believe that the conflict around rational choice theory is receding, or
that it has been exaggerated.
Despite the divisiveness that characterizes the discipline, most po-
litical scientists I interviewed say they believe in scientific progress
(“We stand on each other’s shoulders. It is a collective enterprise”).
They also tend to agree that quality resides in the proposals them-
selves, as opposed to resulting from the interpretation of the judges.
One political scientist defines excellence in terms of successfully
meeting disciplinary standards. He states: “I believe that there are
scientific norms that are relatively well understood, that are pretty
explicit. My view on this would be Lakatosian...Therearecertain
norms that one can battle about. The battles are within, I think,
pretty narrow parameters.” This scholar believes that relativism ap-
plies to some kinds of knowledge and not others. For him, there are
poles of relativism and certainty, and interpretations of the world are
important when it comes to ethical matters. But, “I don’t think it
works well if we’re looking, say, at thermodynamics or mathematics
... the mathematics we have is not relative, you know, there are
proofs there.” Another political scientist dismisses as “silly” the view
that claims to truth are just competing narratives. Of those who
adopt such views, he says, “I think they believe in academic excel-
lence, but defined differently. It’s more defined in terms of intellec-
tual virtuosity and the capacity to find hidden meanings in argu-
ments rather than original contributions to knowledge. I think they
have some very clear ideas of academic excellence, they’re just differ-
ent.” When asked if she believes in academic excellence, another
political scientist—a Europeanist teaching at a large Midwestern
university—responds, “I mean, it’s not like God or something, but
I know when I’m reading something excellent and when I’m not.
I don’t know that there’s consensus about it. I mean either some-
one has convinced me of something or they haven’t. Either they have
On Disciplinary Cultures / 99