoidably comparative, any emphasis on comparison and comparative method is certainly less than helpful in attempts to grasp the meaning of the term "comparatie politics". According to general usage in political science, comparativists are engrossed in political similarities and differences between countries; this lexical definition, however, corresponds poorly with stipulative definitions embedded in the practice of research. For one thing, by performing important hypothesis-generating and similar tasks, studies of one case form a central and integrated feature of comparative politics. Furthermore, much comparative research moves on the levels of individuals and groups, and makes use of countries as contexts rather than units. As political science has matured to be a nomotetic discipline, aiming at the building of empirically falsifiable explanatory theory, the crossing of borders in space and time has become a necessity, and comparative politics is today much more than an isolated political science compartment only. References.

This article presents a way of dealing scientifically with the problem of comparison among dynamically evolving units of analysis in social science, namely by using methods from theoretical, computational & mathematical biology & phylogeny (evolutionary tree) analysis. First, the standard political science & static method of comparative analysis is criticized. Second, some important aspects of the dynamic comparison are presented from its multidisciplinary & historic context, commenting on the compatibility with evolutionary institutional as well as universal Darwinian theoretical perspectives. Third, dynamic comparison is approached using first techniques from standard social science statistical software (SPSS) & then from molecular genetics (MEGA, Molecular Evolutionary Analysis). Examples of evolutionary tree analyses of the European nations are presented & discussed. Similarities & dissimilarities between social science & biological applications of the dynamic comparison techniques are discussed, emphasizing the importance of openness to new techniques & application of panel data for elaboration of new methods of dynamic comparative analyses in social sciences. 2 Tables, 9 Figures, 68 References. Adapted from the source document.

What is good politics? It is both a knowledge of philosophical, organizational and normative questions. It is about how and where the political science branch of the social science tree grows, of what political scientists really should do and how political science education should be conducted. By extension, it is also about which frames political order, power and social organization can best be analyzed within. There are big questions. Are there any good answers or just bad? Or could it even be that the question of what distinguishes good from bad politics leads to awkward enough paradigmatic, epistemological, and other difficult or insoluble problems that maybe we should refrain from imposing or even trying to answer it? Well, it would actually be pretty bad. Adapted from the source document.

Theories on political socialization are being reexamined as researchers are becoming skeptical of their explanatory power. Previous studies often characterized adolescence and young adults as passive objects for socialization, failing to grasp that the political views of adolescence and young adults are constantly changing, and often take a non-institutional form. Some researchers are trying a different approach where mechanisms and processes are put in a central role in determining how adolescents and young adults develop their civic engagement. The objective is to understand how civic engagement changes over time and what role the media and peers play in this socialization process. The studies will last for seven years and consists of longitudinal, experimental and follow-up studies. The results will be checked against individual, biological, sociological and cognitive factors, and gender. L. Pitkaniemi

Argues that because of its international status, the English speaking world has an overly dominant position in formulating theories, models and research problems, which the Swedish political science merely copies. Repeating studies and applying the same methods is hardly a sign of a mature and cumulative science. Swedish political science could offer much more by studying fields such as Nordic social democracy, Swedish criminal policy or Nordic far right parties with unique theories and methods. L. Pitkaniemi

International Politics has been characterized as an American social science. This article traces the early development of the discipline in Sweden in the shadow of US hegemony. The advantages & disadvantages of the Swedish decision to keep International Relations (IR) within the broader discipline of Political Science are discussed. Recalling the early tensions between International Politics & Peace & Conflict Research, the author identifies some prominent traits in the development of Swedish IR in recent decades. Finally, broader developments in IR research generally are outlined in terms of consecutive debates, continuously broadening research themes, fashions, reaction to dramatic events in the world, & dialectics between paradigms emphasizing anarchy or order. References. Adapted from the source document.

Citations, productivity measures & rankings have become reality in modern university life. Many of the bibliometric reports presented by ranking institutes & non-professional bibliometricians are flawed due to methodologically unsound procedures. This article discusses three important methodological problems involved in bibliometric studies: 1) number of personnel at university departments; 2) counting of articles from these departments; & 3) counting of citations to these articles. Relating to earlier research (Hix, 2004) it is shown that the counting of personnel -- a very important reference value -- can be conducted in several different ways. Following Dale & Goldfinch (2005) we discuss the limitation to political science journals proposed by Hix. There is a large influx of non political scientist to the area & a similar outflow of political scientists to other journal categories (eg, environmental studies). Therefore, the proposed limitation is questioned. Implementing advanced methods for field normalized citation scores (van Raan, 2004) we conclude the article with an analysis of Swedish university departments in political science during the period 1998-2005. The result is a promising 33 per cent better citation scores than the world average, but the downside is a low number of articles per researcher. Adapted from the source document.

Over the last decades there has been a growing interest in normative theory within the social sciences in general & political science in particular. Timeless questions of good & bad, right & wrong, & of the nature & justification of the good society -- of what the good society ought to be -- have thus surfaced again. However, not much has been written on the specific methodological issues that arise when explicitly approaching normative questions on social scientific, i.e. systematic & inter-subjective, grounds. Departing from a reflection concerning the conceptual meaning of norms & values -- the anchor of normative analysis -- & by confronting different axiological positions, this essay formulates a few guiding principles for a normative methodology. These principles include requirements on internal validity (accuracy, consistency, clarity, coherence, & intersubjective reasoning) as well as external validity (external justification, plausibility, & empirical relevance). 46 References. Adapted from the source document.