Letters
Letters John Brademas and Tongsun Park John Brademas never attended Georgetown University and was never a roommate of [Tongsun] Park’s at Georgetown University or any place else [as The...
...I have read Michael Nelson’s “What’s Wrong With Political Science” and my belief has been reinforced that the only thing worse than official Washington (and others, for that matter) not listening to political scientists is to have them listening to political scientists...
...Moreover, “making the system work” for much of the population might imply advocacy of militant direct action, cohesive mass organizations, a politicized labor union movement, or a new political party...
...I would agree totally with Mr...
...All serious distinctions between lies and truths, fronts and realities, public and private disappear...
...Nelson’s ideas of “making the system work” do not envision such possibilities (anyone who would cite Kissinger and Brzezinski as successful practitioners without mentioning Dan Ellsberg or Morton Halperin makes it fairly clear where his head is at...
...Moreover, if law schools ever took seriously their responsibilities to train their students in legal ethics or business schools taught courses in business ethics, it might be incumbent upon political science departments to spend their time grappling with questions such as the duties of the citizen or their responsibilities in a democracy...
...ROSS K. BAKER New Brunswick, N.J...
...TIM MCKEOWN Menlo Park, Calif...
...In sociology the ultimate example is that of Irving Goffman’s argument that self-presentations in public places constitute the reality of individual and social life...
...4 My frrst reaction to “What’s Wrong With Political Science,” was to plead nolo contendere on behalf of my client...
...Why place the burden for public rectitude on political scientists who, if the article is to be believed, count for little anyway...
...Alas, the very people who control government most decisively get none of this training in professional virtue...
...I sense difficulties in his suggestion that political scientists should teach people “how they can make [the system] work for them...
...Your major criticisms of the discipline were pretty much on target...
...level...
...Burt Hoffman is a special assistant to Rep...
...I also think it is a good idea to teach people “how their system really works...
...It may be that there is a need for formal citizenship training, but I’m just not convinced that it should be done at the Ph.D...
...In a few of the initial Park stories a year ago, this somehow was reported as Brademas rooming with Park in the Georgetown section, at Georgetown University, or having attended Georgetown University together...
...Letters John Brademas and Tongsun Park John Brademas never attended Georgetown University and was never a roommate of [Tongsun] Park’s at Georgetown University or any place else [as The Washington Monthly reported in October...
...BURT HOFFMAN Washington, D.C...
...It is not only political science but all of the social sciences, with a few patchy exceptions, that have put themselves into theoretical and methodological straightjackets that make them nothing more than recorders and analysts of frontwork...
...For a few months in 1962 Park had an apartment in the same Georgetown building in which Brademas and Lud Ashley shared an apartment...
...Political Science Your September article, “What’s Wrong With Political Science?,” errs only in being an understatement and undergeneralization...
...William Crotty teaches political science at Northwestem University...
...Nelson that the civics training most people receive is Pollyanna-like...
...Although I can not be sure, I have a hunch that Mr...
...But] the prescriptions for changing political science to bring it more in line with the needs of society seems to me to be singularly incorrect...
...JACK D. DOUGLAS San Diego, Calif...
...Jack Douglas teaches sociology at the University of Gdifomia, San Diego...
...The people who most desperately need this knowledge are the ones who are least likely to attend college...
...Ross Baker teaches political science at Rutgers Universiw...
...WILLIAM CROTTY Evanston, Ill...
Vol. 9 • December 1977 • No. 10
