Receipt from N.R. Macgregor, Central Fruit Depot, St. Catharines for groceries

Receipt from N.R. Macgregor, Central Fruit Depot, St. Catharines for groceries, July 22, 1887.

Receipt from St. Catharines and Welland Canal Gas Light Company for gas rent

Receipt from St. Catharines and Welland Canal Gas Light Company for gas rent, Sept. 3, 1887.

Receipt from Flynn Bros., St. Catharines for groceries

Receipt from Flynn Bros., St. Catharines for groceries, Oct. 5, 1887.

Receipt from N.R. Macgregor, St. Catharines for groceries

Receipt from N.R. Macgregor, St. Catharines for groceries, Dec. 10, 1887.

Receipt from James Mills, St. Catharines for prescriptions

Receipt from James Mills, St. Catharines for prescriptions, Dec. 1, 1887.

Receipt from McSloy Bros., St. Catharines for baked goods

Receipt from McSloy Bros., St. Catharines for baked goods, Dec. 2, 1887.

Receipt from E.D. Radcliffe, St. Catharines for ice

Receipt from E.D. Radcliffe, St. Catharines for ice, Dec. 5, 1887.

Receipt from McLaren and Co., St. Catharines for pants

Receipt from McLaren and Co., St. Catharines for pants, Dec. 23, 1887.

Receipt from M.Y. Keating, Books, Stationary and Newspapers, St. Catharines for books

Receipt from M.Y. Keating, Books, Stationary and Newspapers, St. Catharines for books, Dec. 23, 1887.

Receipt from St. Catharines and Welland Canal Gas Light Company for gas rent

Receipt from St. Catharines and Welland Canal Gas Light Company for gas rent, Dec. 31, 1887.

Receipt from H. Carlisle and Co., St. Catharines for fabric

Receipt from H. Carlisle and Co., St. Catharines for fabric, Jan. 3, 1888.

Receipt from W.H. Eckhardt, Star Music Store, St. Catharines for rent of machine

Receipt from W.H. Eckhardt, Star Music Store, St. Catharines for rent of machine, Feb. 1, 1888.

Letter to T. H. Wiley from J.J. Nichols and Sons, Mason Contractors and Plasterers, St. Catharines

Letter to T. H. Wiley from J.J. Nichols and Sons, Mason Contractors and Plasterers, St. Catharines regarding tenders for the proposed lily pond, May 12, 1916.

Letter to Mr. Welland D. Woodruff from Thos. Wiley, Architect, St. Catharines

Letter to Mr. Welland D. Woodruff from Thos. Wiley, Architect, St. Catharines regarding tenders for the proposed lily pond, May 17, 1916.

Studying Your Own Country. Social Scientific Knowledge For Our Times and Places; Presidential Address to the Canadian Political Science Association, St Catharines, May 28, 2014

Political science is both a generalizing and an anchored, nationally defined, discipline. Too often, the first perspective tends to crowd out the latter, because it appears more prestigious, objective, or scientific. Behind the international/national dichotomy, there are indeed rival conceptions of social science, and important ontological, epistemological and methodological assumptions. This article discusses these assumptions and stresses the critical contribution of idiographic, single-outcome studies, the importance of producing relevant, usable knowledge, and the distinctive implications of studying one’s own country, where a scholar is also a citizen, involved in more encompassing national conversations. The aim is not to reject the generalizing, international perspective, or even the comparative approach, but rather to reaffirm the importance of maintaining as well, and in fact celebrating, the production of social scientific knowledge directly relevant for our own times and places.