Where is political science at the present; what has shaped political science as an academic discipline in the University and the country at large; and where is it headed?
These were the questions raised by UP Diliman’s Department of Political Science (PolSci) during their lecture, “Political Science: The Discipline, the Academe and Philippine Politics” held on August 14 at the Palma Hall AVR 207. The lecture is the PolSci department’s contribution to the College of Social Sciences and Philosophy’s Rafael Palma Centennial Lecture Series.
PolSci department chairperson Prof. Maria Lourdes Rebullida led the presentation of the lecture which was prepared by the department’s own Palma lecture committee composed of her, Prof. Athena Lydia Casambre, and Associate Professors Jorge V. Tigno and Ruth Lusterio-Rico.
Prof. Rebullida noted that students have had a tendency to treat political science primarily as a pre-law course and this can be traced to the orientation of the first “chief” of the department of Political Science in UP in 1915, Prof. George Malcolm, who was at the time also Dean of the UP College of Law.
Rebullida
She said that under Malcolm’s guidance, the PolSci department had become “legalistic and juridical” in its orientation. She said that it was not until the ‘60s, when the likes of Prof. Remigio Agpalo returned from finishing their master’s and doctoral degrees in the US and Europe that political science as an academic field broadened its horizons to include political dynamics, and later on sociological, behavioral, and quantitative methods.
The lecture also discussed the present issues faced by the PolSci department in UP, such as faculty attrition and the need for new faculty with graduate and post-graduate degrees, as well as the issue of career-tracking for undergraduate students to help them prepare for their chosen careers after graduation.
As for the future of PolSci department, Prof. Rebullida said that they hope to improve upon their research capabilities, especially in quantitative research, and to engage in more interdisciplinary activities with other academic units such as the National College of Public Administration and Governance, with whom they have a shared mandate.
The department’s presentation was followed by a discussion by both Prof. Ronald D. Holmes of the De La Salle University (DLSU)’s Department of Political Science, and the UPD PolSci department’s own Prof. Felipe Miranda.
Prof. Holmes, an alumnus of the PolSci department and former president of the Philippine Political Science Association, talked about the situation faced by other political science programs in the country. He said the issue of career-tracking has become a thorny one at other universities.
He also spoke about the need for Political Science departments in various colleges and universities in the country to determine the basic requirements and knowledge for any student to graduate with a degree in Political Science.
Prof. Holmes also addressed faculty attrition, saying that there is a need to create a consortium among Philippine universities to produce faculty with master’s and doctoral degrees to replace the senior faculty members. He noted that, of the 80 institutions offering Political Science as a bachelor’s degree in the country, only seven offer a master’s degree program, and only two have a doctoral degree program. He asserted that a consortium will enable faculty from other universities to earn their post-graduate degrees.
Prof. Felipe Miranda, of the PolSci department, meanwhile, cautioned that some of the pronouncements made in the lecture should be tempered. He pointed out, for example, that while the PolSci department in UP Diliman was indeed the best in the country, as the department claimed, it is so because it is also one of the most well-funded Political Science departments in the country in terms, not only of operating expenses, but of faculty development grants.
Prof. Miranda also reiterated the PolSci department’s own observation that it could improve on statistical and quantitative fields, especially in electoral studies.
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