THE DEPARTMENT of Government and Foreign Affairs at the University is now the Department of Politics. The name change is a negative development and does nothing to increase the prestige of the department.
The Department of Government and Foreign Affairs changed its name to the Department of Politics after the Board of Visitors approved the measure at their Jan. 25-26 meeting. The State Council of Higher Education still must technically approve the proposal, but this is a mere formality and the name change went into effect after the Board approved it.
When students try to register for government classes for next semester, they will see that the name change already is in effect in the Course Offering Directory. The change should require minor adjustment to students registering for classes online, but the issue remains whether there was any real reason for the change.
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In an e-mail interview, Department of Politics Chairman Robert Fatton said, "The new name reflects both a general consensus among faculty for the change, and the gradual evolution of the Department."
The name change is supposed to reflect the shift in the department over the last 15 years and how the study of government and foreign affairs has become more of a science. The shift also makes it so there is no longer a distinction between government and foreign affairs in the name, which reflects the unity of the department.
According to Fatton, the change affects the name of the department but not the curriculum. Classes and major requirements will remain the same. Students still will receive degrees in either government or foreign affairs.
The name change is not a good one. The word "politics" has a negative connotation. When one thinks of "politics," they think of pork barrel spending, corruption and incompetence, the compromising of values and many other unpleasant things. The major means much more than the Democrats and the Republicans, and the name change does not do justice to this.
The department of government and foreign affairs was always an odd name for a department at the University. Most other colleges do not call their majors in related fields "government and foreign affairs," and it gave the term a sort of mystery. The two most common terms for government and foreign affairs are political science and international relations, respectively. The department at the University is distinctive from many other programs throughout the country. The difference can be attributed to the faculty and classes. The major also is uniquely popular at the University.
Most schools call their departments of a similar nature political science. Schools ranging from Berkeley and the University of Pennsylvania to Virginia Tech and James Madison University use the term political science to describe their "politics" department. If the department at the University is giving up its uniqueness, then why does it not call its department the department of political science?
Fatton's reasons to change the name are not even met. If the name was changed because the field was becoming more scientific, the name should have been changed to political science. If the reason was to show unity between government and foreign affairs, this is hardly achieved if students must still choose one or the other to specialize in.
Even though the change is only superficial, it still is important because the name of the department affects how people view it and its students. If someone is looking at a resume and sees the major political science, it will look the exact same as an applicant from any other school with the same major from community colleges to Ivy League universities. But government and foreign affairs made it so that what the major actually studied was readily apparent, while making it distinct at the same time.
In the long run, the name change will not mean very much. Students are not particularly concerned, and years from now the department of politics will be accepted by students as the only thing to call the department. However, change can be positive if it improves something. But change for the sake of change is not a good thing.
(Harris Freier's column appears Fridays in The Cavalier Daily. He can be reached at hfreier@cavalierdaily.com.)
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