International Studies Quarterly
Reconnecting Evidence and Theory: Building Knowledge from the Ground Up
2025-10-16
This International Studies Association Presidential Address argues that international studies needs to rethink the field’s identity, and its value to students and society—an issue that is urgent due to the challenges facing higher education. International studies has long valued theory and theoretical paradigms over the careful evaluation of theory on the basis of evidence. The address argues that the incentive structure that encourages this focus on theory is misguided. It also argues that the field’s identity, value, and future do not depend on this focus on theory and theoretical paradigms. Instead, the field’s identity, value, and future depend on a willingness to center evidence-based, theory-informed scholarship. The address argues that the proposed redirection would alter the role of theory in the field, rather than make it obsolete. Evidence-based, theory-informed scholarship places theory in the service of an evidence-based understanding of phenomena in global politics and advances knowledge—offering value to students and society.