Political Science in a New Era

filled with a number of environmental, economic, and political crises that may indicate an irreversible change in the course of history. A major increase in consumption of natural resources, driven largely by the accelerating globalization and the rapid spread of industrialization, particularly in China and India, has tightened world markets, caused dramatic mineral price fluctuations, and even led to periodic shortages of food, fuel, and other essential resources. An ongoing rapid depletion of humanity’s critical natural capital, especially of deep, rich agricultural soils, “fossil” groundwater, and the biodiversity, which together comprise vital working parts of our life-support systems, leads scientists to fear for the future of civilization. The overextended economies of many industrial countries have experienced financial turmoil triggered by lax government oversight of banks in the United States and the European Union, and an associated real-estate mortgage scandal and price collapse that has now spread to the world economy. Authoritarian regimes in the Middle East and northern Africa have been destabilized by a “youth bulge” of angry, often educated young people unable to obtain employment and disenchanted by the corruption and the policies of dictatorial governments. Far from being the once envisioned prosperous century of increased stability, democratization, and affluence, the twenty-first century has been characterized thus far by greater economic insecurity, political instability, and—of even greater importance—the growth of seemingly overwhelming global environmental problems. This growing list of interconnected problems and a precarious future shaped by deepening globalization, population growth, and increasing consumption present significant challenges for politicians and political scientists. Politics can be seen as an authoritative coordination of problemsolving. Political scientists study how well (or how poorly) collectivities can develop and implement policies to manage critical problems. At present, a democratic politics of affluence, compromise, and civility that emerged during the heyday of economic growth is being transformed into a politics of scarcity, insecurity, and confrontation as economic growth in the United States and several other industrial countries is slowing being replaced by increasing production (and consumption) in China, India, Brazil, and other rapidly growing economies. Politicians, as well as political scientists, now are dealing with very difficult and contentious distributional problems spawned by Political Science in a New Era