The American Political Science Association recently held a conference during which scholars discussed the merits of American politics as a field of study and considered the possibility of abolishing the field altogether.
APSA Executive Director Michael Brintnall said he did not believe this discussion implied that the field should be abolished in a literal sense, but rather that the scope of American politics should be broadened to include a wider range of world views. Brintnall said politics professors David Mayhew, from Yale University, and Mary Hawkesworth, from Rutgers University, led this forum discussion, which also featured Rogers Smith and Anne Norton from the University of Pennsylvania.
“I suppose the single most significant reason the conversation occurs is whether American politics is thought of often enough in the larger context of the world as a whole,” Brintnall said. “How do we assure ourselves ... we don’t end up thinking or appearing to tell students that events in the world have no relevance to American politics or American politics is not relevant to understanding things in the rest of the world.”
Brintnall said while some scholars suggest the field of American politics is too narrow and focuses too little on the politics of the rest of the world, defenders of the status quo argue that it is important for students to understand politics as it affects them and how it surrounds them.
Smith said each professor involved in the discussion suggested different ideas about the field of American politics.
Hawkesworth, Smith said, suggested that focusing on American politics without comparing it to global political and economic structures could contribute to accounts of American exceptionalism.
“She thought teaching American politics as a separate field had some damaging intellectual consequences,” Smith said.
Norton, meanwhile, against the preservation of American politics as a subfield, Smith said, while Mayhew defended American politics, claiming that America is a significant world power and deserves considerable attention.
Smith said his view is that the structure of political science as a whole needs to be revised “to focus on the kinds of problems and issues [significant] in the 21st century.”
Though there are currently no plans to discontinue study of American politics here at the University, American Politics Prof. David O’Brien also emphasized the need to broaden the perspective of American politics.
“I think it is true that in the last decade ... it seems like race, gender and public opinion have ridden to the forefront of American politics,” O’Brien said. “I think it is important for American politics people not to limit themselves but to look globally and internationally in their writing, research and even teaching.”
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