The Research Committee on The Study of Political Science as a Discipline has its roots in the special session on The Comparative Sociology of Political Science in the 1982 IPSA World Congress in Rio de Janeiro. That led to the founding of the IPSA Study Group on the Comparative Sociology of Political Science in 1982, proposed by John Trent and Michael Stein. In 1989, the Study Group merged with The International Committee for the Study of the Development of Political Science, which in 1985 had been founded on the initiative of David Easton after the joint symposium of the Finnish Political Science Association and the International Political Science Association on Development and Institutionalization of Political Science: Center-Periphery and Other Crucial Concepts, held in Espoo, Finland. The new research committee was accepted by IPSA in 1989 and held its first panels in the IPSA Buenos Aires World Congress in 1991.

Purpose and mandate

RC 33 promotes theoretical and research studies on the historiography and development of political science, either on its own or in conjunction with other IPSA research committees. The committee's approach is a comparative and eclectic one; it is intended to include the theoretical concerns of philosophers of social science, sociological and anthropological views of disciplinary origins and evolution, historical, and institutional studies.

Activities and publications

The RC33 organises panels at IPSA congresses and inter-congress roundtables. Several publications resulted from these meetings, most notably the World of political science book series, edited by John Trent and Michael Stein. Another book series is currently in progress. For more information, see our publications page.

 

Executive Committee (2025-2029)

 

Chair
Luciana Alexandra GHICA, University of Bucharest, Romania 

Secretary
Víctor ALARCÓN OLGUIN, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana-Iztapalapa, Mexico

Members:
Robert ADCOCK, American University Washington, United States
Nick DORZWEILER, Wheaton College, Unites States
John FENG, Wuhan University, China
Emily HAUPTMANN, Western Michigan University, United States
Fiona MACDONALD, University of British Columbia, Canada
Shaimaa MOHEYELDIN, Cairo University, Egypt
Jan Robert R GO, University of the Philippines Diliman, Philippines
Paulo RAVECCA, Saint Mary's University, Canada
Noor SUWWAN, University of Chicago, United States
Jarosław SZCZEPANSKI, University of Warsaw, Poland