The Moral Foundations of Public Engagement: Does Political Science, as a Discipline, Have an Ethics?
| Author | Leslie A Pal,Matthew Flinders |
| DOI | 10.1177/1478929919881332 |
| Published date | 01 May 2020 |
| Date | 01 May 2020 |
| Subject Matter | Special Section: Impact |
https://doi.org/10.1177/1478929919881332
Political Studies Review
2020, Vol. 18(2) 263 –276
© The Author(s) 2019
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DOI: 10.1177/1478929919881332
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The Moral Foundations of
Public Engagement: Does
Political Science, as a
Discipline, Have an Ethics?
Matthew Flinders1 and Leslie A Pal2
Abstract
In recent years, the discipline of political science has been the focus of extensive criticism from
observers based both within and beyond the academy. This is reflected in a sizable number of scholars
who have called for the discipline to recognize its obligations to the public, and especially to supporting
active citizenship, promoting democratic participation and addressing major social challenges. This
emphasis on ‘making political science matter’ has also been stressed beyond the academy as funders,
politicians and potential research-users place ever-greater emphasis on incentivizing and rewarding
‘impact’, ‘relevance’ and demonstrable ‘public value’. The central argument of this article is that what
has been missing from this debate is any sense of clarity around whether what is being demanded is
greater engagement by political science as a discipline or greater engagement by political scientists as
individuals. This raises distinctive questions about the moral foundations and professional ethics of
political science which we explore not through a traditional focus on defending or sustaining liberal
democracy but through a deeper and more subtle emphasis on the praxis of ‘doing’ political science.
Keywords
impact, ethics, discipline, relevance, praxis
Accepted: 18 September 2019
This article began as an International Political Science Association (IPSA) panel discus-
sion of Rainer Eisfeld’s (2019) Empowering Citizens, Engaging the Public: Political
Science for the 21st Century, where he provocatively and passionately argues for a more
politically engaged discipline to help citizens better deal with the deep social, political
and environmental issues that face the world. Engagement of one sort or another is as old
as the discipline itself, starting with Aristotle’s tutoring of Alexander, to various caucuses
in our professional associations to deal with gender, race, diversity and other issues. Some
1Sir Bernard Crick Centre, The University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK
2School of Public Policy and Administration, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON, Canada
Corresponding author:
Matthew Flinders, Sir Bernard Crick Centre, The University of Sheffield, Sheffield S10 2TY, UK.
Email: m.flinders@sheffield.ac.uk
881332PSW0010.1177/1478929919881332Political Studies ReviewFlinders and Pal
research-article2019
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