Political science the discipline and its dimensions : an introduction

Discussions of political science, its boundaries, limitations, and future, abound,
As political science can be defined in terms of what political scientists do, historical
surveys and surveys of what they are doing (like the UNESCO and Robson works)
become relevant. Discussions, like the volumes by Dahl, Hacker, and Meehan, of
how to analyze politics also help provide definitions of political science. Others con-
centrate on the emphasis or outputs of the discipline; for example, Easton urges that
<we move away from historicism and toward theory-building. Attacks on current de-
velopments in approach and urgings that we hold fast to old ways, for example, the
Vogelin volume, parts of Crick's argument, and the Moore article, help make clear
by way of contrast what the discipline contains, as do complaints about shifts in
subject matter, like Cobban's article. The ruminations of Presidents of the American
Political Science Association, two of which, by Redford and Truman, are noted,
often deal with the content of political science. Eulau's article is a survey of ap-
proaches in the discipline; Young's collection has the same purpose.