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Empowering Citizens, Engaging the Public

Political Science for the 21st Century

  • Book
  • © 2019

Overview

Authors:
  1. Rainer Eisfeld

    1. Fachbereich 1, Osnabrück University, Osnabrück, Germany

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  • Responds to ongoing debates on the fragmentation of the political science discipline, its relevance, and disconnect with the larger public
  • Explores the implications and consequences that political science ought to become more topic-driven, more relevant for "lay" citizens, and more comprehensible to such audiences
  • Argues that political science should evolve into a topic-driven discipline focusing on causes,
  • patterns, and the participatory implementation of political, economic, and cultural change

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Table of contents (12 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xxvi
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  2. Commitments

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 1-1
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    2. Improving the Human Condition

      • Rainer Eisfeld
      Pages 3-14

    3. What Is the Current Human Condition?

      • Rainer Eisfeld
      Pages 15-21

    4. Coming to Grips with Change

      • Rainer Eisfeld
      Pages 23-32

    5. Serving Citizens

      • Rainer Eisfeld
      Pages 33-54

    6. The Civics of Friendly Persuasion

      • Rainer Eisfeld
      Pages 55-63

    7. A Determination to Blow the Whistle

      • Rainer Eisfeld
      Pages 65-80

  3. Issue Areas

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 81-81
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    2. Affirming Ethno-Cultural Diversity, Avoiding Tribalized Segmentation

      • Rainer Eisfeld
      Pages 83-99

    3. Low Income, Inferior Education

      • Rainer Eisfeld
      Pages 101-118

    4. Robust Regulatory Policies for Capitalism

      • Rainer Eisfeld
      Pages 119-144

    5. Global Warming, Power Structures, and Living Conditions

      • Rainer Eisfeld
      Pages 145-158

    6. Radicalization, Terrorism, Subversion of Civil Liberties

      • Rainer Eisfeld
      Pages 159-175

  4. Partisanship

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 177-177
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    2. Twenty-First-Century Political Science: Politicization of a Discipline?

      • Rainer Eisfeld
      Pages 179-194

  5. Back Matter

    Pages 195-199
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Keywords

About this book

This book is the first comprehensive study to respond to the ongoing debates on political sciences’ fragmentation, doubtful relevance, and disconnect with the larger public. It explores the implications of the argument that political science ought to become more topic-driven, more relevant and more comprehensible for "lay" audiences. Consequences would include evolving a culture of public engagement, challenging tendencies toward liars’ rule, and emphasizing the role of “large” themes in academic education and research, the latter being identified as those areas where severe democratic erosion is occurring – such as escalating income and wealth disparities pushing democracy towards plutocracy, ubiquitous change triggering insecurity and aggression, racist prejudice polarizing societies, and counter-terrorism strategies subverting civil liberties. 


Political science needs to address these pressing problems ahead of other issues by in-depth research andbroadly accessible public narratives, including solution-orientated normative notions. This need provides the final justification for evolving a discipline where problems would take priority over methods and public relevance over sophisticated specialization.  


Reviews

“Eisfeld’s analysis of political science and its limits offers a bold framework for reforming the discipline in this century. Eisfeld asks us to look at foundational issues of democracy in the broadest possible terms.” (Dianne Pinderhughes, former APSA President, University of Notre Dam)

“Of major significance for the debate over 21st century political science, impressive in its  intellectual scope.” (Marian Sawer, former AAPSA President, Australian National University)

“An intellectual commitment to ‘thinking big’, and a bold vision of the social sciences’ ‘promise’ - freeing citizens from feeling trapped through public engagement.” (Matthew Flinders, former PSA President, University of Sheffield)

“A remarkable project, pulled off with a grace and balance that belie the complexity and controversy of the issues Eisfeld addresses.” (Leslie A. Pal, former CPSA Board Member, Carleton University, Ottawa)

Authors and Affiliations

  • Fachbereich 1, Osnabrück University, Osnabrück, Germany

    Rainer Eisfeld

About the author

Rainer Eisfeld, Professor Emeritus of Political Science at Osnabrück University, Germany,  taught at UCLA as a Visiting Professor. He has represented IPSA’s research committees on the IPSA Executive Committee, and has also served on the Board of Trustees of the Buchenwald/Mittelbau-Dora Concentration Camp Memorial. 

Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: Empowering Citizens, Engaging the Public

  • Book Subtitle: Political Science for the 21st Century

  • Authors: Rainer Eisfeld

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-5928-6

  • Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan Singapore

  • eBook Packages: Political Science and International Studies, Political Science and International Studies (R0)

  • Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd., part of Springer Nature 2019

  • Softcover ISBN: 978-981-13-5927-9Published: 21 February 2019

  • eBook ISBN: 978-981-13-5928-6Published: 12 February 2019

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: XXVI, 199

  • Topics: Democracy, Sociology of Citizenship, Social Philosophy

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