The Institutionalisation of Political Science in ECE: The Grounding of Theory

Abstract

AbstractThe chapter aims to establish a theoretical framework regarding the institutionalisation of political science as an academic discipline, by building on the experiences of 16 selected countries. Whether a discipline is institutionalised revolves around three issues: the process, that is, how institutionalisation develops; the outcome, that is, which properties appear indispensable; and what contextual factors matter most in influencing either process or property. Based on a critical review of the literature, the properties of stability, identity, autonomy, reproduction and legitimacy have been defined. These embody a well-institutionalised science: one that should have stable existential patterns, a clear academic profile; one that should be able to independently define its own rules and norms while getting external agents to accept them, and be able to ensure its own reproduction and to maintain a legitimate position. The chapter also examines the specificities in the latecomer political science communities’ institutionalisation patterns. Formation conditions, potential starting points, stability concerns and the issue of ‘regionality’ are specifically considered. As the institutionalisation tasks had to be dealt with in a ‘compressed period of time’ academia here faced the free world of opportunities and adjustment requirements at one and the same time.