Political Science in Europe: Achievements, Challenges, Prospects

The celebration of the 50th anniversary of the ECPR is an opportunity to reflect on the origins and development of European political science and provide a critical assessment of the achievements and challenges lying ahead. As disciplines go, 50 years is a short period of time. Yet, this half-century has been a defining period for the development of political science in Europe: disciplinary norms have emerged and become institutionalized in training and research units and in professional organizations - such as the ECPR; the scholarly community and production have dramatically grown across the continent; the sophistication of the analytical and methodological tools of the discipline has significantly increased and the knowledge production and exchange disseminated under the label “political science” is bigger than it has ever been.

Political Science in Europe aims to reflect on these achievements and challenges. It is structured around 14 chapters that reflect on the intellectual and professional development of the discipline in Europe. Section I reviews what European political science means in terms of objects, paradigms, data, and methods to assess the “European touch” in producing political science. Section II moves the focus to the producers of European political science to discuss the professional challenges related to inclusiveness and professionalization. Section III addresses what European political science is for and how it responds to the external environment. The 14 chapters will be structured along a common line of inquiry: they review what European political science was at the time of inception, reflect on how and why it changed thereafter, and discuss the current state of the discipline and the challenges ahead.