Political research and political theory

This volume in honor of the late V. O. Key, Jr., consists of an introduction and nine essays by distinguished scholars which, taken together, elucidate some of the major characteristics and tendencies of political science, especially in the broad areas to which Professor Key contributed.
Each of the contributors has written in his own field of present concern, and there has been no attempt to replicate or appraise the work of Professor Key. The collection does, however, seek to reflect Key's under standing of the way to develop political science in the absence of an over-arching theory of the political system or a definitive model of political interaction patterns. Further, the essays confirm Key's wisdom in pursuing empirical research without tangling with the search for a "value free" science and without abandoning moral commitments.
The three essays on Theory attempt to clarify the role of normative political thought in a systematic and empirically oriented study of politics. Avery Leiserson points out a possible empirical basis for normative theory, and J. Roland Pennock discusses the obligations of political science to use reason, and the possibility and necessity of being scientific without being anti philosophical. Frederick M. Watkins suggests that an empirical base can be established for normative theory, and suggests how the task may be undertaken.