Jeffrey C. Isaac served as Editor-in-Chief of Perspectives on Politics: A Political Science Public Sphere, a flagship journal of APSA, for eight years. During this time (2009-2017), he also served as an ex-officio member of the APSA Governing Council. In 2017, he was awarded APSA’s Frank J. Goodnow Award for his contributions to the public engagement of the political science discipline.
The way that APSA leaders handled the Claremont Institute situation was troubling… will APSA, as an organization, be committed to some broadly liberal democratic values?
Academic freedom is a very important value. Professional integrity is another. Both values admit complexity, and are the subject of reasonable disagreement among colleagues and leaders of academic institutions. At the same time, the modern academy would not be what it is, or at least aspires to be, were it not for these values. A very wide range of behaviors are consistent with and protected by these values. But for these values to have meaning, there also must be certain things that are simply beyond the pale. Is 21st century American fascism beyond the pale of the...