Great article on the future of political science

This is a really interesting article on how confused the field of political science is about its relevance and direction: "Field Study- Just How Relevant Is Political Science?"

I felt the issues discussed in the article very keenly at Columbia. I believe the very best political science comes from applying rigorous empirical analysis to the underlying assumptions of broader questions, my favorite example being a paper I read on whether the "hate radio" accused of fermenting genocide in Rewanda actually played such a central role. (It didn't- the paper demonstrated that b/c of the hilly geography the radio had a very limited range and the chronology of the Rwandan genocide didn't match the pattern of inflamatory broadcasts.) This particular question was of central importance because of the way the radio station's history was used in prosecuting war crimes and in rebutting claims that Western governments could have "just simply bombed the radio transmiters to stop the genocide." But for the broadest (and most important questions) I think you are into political philosophy or history.