A Small Discipline, Scarce Publicity, and Compromised Outward Reach: The Advisory Roles of Political Scientists in France

Abstract

Although it has been developing and come through processes of institutionalization since WWII, French political science remains a small and rather marginalized discipline in search for visibility. Several tendencies work against the performance of a decisive advisory role from its part, especially the presence of an already solid and wide-ranging internal, in-house (state) expertise, which is still considered by many as a strong national asset. Consequently, it makes it hard for political scientists, as external academic actors, to exist in the eyes of decision-makers and achieve relevance. Nonetheless, driven by favourable attitudes towards an advisory and public engagement and the presence of facilitating conditions, we show that French political science infrequently manages to move in the policy advisory system. This chapter notably finds that political scientists might individually or collectively benefit from a participatory turn shaping the operation of advisory systems, that some level of boundary work takes place in relation with public administration, and that think tanks and sub-national actors’ reinforcement has opened opportunities for advice-giving and advice circulation. A case study about an important project of reform of the parliament illustrates how involvements from French political scientists in public debates and advisory activities might unfold and translate into practice.