Current Performance and Future Strength of Political Science

Abstract

The article and its five propositions question the current performance and future strength of political science as a discipline. Its empirics are based on the book series ‘The World of Political Science’, published between 2006 and 2012, on the development and current state of the various sub-disciplines, asking the question of ‘why we are where we are’ in political science. The topics discussed in the first section on the discipline’s actual strength are the relationship between the United States, Europe and the rest of the world, the advances and challenges of the discipline, and the issue of fragmentation and specialization. The second section addresses the relevance of political science to society and politics and the third the impact of current politics on the discipline. The text was presented at a preparatory conference in Helsinki in December 2013 and will be further discussed during a special round-table session at the International Political Science Association’s world congress in Montreal in July 2014. The propositions are intended to trigger debate among political scientists.