Hostname: page-component-745bb68f8f-l4dxg Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-01-28T03:41:46.235Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Politicized Pseudo Science

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 February 2006

Robert Weissberg
Robert Weissberg
Affiliation:
University of Illinois-Urbana
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

On June 7th, 2004 the American Political Science Association (APSA) issued a Media Advisory announcing, “Leading Political Scientists Warn of Threat to American Democracy in Rare Nonpartisan Statement” (APSA Press Release 2004). The subtitle reiterated this alarmist tone: “New Study will Report Economic Disparities Deny Many Americans A Political Voice; Money Buys Access; Gains in Civil Rights Threatened as Well.” Note, we are speaking of “threats” (to democracy) that are “profound.” Furthermore, “research shows a devastating erosion of political equality in America” (italics added). Have these distinguished professors possibly discovered a conspiracy to cancel elections, repeal the First Amendment, or otherwise impose a racist plutocracy? Are retired generals and multinational CEOs about to launch a coup d'état?

Type
SYMPOSIUM
Information
PS: Political Science & Politics , Volume 39 , Issue 1 , January 2006 , pp. 33 - 37
Copyright
© 2006 The American Political Science Association

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

APSA Press Release. 2004. “Leading Political Scientists Warn of Threat to American Democracy in Rare Nonpartisan Statement.” Washington, D.C.: American Political Science Association. Available at www.apsanet.org/imgtest/taskforcepress.pdf.Google Scholar
APSA Task Force on Inequality, and American Democracy. 2004a. “American Democracy in an Age of Rising Inequality: Report of the American Political Science Association Task Force on Inequality and American Democracy.” Washington, D.C.: American Political Science Association. Available at www.apsanet.org/imgtest/taskforcereport.pdf.Google Scholar
APSA Task Force on Inequality, and American Democracy. 2004b. “Inequalities of American Voice.” Washington, D.C.: American Political Science Association. Available at www.apsanet.org/imgtest/voicememo.pdf.Google Scholar
Weissberg, Robert. 2004. The Limits of Civic Activism: Cautionary Tales of the Use of Politics. Piscataway, NJ: Transaction Publishers.Google Scholar