The Future of Political Science roundtable discussion gathered IPSA’s four Past Presidents: İlter Turan (2016-18), Aiji Tanaka (2014-16), Helen V. Milner (2012-14) and Lourdes Sola (2006-2009).
The session examined the phenomenon of new nationalism as it manifests itself in the Global South. The speakers talked about the features of new nationalism; the factors behind its rise; how it is different from earlier nationalisms; whether it is different from the new nationalism in Western Europe and the United States, and whether it is uniform or varies across countries and social groups within countries; how is it related to religion and ethnicity, to populism; how it has transformed the domestic and international politics of societies.
Prof. Tanaka’s presentation explored the legitimacy of the political system and argued that it has been damaged by politicians such as Donald Trump, who not only damaged the legitimacy of American democracy but also damaged the legitimacy of the country’s electoral system. Prof. Tanaka emphasized that the significance of each research should be evaluated not only according to scientific rigour alone but also according to relevance to political reality.
Prof. Milner emphasized that liberal democracy stagnates around the world, and this trend applies not only to developing countries but also to stable democracies like the US. She mentioned that globalization has many positive effects such as growth, development and technological advancement but at the same time poses challenges to democracy and deepens inequality. Prof. Milner also touched on multinational companies that became even more powerful due to globalization and started challenging states.
In her speech, Prof. Sola highlighted the current social and political problems and the role and responses of the governments, especially in the emerging market democracies. In the face of climate change, the impact of artificial intelligence on the job market, and disruptive pandemics, governments stand out important actors. She also mentioned China’s growing economic power and its pressure on emerging market democracies.
Finally, the Chair of the roundtable, Prof. Turan indicated that more and more political leaders tend not to rely on the institutions of government. He also pointed out the divide in the Political Science community emerged in certain countries such as Turkey. Certain political scientists use their academic titles and express their views publicly without any evidence to defend the government and use Political Science as a propaganda machine. Prof. Turan also highlighted that more and more politicians use Ph.D. Political Science degrees to advance their careers, but some of them face plagiarism allegations.
