In this volume some of the world's most prominent scholars of politics offer original discussions exploring what political science is and how political scientists should aspire to do their work. Although beset by constant debate about method, at the core of the study of politics is the unifying concern as to whether political scientists should view themselves primarily as scientists, or, instead, try to focus their knowledge on resolving the many complex world crises currently happening.

Introduction: problems and methods in the study of politics Ian Shapiro, Rogers Smith and Tarek Masoud; Part I. Description, Explanation and Agency: 2. Problems, methods and theories in the study of politics, or: what's wrong with political science and what to do about it Ian Shapiro; 3. Of problems and methods: identities, interests, and the tasks of political science in the 21st century Rogers M. Smith; 4. Political science as a vocation Anne Norton; 5. The politics of policy science Frances Fox Piven; 6. The study of black politics and the practice of black politics: their historical relation and evolution Adolph Reed; 7. External and internal explanation John Ferejohn; Part II. Redeeming Rational Choice Theory?: 8. Lies, damned lies and rational choice analyses Gary W. Cox; 9. On problems and methods Alan Ryan; 10. An analytic narrative approach to puzzles and problems Margaret Levi; 11. The methodical study of politics Bruce Bueno de Mesquita; Part III. Possibilities for Pluralism and Convergence: 12. The illusion of learning from observational research Alan S. Gerber, Donald P. Green and Edward H. Kaplan; 13. Concepts and commitments in the study of democracy Lisa Wedeen; 14. Problems chasing methods or methods chasing problems, research communities, constrained pluralism, and the role of eclecticism Rudra Sil; 15. Method, problem, faith William E. Connolly; 16. Provisionalism in the study of politics Elisabeth Ellis; 17. What have we learned? Robert Dahl, Truman Bewley, Susanne Hoeber Rudolph and John Mearsheimer.