Political Science looks to retool and refocus

PATRICK MCGARVEY/YH NEW ORDER: Brewster Hall will house a political science department geared more toward the real world and less toward abstract theory.

In an effort to respond to overcrowded classes and a questionable academic focus, President Richard Levin, GRD '74, announced sweeping changes to the political science department after a faculty meeting in Connecticut Hall on Thurs., Dec. 3

Levin said that a proposal to redefine the department's mission and search for new professors has been approved by the political science faculty and Administration. According to Yale College Dean Richard Brodhead, BR '68, GRD '72, the proposal was prompted by immense student interest. "Political science is the obvious choice for expansion because its enrollments are overwhelming its teaching faculty," he said. Political science is the fourth largest undergraduate major and the fifth most popular Ph.D. program.

Professor Ian Shapiro, who will chair the department starting in January 1999, originally authored the five-page proposal, entitled "Rethinking Political Order: The Nation-State in the Emerging World." The committee behind the proposal also included Professors David Mayhew, Bruce Russett, Don Green, and Frances Rosenbluth.

The department was granted six new faculty positions last spring. In filling these posts, it will concentrate on "appointing scholars who can illuminate the emerging political universe in rigorous, systematic, and creative ways," the proposal said.

The proposal replaces the traditional four branches of political science--political philosophy, American government, comparative politics, and international relations--with five new categories. The department will seek professors in distributive politics; order, conflict, and violence; representation and popular rule; identities, affiliations, and allegiances; and crafting and operating institutions.

According to Shapiro, the new categories will promote a focus on "real-world applicability" rather than abstract theory. They are "problem-driven" and "a response to political changes in the world." Shapiro said the department hopes to minimize "abstruse and inward-looking debates" in political science scholarship.

Political science graduate student Jeffrey Miley, GRD '02, thinks the new divisions are a step in the right direction. "Some of the best scholarly work gets done by people who buck traditional distinctions," he said.

Undergraduates also look forward to a more unified approach. "Right now our department is so divided that there really isn't a connection between the different areas of focus," Sinae Han, PC '99, said.

"My guess is that these faculty searches will generate people that will be of great interest to undergraduates," Shapiro said. "The changes might well generate courses that are cross-listed in several subdivisions of the department."

Mayhew said the department will begin accepting applications for the new faculty positions in February. He hopes at least two appointments will be made by the end of the academic year. "Hiring senior faculty members is not done instantaneously," he said. "It's a competitive market."

Brodhead and Provost Alison Richard agreed that other departments could be similarly revamped if there is sufficient student and scholarly interest.

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