Scientific networks of constitutional law and of political science in Spain: Genealogy, structure and development

Abstract

This article presents an investigation that aims to reconstruct, with the aid of the methodology and software of Social Network Analysis (SNA), both the genesis and genealogy as well as the structure and morphology of the scientific networks of Constitutional Law and Political Science. This study also highlights the joint origin of both networks from the common core of Political Law developed in Spain between 1940 and 1980. The analysis also shows the polycentric nature of both networks, unlike scientific networks from similar disciplines in other countries. Finally, the study presents a set of indicators, with global measures of the network set and with local measures related to the actors and academics that have formed the original or foundational groups of these disciplines. These indicators allow comparing both networks with each other and also with other scientific networks from the same disciplines in other countries through a comparative perspective.