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The Political Science of Science: An Inquiry into the Possible Reconciliation of Mastery and Freedom

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  • Lasswell, Harold D.

Abstract

My intention is to consider political science as a discipline and as a profession in relation to the impact of the physical and biological sciences and of engineering upon the life of man. I propose to inquire into the possible reconciliation of man's mastery over Nature with freedom, the overriding goal of policy in our body politic. In the interest of concreteness I shall have something to say about past and potential applications of science in three areas: armament, production, and evolution. It is trite to acknowledge that for years we have lived in the afterglow of a mushroom cloud and in the midst of an arms race of unprecedented gravity. Here I shall support a proposition that may at first evoke some incredulous exclamations. The proposition is that our intellectual tools have been sufficiently sharp to enable political scientists to make a largely correct appraisal of the consequences of unconventional weapons for world politics.

Suggested Citation

  • Lasswell, Harold D., 1956. "The Political Science of Science: An Inquiry into the Possible Reconciliation of Mastery and Freedom," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 50(4), pages 961-979, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:cup:apsrev:v:50:y:1956:i:04:p:961-979_06
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    Cited by:

    1. Smeets, Niels, 2017. "Similar goals, divergent motives. The enabling and constraining factors of Russia's capacity-based renewable energy support scheme," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 138-149.
    2. Ronald Brunner, 2007. "The world revolution of our time: a review and update," Policy Sciences, Springer;Society of Policy Sciences, vol. 40(3), pages 191-219, September.
    3. Davide Giacomini & Mariafrancesca Sicilia & Ileana Steccolini, 2016. "Contextualizing politicians’ uses of accounting information: reassurance and ammunition," Public Money & Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 36(7), pages 483-490, November.
    4. James Farr & Jacob Hacker & Nicole Kazee, 2008. "Revisiting Lasswell," Policy Sciences, Springer;Society of Policy Sciences, vol. 41(1), pages 21-32, March.
    5. Christopher M. Weible & Daniel Nohrstedt & Paul Cairney & David P. Carter & Deserai A. Crow & Anna P. Durnová & Tanya Heikkila & Karin Ingold & Allan McConnell & Diane Stone, 2020. "COVID-19 and the policy sciences: initial reactions and perspectives," Policy Sciences, Springer;Society of Policy Sciences, vol. 53(2), pages 225-241, June.
    6. Lihua Yang, 2018. "Collaborative knowledge-driven governance: Types and mechanisms of collaboration between science, social science, and local knowledge," Science and Public Policy, Oxford University Press, vol. 45(1), pages 53-73.
    7. Ronald Brunner, 2008. "The policy scientist of democracy revisited," Policy Sciences, Springer;Society of Policy Sciences, vol. 41(1), pages 3-19, March.

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