From Political Science to Politicizing Science – A Study of the Discipline’s Presence in the U.S. Congressional Debates

The status and role of political science and more broadly the Social, Behavioral and Economic (SBE) research area of the National Science Foundation has been contested in the United States. There have been different proposals to cut funding or to impose limitations indicating what kind of funding should be granted. During times of economical strains the willingness to turn the focus on fields that produce ”concrete results” has emerged. On the other hand, these fields of research have been considered relevant in explaining increasingly more complex world. U.S. Congress plays a relevant role because it grants funding for the National Science Foundation, which is a considerable funder of federally supported basic research. This paper looks at the debates on political science in the U.S. Congress and what kind of measures Congress has actually considered in relation to political science. The further focus will be on to examine how the members of Congress have reflected political science as such but also how it is defined, interpreted and politicized in the debates.