Political Development and Political Science in West Germany

Abstract

The foundation of West German political science does not fit in with notions that the creation of a new discipline results or should result from autonomous changes within the academic system, i.e. from topical specialization, analytical diversification and theoretical progress of existing disciplines. The absence of a distinct academic discipline for political science in Germany before 1945, its political implementation after 1948 and its establishment in the 1960s were highly dependent on the course of socio-political development. The same can be said of the conceptual disputes and changes which have occurred since the late 1960s. However specific to the case of West Germany, the correlations between politics and political science considered in this article indicate a close connection between political and academic development