How Political Science Can Be Most Useful

The Chronicle of Higher Education
Henry Farrell and Jack Knight
March 10, 2019

Agatha Christie’s murder mystery The Mousetrap is the longest running play in history. Its first run began in 1952, and it hasn’t stopped since. Another perennial whodunnit — "Who Murdered Political Science" — is mounting a strong challenge for the runner up. Regularly repeated performances haven’t stopped audiences from enjoying the traditional denouement, in which the detective accuses Quantitative Methods and Game Theory of conspiring to bash the victim’s head in.

Discerning critics were unimpressed with Michael Desch’s recent "cult of the irrelevant" production, which played recently in this magazine. They found it too reminiscent of past stagings — all recycled quotes and stale nostalgia — and would have preferred a more novel interpretation. Even so, like Christie’s play, it’s a traditional crowd-pleaser.

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