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European Political Science


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Twenty years of EPS

Call for papers for special anniversary issue

European Political Science (EPS) was launched in 2001 under the editorship of Jim Newell and the guiding leadership of the then Director of the ECPR, Joe Foweraker to serve as the professional journal of the political science community in Europe, with a focus on expanding subject coverage to include teaching, pedagogy, curricula, career development, graduate training, regulation, mobility and exchange. These professional areas of the discipline remain core to the principles of the journal today.

In the intervening period the journal has become an important outlet for the dissemination of work by younger and more established scholars. EPS has also been part of the broader mission of inclusivity in terms of growing the political science community across Europe as a whole.

Twenty years ago, in the inaugural issue, Jean Blondel reflected on the need of political science to establish itself as a voice that governments would listen to, in a similar manner to economists. He highlighted the need to move away from country compartmentalisation to promote the development of an integrated profession. Some of his comments, such as the necessity to have greater mobility among staff, have partly become the norm in many European countries. Yet, political science is in quite an uneven state of affairs, with the economic retrenchment of years of austerity having created notable inequalities among the profession within Europe and beyond.

In this call for papers, we seek to reflect on how the profession has developed over the last two decades and set out a call to action for the next decades.

In 2001, Blondel could write from a point of optimism on the back of the removal of the East-West division in Europe and the potential for a truly integrated political science community. Recent developments, such as the rise of populist politicians, such as Victor Orban in Hungary, have challenged that sense of community. Moreover, political science as a discipline seems to be under challenge, both in terms of its validity to political leaders and the public at large as well as its perceived relevance by university leaders. It seems that now more than ever that there is a need for political science to find its voice.

Guidelines for submissions

In this open call for papers, we are keen to receive submissions that reflect upon how the discipline of political science has changed over the past 20 years, and will continue to change in the next 20 years.

  • What has changed in how we teach and learn in political science over the past 20 years and what will change in the next 20 years?
  • Have we increased diversity and inclusion in the political science profession in the last 2 decades?
  • What still needs to change in the profession to become a truly inclusive discipline?
  • If at all, how has the role of the political scientist changed in the public eye?
  • Has there any shift with regards to dominant paradigms, topics, theories and methods in European Political Science since 2001?
  • Have there been new challenges arising over the past 20 years? 
  • To become more relevant in the years to come, how does the discipline of political science need to further change?

Initial abstracts of a maximum of 300 words should be submitted by email to both of the following Editors: Alasdair Blair and Daniel Stockemer

Deadline for Abstracts: 1 August 2020

The Editors will review the abstracts and follow-up with authors in terms of their suitability for publication by 10 August 2020

Scholars that are invited to submit a full paper of maximum 6,000 words will be asked to complete their paper by 1 November 2020

The completed special edition will be published as the first issue of 2021 to mark the 20th anniversary of the journal