Not to step on Brian‘s territory, but I just wanted to cross-post here something that I wanted to propose.
One of the recurring themes on my blog and at the Poli Sci Job Rumor site is that of rankings. See here, here, and here for a taste of my fixation.
Anyhow, I am always reminded of a simple fact when I see any political science ranking of journals, presses, departments whatever: that whenever a ranking is suggested or revised, it is always suggested by someone who benefits from the new ranking. Nobody ever proposes a ranking that puts their department lower. So, Godwin's Law--that the longer any internet discussion, the probability of Hitler/Nazis/Holocaust being mentioned approaches one--has inspired me to propose a new law.
Anyhow, I am always reminded of a simple fact when I see any political science ranking of journals, presses, departments whatever: that whenever a ranking is suggested or revised, it is always suggested by someone who benefits from the new ranking. Nobody ever proposes a ranking that puts their department lower. So, Godwin's Law--that the longer any internet discussion, the probability of Hitler/Nazis/Holocaust being mentioned approaches one--has inspired me to propose a new law.
What would we name the following law: Any ranking of any aspect of the academic enterprise will produce revised rankings that improve the standing of the folks who produce the revised rankings? In honor of a semi-anonymous person who published amusing pieces at PS (see here for an example if you can--gated),* so how about Wuffle's Law?
* A scholar.google search of Wuffle will produce many more contributions than I had remembered.
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