Political Science as a University Career. A Collective Biography of Professors of Political Science in Germany between 1949 and 1999

Abstract

Over the last fifty years. Political Science is firmly established in the German university system. The article presents the findings of a collective biography of the discipline's professors for the period between 1949 and 1999. The empirical study puts particular emphasis on the gender distribution among tenured Political Scientists, the age at certain stages in their academic career, and aspects of regional distribution. In addition, the paper presents quantitative data for different periods between 1949 and 1999 about the regional distribution of universities at which doctoral degrees, the 'Habilitation', and the chairs for Political Science were achieved. The research indicates that the vast majority of active professors of Political Science in Germany in the year 1999 will have become pensioners in 2009. The paper concludes with some speculative thoughts about the situation of the German university system in general and the question, whether the discipline will survive the ongoing university reforms as a coherent academic discipline.