To paraphrase slightly, I have been asked to focus on the apparenttensions between making genuinely scientific contributions byadvancing knowledge in rigorous ways within specialized subfields,on the one hand, and addressing substantive political issues ofgeneral interest in accessible fashion, on the other. My view isthat, though we should try to do both things, we should givepriority to the latter—to helping both disciplinary and generalpublic understandings of important substantive political issuesbecome better informed and reasoned. To adopt this priority isstill, I believe, to pursue the main tasks of political science asscientifically as possible; but it is true that this course involvessignificant tradeoffs.