Humane Politics and Methods of Inquiry

by Ithiel de Sola Pool (Editor)

Overview

Ithiel de Sola Pool was a distinguished scholar of the political process, and one of the most original thinkers in the development of an integrated social science. This volume focuses upon his contributions to the development of research methods that deepen our understanding of human behaviour.

The book is divided into five parts treating the analysis of communications, computer simulation, forecasting, network theory, and the social sciences in political contexts. The first part considers the problems and possibilities of analysis raised by the unprecedented quantity of data made available by widespread and improved communications technology; what'should be counted and how should inferences be made. Part two explores computer simulation in the study of presidential election patterns and how it can provide in-depth analyses of crisis situations in history. Part three focuses on strategies for predicting the future of international politics and methods to forecast the impacts of new communications technologies, while part four offers a rigorous analysis of domestic and global contact networks and the so-called "small world" phenomenon.

Part five is concerned with external challenges to the use of social science to create more humane politics, including the question of value neutrality, ideology, "deconstructive" critical theory, and threats by government to the health of universities. In a concluding essay Lloyd Etheredge draws upon Pool's work to discuss several new ways in which the methods treated in this volume can be applied to contemporary social change.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781412857093
Publisher:	Transaction Publishers
Publication date:	12/30/2015
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	336
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Lloyd S. Etheredge, a political scientist and psychologist, was a member of the MIT faculty for eight years and is former director of Graduate Studies for International Relations at Yale University. His most recent book is Can Governments Learn? He currently directs international telecommunications and public policy projects at the Policy Center, a public foundation founded at the Yale University Law School in 1948.

Ithiel de Sola Pool directed the research program in communications at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for thirty years. He was a skeptic of ideologies and resisted manipulation of symbols by political leaders. He believed in the spirit of free inquiry and the contribution of social science to strengthen independent citizen decision making in democracy. As such his visionary writings will appeal to those in the fields of communications, political science, and public policy.

Table of Contents

Preface Acknowledgements Introduction Part I: The Analysis of Communications Editor's Introduction 1 Symbols, Meanings, and Social Science 2 Content Analysis and the Intelligence Function 3 Scratches on Social Science: Images, Symbols, and Stereotypes Part II: Computer Simulation Editor's Introduction 4 The Simulmatics Project 5 A Postscript on the 1964 Election 6 The Kaiser, the Tsar, and the Computer: Information Processing in a Crisis Part III: Forecasting Editor's Introduction 7 The International System in the Next Half-Century 8 The Art of the Social Science Soothsayer 9 Foresight and Hindsight: The Case of the Telephone Part IV: Network Theory Editor's Introduction 10 Contacts and Influence Part V: Social Science in Political Contexts Editor's Introduction 11 Some Facts About Values 12 What Ferment?: A Challenge for Empirical Research 13 How Powerful Is Business? 14 Human Subjects Regulations on the Social Sciences 15 What's Next? The Intellectual Legacy of Ithiel de Sola Pool Lloyd S. Etheredge Index

Editorial Reviews

This excellent volume provides a concise and interesting retrospective of the pioneering contributions of Ithiel de Sola Pool to the development of social science theory and practice… Editor Etheredge provides introductory commentary for each section and a fine summary of Pool's current and potential future legacy. Recommended for graduate and professional collections.” —C. J. Luna, Choice "Political science at its best: empirically grounded, driven by the desire for a more humane politics, and dedicated to a social science methodology that provides a more realistic framework for democratic decision-making. Lloyd Etheredge has done us all a great service in collecting these essays." —Kristen Renwick, Monroe University of California at Irvine

From the Publisher

This volume focuses on Pool's (formerly: communications, Massachusetts Institute of Technology) contributions to the development of research methods that deepen understanding of human behavior. Specific attention is given to the analysis of communications, computer simulation, forecasting, network theory, and the social sciences in political contexts. In a concluding essay, Etheredge (formerly: political science and psychology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology) suggests applications of Pool's thought to studies of contemporary social change. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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