Political science as an academic discipline in Colombia

This paper analyzes the current state of political science as an academic discipline in Colombia. Considering the concept of institutionalization as a departure point, the author examines five discipline components, namely, the development of teaching, educators, research, publications, and the recent emergence of a profession association as well as the implementation of the first national congress. The author identifies strengths and weaknesses of the Colombia's recent institutionalization process and shows that the process has been uneven with regard to different Colombian universities. As it turned out, in Colombia, political science is a discipline developed primarily at private institutions, with a limited admission rates but with high concentration of research, doctoral training, and the number of academic publications.