According to Inside Higher Ed: “The Senate voted last Wednesday to bar the use of National Science Foundation funds for political science research not deemed essential to national security or economic interest.” This article notes that this has been a pet project of Republican Oklahoma Senator Tom Coburn, who believes that government funding should go to research with beneficial real-world applications. The measure was an amendment to a bill that will fund the government through the fiscal year. Come October 1, a new budget will have to be passed and this measure would have to be reintroduced.
As someone studying politics (public policy, actually) this is a little dismaying. I’ve argued on this blog that fixing gridlock probably means fundamental changes in areas such as voting or campaign finance. Republicans like to argue that they are for good government, effective government. How can we determine the effectiveness of our democratic processes without researching them? American democracy is often likened to an experiment, but this bill undermines our efforts to study and learn from that experiment.
My first reaction is that Sen. Coburn’s efforts are emblematic of a Republican mindset which revels in hubris and scorns self-reflection. Marco Rubio, speaking at CPAC, preempted criticism of the lack of new ideas in his speech by saying: “We don’t need a new idea. There is an idea: the idea is called America, and it still works.” I realize that being conservative means you resist change, but there is a fine line between being principled and being obstinate. And asking questions about how America governs itself doesn’t mean you love America any less.