:Polisci Applied

Following are some readings in the field of Political Science, intended to give people a bit of background material relevant to the mission of this site. Note that the intent of this list is not to intimidate anybody or require anything. It is by no means mandatory, and I welcome participation regardless of academic experience. And I also do not at all expect the writing of this blog to have the standard academic trappings - by that I mean footnotes/citations/etc. If you want to point out a source feel free, and if you’re making a particularly strong assertion it might be wise, but it’s not a necessity.

This is the one “static” section of the site that may be updated on a semi-regular basis, so do check back from time to time to see if I’ve posted new things to read (I may also post on the front page to note significant updates to this list). And without any further ado, here’s the list (in no particular order):

Books (Amazon for purchase, Google Books for preview)

• War and Punishment (purchase / preview), a study on the causes of war termination by Hein Goemans. Definitely among the “hotter” political science books in recent years, it asks the less commonly pondered question of what makes wars stop, laying out a theoretical framework that utilizes themes of punishment and bargaining and examines World War I as an example.
• Man, the State, and War (purchase / preview) and Theory of International Politics (purchase), both by Kenneth Waltz, are considered fundamental texts in the fields of international relations and political theory. They examine the causes of war and lay out the view of neorealism (essentially a modern take on the realism of Thucydides), asserting that the international system is inherently anarchic. While the conclusions reached by Waltz (that states have a tendency to balance against one another, making true cooperation difficult if not impossible) are not shared by all, his premises have shaped pretty much all modern political theory (for international relations, at least).
• The Tragedy of Great Power Politics (purchase / preview) by John Mearsheimer is a recent expansion on neorealist theory, advancing a view called “offensive realism” where, in a phrase, the best defense is a good offense. The same key premises of neorealism are held, but the argument is that, with self-preservation as motivation, the ultimate aspiration of essentially any state is to dominate the world.
• A Rulebook for Arguments (purchase / preview) by Anthony Weston is a book that is traditionally intended for philosophy students but provides a solid grounding in logic and argumentation for anybody who cares to read it.  It is inexpensive and concise, useful as a reference, much like Strunk and White.  Of particular note for social scientists is the chapter dedicated to arguments about causes, which addresses (in a totally non-technical but nonetheless insightful manner) problems such as correlation versus causation and causal direction.