The Wit and Humour of Political Science

The Wit and Humour of Political Science is the serendipitous product of two senior scholars working across the world from one another and who independently collected funny and satirical articles on political science over the years with the intent of someday publishing them for a wider audience. The lead editors -- Kenneth Newton (Professor Emeritus, University of Southampton, Visiting Professor, Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin, and Hertie School of Governance, Berlin) and the late Lee Sigelman (Columbian School of Arts and Sciences, Distinguished Professor of Political Science, George Washington University) -- learned by chance of each other's projects. Newton and Sigelman joined forces with Kenneth Meier (Charles H. Gregory Chair in Liberal Arts and Distinguished Professor of Political Science, Texas A&M University) and Bernard Grofman (Jack W. Peltason (Bren Foundation) Endowed Chair in the Department of Political Science, University of California, Irvine) to publish this collection under the joint imprint of APSA and ECPR.

The collection includes previously published essays as well as original pieces never formally published. This volume collects witty pieces about political science and political scientists. Like all good humour, the work chosen for inclusion has a serious point. It helps scholars keep an open and skeptical mind, it exposes weak points in theory and methods, and it pricks the balloon of bombast, pretentiousness, and jargon.

The book's contents make essential reading for all political scientists, even the most senior, but it may be enjoyed by younger scholars, especially those without tenure, and even by readers unaffiliated with any academic discipline.

Kenneth Newton is Professor Emeritus, University of Southampton and Visiting Professor, Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin, and Hertie School of Governance, Berlin.The late Lee Sigelman of Columbian School of Arts and Sciences and Distinguished Professor of Political Science, George Washington University. Kenneth Meier is the Charles H. Gregory Chair in Liberal Arts and Distinguished Professor of Political Science, Texas A&M University. Bernard Grofman is the Jack W. Peltason (Bren Foundation) Endowed Chair in the Department of Political Science, University of California, Irvine.