Indiana University, Bloomington. Dept. of Political Science

The study of political science at Indiana University has quite a history. When Andrew Wylie became IU president in 1829 he taught a senior class which included the subjects Constitutional Law, Moral Science, and Political Economy. After the Civil War more departments were introduced, including the Department of Mental, Moral and Political Philosophy. An excerpt from the 1877-1878 catalog description reads: In this department is taught Mental Philosophy embracing the usual topics. Moral Philosophy include(s) both the theory of morals and practical morals; the former embraces the moral sense, the grounds of right and wrong, the nature of virtue, the authority of conscience, the rules of moral conduct, and the sources from which they are derived; the latter includes the duties we owe to ourselves, to men, to society, to the State, and to God. Political Philosophy embraces Civil Polity, Constitution of the U.S., Political Economy, Social Science, International Law.

In 1885 the department of History and Political Science was established. The following year it became two departments, a Department of History and a Department of Political and Social Science. Further specialization occurred in 1890 when a separate department of European History was created leaving the Department of American History and Politics, headed by James A. Woodburn.

Amos Shartle Hershey joined the Department of American History and Politics in 1895 and was the force that led to Political Science becoming its own department. In 1906 Hershey wrote the Board of Trustees to recommend the establishment of a separate department for Political Science. In March 1914 the Board enacted Hershey's proposal. At that time there were only 35 departments of Political Science in American colleges and universities. The first curriculum was established in 1915 and remained relatively untouched until World War II. During that time the only major change in the department was a name change in 1933 from Political Science to Government. The name change reflected uncertainty in the profession as to the essential character of inquiry into politics, and was prompted in the first instance by public puzzlement over the attribute of science. The name was returned to Political Science effective fall semester 1969 due to a misperception on the part of the foreign public. When researching abroad, members of the department had been regarded as agents of the American government.

Following World War II the growing complexity of scientific inquiry and its ever mounting impact on human relations had the effect of intensifying the need for more research. With the Wells administration in place the faculty was enlarged and with new faculty came new programs. The Political Science department expanded beyond its Western orientation. Hershey taught a course on Japan, but an even better example is the Army Specialized Training Program in which the University was engaged during WWII. This program included the language, history, and politics of countries around the world, friend and foe, with which the military became involved. Through this program, more specialized foreign programs were started at IU and the growing and diverse student body helped to keep these specialized programs operating. A political science component of the Russian and East European Program began in 1950. The African Studies program added a political science component in 1961.

Not only did the expansion that took place after WWII affect the size of the department, it affected the scope also. The complexity of society was reflected in that political science overlapped with sociology, economics, and even anthropology. Walter H. C. Laves who worked hard to expand the department to include technical assistance chaired the department for 12 years beginning in 1954. Under his leadership institutes of public administration were founded in Indonesia and Thailand. The connection between science and politics was also recognized as an important juncture, not only to public policy, but also to political science. In 1965 the innovative Program in Science, Technology, and Public Policy was established, featuring a multi- disciplinary approach, encompassing research, teaching, and service. Another innovative course developed was the Workshop in Political Theory and Policy Analysis. Established professionals were brought together to assess alternative policy strategies. The Center for International Policy Studies, founded in 1975, combined research with a training program at both the pre and postdoctoral levels. Its approach was interdisciplinary, including natural as well as social sciences, and its methodology was quantitative and mathematical. Unfortunately, John Gillespie, who created the center with Dina Zinnes, died in 1979 and in 1980 Zinnes accepted a position at the University of Illinois. Consequently, without of the support of its founders the center dissolved in 1980.

From the guide to the Indiana University Dept. of Political Science records, 1958-1995, bulk 1970-1991, (Indiana University Office of University Archives and Records Management http://www.libraries.iub.edu/archives)