Academic Journal Analysis of Conventions used in the Political Science Discipline

In Search of Solutions

Katy Carter University of California Santa Barbara

Abstract This article addresses the conventions utilized in political science academic writing
through the analysis of four academic journals within the political science discipline. The first
part of this article discusses what political science is and what the goals of the discipline are.
Then this article analyzes various writing conventions utilized, relating it to the definition of
political science as a means to search for solutions relating to politics.

Introduction
Politics surrounds us in our everyday lives. Everything is impacted by politics, from traffic laws,
the educational system, to our electoral system. People generally have strong opinions about
politics and the way in which our government should govern because their actions impact us
greatly. Political science is defined by Andrew Gelman and Jeronimo Cortina as the study of
politics which “is part of virtually every social interaction involving cooperation or conflict [..]
including interactions within private organizations [...] along with larger political conflict.” In
academic journals, published scholars evaluate people’s interaction, cooperation with others, and
conflicts relating to politics to find possible solutions. Academic writing in this discipline
evaluates a political topic or issue using a specific format, inclusive language, and implicatory
words, to analyze political interactions and conflicts for the purpose of providing possible
solutions to specific political issues.

Format
The overall format of the academic articles in this disiplin incorporates multiple subtitles
throughout the text to indicate what will be addressed in the section. Within each section, there is
an introduction with a thesis presented by the authors. This is followed by evidence supporting
their claims, and a conclusion that sums up their findings. For example, in Advocating for Active
Living on the Rural-Urban Fringe: A Case Study of Planning in the Portland, Oregon,
Metropolitan Area, after the header “Lessons for Advocates” the authors' states, “in this section”
(p. 555) followed by a description of what will be discussed. Citations are incorporated
throughout the text along with footnotes that give additional information about a given statement.
This format seems to be universal among most academic writings. I believe that this format is
utilized to help readers easily identify the author's main points and for the author to make
multiple claims within their analysis in a clear and organized manner. This universal format
makes it easy for the reader to follow the author's thought process throughout the article.

Inclusivity
In political science academic journals, Inclusivity seems to be a major convention used. It is
utilized in two ways. The first being the use of first person perspective and the second being the
incorporation of inclusive words, such as “we” and “us”.

Within this format, mentioned in the section above, the authors write in first person when
explaining the process in which they went about answering their hypothesis. They are telling the
reader how they came to their conclusion. This adds to the ease in which the reader can follow
the authors thought process. It also makes it seem like the authors are talking to the readers,
Academic Journal Analysis of Conventions used in the Political Science Discipline

telling them about their work as opposed to providing an outline for a procedure that the reader
can replicate. Throughout Toward a Political Urban Planning: Learning from Growth Machine
and Advocacy Planning to “Plannitize” Urban Politics” Wess Grooms and Emmanuel Frimpong
tell the reader what they did stating “we interlace,” “we conduct an analysis” (p. 214), and “we
propose.” The authors of Advocating for Active Living on the Rural-Urban Fringe: A Case Study
of Planning in the Portland, Oregon, Metropolitan Area follow this pattern by following we with
“evaluate” (p. 526), “generate” (p. 528), “examine” (p. 528), and “identify”(p. 539), making it
very clear what steps they took that led them to their conclusion, adding to their credibility.

Most political science academic journals also use “we” and “us” when referring to themselves as
well as the readers, further showing inclusivity. This is shown In How Empathetic Concern
Fuels Polarization, when the authors state that political polarization is “ a product of the biased
ways in which we experience empathy (p. 260). The authors are awgnologing that they too, like
their readers, experience empathy which produces polarization. Political polarization among
individuals is a national issue in the United States and by using inclusive words they are showing
that they are also affected by it. The authors of academic writings in the political science disiplin
are a part of the issues and topics in which they analyze.

These two elements of using the first person and inclusive words, reflects the interconnectedness
of politics within people's lives and their interactions with others. The authors are not just stating
their procedural process for their analysis; they are, instead, writing in a way which makes it
seem like they are talking to the reader. This writing convention also symbolizes how the authors
are also being impacted by the topic or issue they are writing about. They are addressing issues
that affect everyone in the United States because we all are a part of a larger governmental
structure, the authors included.

