ABSTRACT
In political science an illusion of progress is often evoked by merely introducing new, and hence fresh, words to replace old ones, but without any rigorous analysis of what is or is not new. Also the behavioral revolution in political science led to an emphasis upon empirical research and a discounting of normative issues, which had bulked large in traditional political science. These two problems of new terminology and the presumed superiority of empirical research over normative discourse arise with the recent popularity of Joseph Nye’s concept of “soft power.” At present, however, there is uncertainty over how much explanatory power can be given to the concept of “soft power,” which seems to be answering a real need for new terminology, but which also seems to be a retreat from hard, empirically defined concepts of power and influence and a reemphasis upon normative dimensions of power.
