It doesn’t appear that the Senate took any action on Senator Coburn’s amendment today. So we still have time. Time to honor Senator Tom Coburn, M.D.
Of the many claims in Senator Coburn’s supporting document, I am struck by the notion that political science is less important than other fields because these fields “improve the human condition.” His examples:
* robotics to help individuals with severe disabilities
* a bone that blends into tendons, which mimics the ability of natural bone
* synthetic biology technology to engineer the next generation of biofuels
* a powerful new microchip-sized fan for use as a silent, ultra-thin, low-power and low-maintenance cooling system for laptop computers and other electronic devices
* a new type of fiber-reinforced concrete that bends without cracking
Now, let’s leave aside whether cooling laptops is truly improving the human condition. If that were my job description, I might try to cure a disease or two. But that brings me to the point: Senator Coburn seems not to think that politics affects the “human condition.” Let me state it in a way that may appeal to him as a doctor: politics kills. When people cannot arrive at political solutions for disagreements, they often fight. Like, to the death. With lots of other collateral damage. Sure, some political science is how-many-angels-can-dance-on-the-head-of-a-pin — although that’s not generally the stuff the NSF is funding. But lots of scholars are trying to figure out how to end wars, design functioning political institutions, mitigate ethnic conflict, create robust economies, etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc.
In fact, let me be so bold as to say that understanding, I dunno, genocide is probably going to improve the human condition a little bit more than a bone that blends into tendons.
So, let me announce a new award that will be bestowed by The Monkey Cage: The Senator Tom Coburn, M.D. Award for Political Science that Improves the Human Condition. Or, for short, the Cobie. The Cobie will be awarded by any of us, at any time, to any research that helps Senator Coburn see how political science might actually help people, or at least understand the stuff that helps or hurts people. If the research is funded by the National Science Foundation, then the scholar(s) will receive the coveted Double Cobie.
In that spirit, I will award the first Cobie to an article I blogged about over a year ago: “Who Fights? The Determinants of Participation in Civil Wars,” by Macartan Humphreys and Jeremy Weinstein (here). In my casual observation, civil wars aren’t so great for the human condition, so if we can understand why people might fight in them, perhaps we can figure out ways to stop them. Congratulations, Professors Humphreys and Weinstein! Imagine that an attractive anonymous woman is escorting you off the stage.
We are accepting nominations for other Cobies in comments.