Implicatory words
In all of the articles, the authors use impliciatory terms. Implicatory words are suggestive, rather
than matter of fact. For example in the article How Empathic Concern Fuels Political
Polarization, ” the authors use the words “may,” ''can,” implies, ''generally,” and “[indicate]” to
show that there is a correlation between empathic concern and political polarization, but not
necessarily a causation. This is an important distinction in political science, as opposed to hard
science journals which look for causations. This writing convention is critical for political
science academic journals, because of the multitude of rationals that go into one’s behavior.
Political science seeks to understand people’s interactions and conflicts surrounding politics;
however, because there are a multitude of factors that go into an individual's political actions,
scholars can only look for factors that may impact one’s behavior. They can not provide definite
answers to political questions. Academia also does not try to do so. That is not the purpose of the
disiplin which seeks to analyze and better understand political issues. Within their analyses they
can not provide definitive answers to why people act the way they do or solutions that will,
without a doubt solve a problem.

Purpose
All of the authors seek to answer questions about different factors that impact people’s political
interactions and conflicts, while trying to find a solution to various problems. Advocating for
Active Living on the Rural-Urban Fringe: A Case Study of Planning in the Portland, Oregon,
Academic Journal Analysis of Conventions used in the Political Science Discipline

Metropolitan Area analyzes ways to “resolve conflicts between facilitating active living and
local economic development and related tax-base concerns” (p. 526). The authors analyze these
conflicts to find a solution for better cooperation between the different groups.

Toward a Political Urban Planning: Learning from Growth Machine and Advocacy Planning to
“Plannitize” Urban Politics, “[searches] for new insights into the causes of, and potential
solutions to, planning’s hitherto inability to significantly mitigate urban social inequity and
injustice” (p. 213). This article is again looking for a solution to a political issue.

States, Race, and the Decline of New Deal Liberalism “argue that they are political arenas with
their distinctive capacities and political logics that must be understood in terms of earlier reform
efforts' ' (p.158). Essentially they are arguing that we must understand the past to understand the
political behavior today.

In How Empathic Concern Fuels Political Polarization, the authors analyze empathetic
concern’s impact on political polarization, specifically looking at people, interactions amongst
others with different political party alignments. The authors analyze “data form an original
survey field by YouGov.” (p. 261) and findings from the use of the original “experiment [that]
was embedded into a survey of 1,232 undergraduates from the University of Houston” (p. 264)
to provide evidence for their conclusion.

Conclusion
Because politics encompasses and affects so much of our everyday lives, the topics that it covers
are vast. However, academic journals all refer back to the definition of political science, taking it
a step farther by analyzing possible solutions to issues regarding different political conflicts and
interactions. Because people's behaviors towards others are affected by a multitude of factors,
authors use implicatory language in academic writing to show correlation, not causation. The
authors also write in the first person and use inclusive words to recognize that they too are
affected by the issues that they are writing about. Academic journals are formatted in a clear and
organized way, giving titles to sections and explicitly saying each step or action the author did
that led them to their conclusion. This adds to their credibility and gives the reader insight into
their thought process. We can learn a lot from studying political science because the issues it
covers affect us personally. By understanding why political conflicts arise and how we interact
with each other politically, we can be better informed about our political interactions as well as
others. And, by understanding possible solutions to political issues we become better informed
citizens.

Acknowledgement
I am grateful for Wess Newbury for taking the time to be interviewed and providing me
insightful information that gave me a starting place to write this paper. I am also thankful for
Joshua Smith who met with me during class and made sure I was on the right path for
completing my essay. I also thank my peers that edited my rough draft during class.

References
Adler, Sy, et al. “Advocating for Active Living on the Rural-Urban Fringe: A Case Study of
Academic Journal Analysis of Conventions used in the Political Science Discipline

Planning in the Portland, Oregon, Metropolitan Area.” Journal of Health Politics, Policy
and Law, vol. 33, no. 3, Sept. 2008, pp. 525–558., doi:10.1215/03616878-2008-007.
Gelman, Andrew, and Jeronimo Cortina. “A Quantitative Tour of the Social Sciences.”
Cambridge University Press, 2009, doi:10.1017/cbo9780511818851.
Grooms, Wes, and Emmanuel Frimpong Boamah. “Toward a Political Urban Planning: Learning
from Growth Machine and Advocacy Planning to ‘Plannitize’ Urban Politics.” Planning
Theory, vol. 17, no. 2, Sept. 2017, pp. 213–233., doi:10.1177/1473095217690934.
Simas, Elizabeth N., et al. “How Empathic Concern Fuels Political Polarization.” American
Political Science Review, vol. 114, no. 1, 2019, pp. 258–269.,
doi:10.1017/s0003055419000534.
Weir, Margaret. “States, Race, and the Decline of New Deal Liberalism.” Studies in American
Political Development, vol. 19, no. 2, 2005, pp. 157–172.,
doi:10.1017/s0898588x05000106.