French political science: Strengths and weaknesses

Abstract

French political science has faced many obstacles. The most significant were the influence of neighboring disciplines such as law, sociology and history; the centralization of recruitment at the national level; the small number of research centers, particularly in the regions; the small number of teachers and researchers; the expatriation of young researchers to the United States and Canada; the loss of influence in certain areas, including the study of elections, the analysis of political parties and the study of public institutions; the absence of research in some sectors, including international political economy; the nature of political science journals; the small number of ‘think tanks’; the lack of international openness; the weak presence of French researchers in international congresses and the language barrier; and the absence of a true translation policy of fundamental works of Anglo-Saxon or Hispanic political science by publishing houses or university presses. Fortunately, French political science also has strengths. They include the attractiveness of the institutes of political studies; the influence of cultural areas specialists, including the Arab world and Africa; the role of major research centers oriented abroad; the research centers of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; the discipline’s influence in certain sectors, including public policy, European studies and international relations; the practice of foreign languages by young researchers; and the analysis of strategic and security issues.