A List Of Things Thrown Five Minutes Ago

I BELIEVE MY MAJOR IS BEING MOCKED: "We're kidding ourselves if we think this research typically has the obvious public benefit we claim for it," says Indiana University Prof. Jeffrey Isaac regarding attacks on federal funding for political science research, with the divide between "policy" and "science" being at the center. But I want to focus on this quote:

As for those who criticize quantitative analysis as too narrow, [University of Michigan Prof. Arthur] Lupia said that the big questions were precisely what interested him. His work has been used by the World Bank and government officials in India, for example, to figure out which villages had sufficient institutions and practices to ensure that money earmarked to build a water system would not end up in someone’s pocket. Political science can also help determine what institutions and arrangements are needed to help a dictatorship make the transition to a democracy, he added.

After the fall of Communism, “when Eastern European governments were writing their constitutions, I can guarantee you they weren’t calling George Stephanopoulos,” Mr. Lupia said.

Well, yeah. Because that all happened from 1989 to 1991, when Stephanopoulos was a Hill staffer for Rep. Richard Gephardt. I know I made sure to take some history classes alongside my polisci requirements ...