political science in europe: diversity, excellence, relevance

Political science in Europe has been shaped by a great variety of national academic traditions and university systems, its relationship to neighbouring disciplines, and contending meta-theoretical approaches. In addition, since World War II, major external influences have come mainly from the US. Against this background, the special role of the European Consortium for Political Research (ECPR) is briefly discussed and evaluated. The conclusions point to some significant differences in emphasis between European and American political science and highlight the increasing relevance of such differences in the European but potentially also worldwide context.