Abstract
This paper examines the five myths that govern political science: that it studies politics; that it is scientific; that one can study politics cut off from the other social sciences and history; that the state is neutral; and that the bulk of the work in the discipline furthers the cause of democracy. Within political science, there have been three main approaches to criticizing these myths: a moderate one that treats the elements in these myths as more or less disconnected; a radical one that sees a systemic connection between these elements; and a Marxist one that names this system "Capitalism" and privileges the role of the capitalist state in explaining both politics and political science.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 553-562 |
| Number of pages | 10 |
| Journal | New Political Science |
| Volume | 22 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Dec 2000 |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Sociology and Political Science