This book is the first comprehensive study to respond to the ongoing debates on political sciences’ fragmentation, doubtful relevance, and disconnect with the larger public. It explores the implications of the argument that political science ought to become more topic-driven, more relevant and more comprehensible for "lay" audiences. Consequences would include evolving a culture of public engagement, challenging tendencies toward liars’ rule, and emphasizing the role of “large” themes in a...

What is the link between scholarship and democracy? What role do academics play in sustaining democratic values? Why should concerns about the ‘hollowing-out’ of democracy include a focus on the changing governance of higher education? Offering the first comparative analysis of how both democratic and autocratic politicians are seeking to control the research funding landscape, this book reveals a very worrying shift in the relationships between the state and universities: With higher educ...