A small request to sign a petition re: NSF funding for pol sci

[drenilop]

You all know that I'm not the type to forward all sorts of things around without very good reason. Well, this counts as a good reason. A Republican senator has filed an amendment to cut all funding for political science (or political "science," as he calls it) research from the National Science Foundation's budget. He thinks it's a waste of taxpayer money because it doesn't produce "real" life-changing information. That's not what the social sciences do, and it's not evenwhat all of the NSF "hard science" money funds. The social sciences try to understand human behavior - why some people vote, and others don't. Why some extremist groups turn into violent terrorists, and others - in the same exact contexts and with the same goals - turn into peaceful civil society groups that collaborate with the government to achieve change. Why peacekeeping helps settle some civil wars but seems to make others worse. These are all valuable contributions to understanding the world around us, and NSF-funded work is done at the highest level of careful public scrutiny by peers in the field. The NSF budget for political science is a measly $9 million a year. If it helps one peacekeeping mission to end sooner or happen more safely than otherwise, or helps to keep one extremist group from becoming terrorists, we're already in the black.

Please take a moment to sign the petition (link below) to your senators and representatives. This is not a waste of taxpayer money.

Thanks,
drenilop

http://www.petition2congress.com/2/2508/go/442301/

The senator's justification/explanation:
http://coburn.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=RightNow.Home&ContentRecord_id=3036838b-802a-23ad-469e-3fcfb490ec11