ECPR

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Budapest Summer School Lecture

Who we are

Founded in 1970, we are the leading European academic association with a mission to advance political science.

The European Consortium for Political Research (ECPR) was established by a group of twelve founding European universities and as the result of a project led by eminent political scientists, Jean Blondel and Stein Rokkan, to…‘break down the barriers between the national traditions of the discipline and create a truly international community of scholars within Europe…’

With the help of a generous grant from the Ford Foundation, the ECPR quickly built a framework of membership and activities to meet this mission.

Fifty years on, we are the leading scholarly society for political scientists in Europe; we have over 300 institutional members in nearly 50 countries, which amounts to a global community of tens of thousands of scholars.

We bring scholars together across our global network to develop research and grow the discipline. Through our events, publications and research groups, we foster scholarly collaboration across borders.

We fulfil our core mission to advance political science by:

  • Delivering methodological and professional training and career development to PhD students and early career researchers;
  • Providing forums for the development of research and the formation of networks;
  • Issuing grants and funding opportunities to scholars;
  • Steering a prestigious publishing programme that shares the newest research as widely as possible.
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What we do

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Our members

Our members are universities, and the communities within them, engaged in the research and teaching of social sciences.

Our membership is comprised of over 300 of the world’s leading academic institutions concerned with the teaching and research of political science and related disciplines. From this membership stems a network of tens of thousands of individuals, all of whom benefit from ECPR membership; from PhD student to Emeritus Professor.

Find out more about membership benefits and sign up to our Newsletter to receive regular updates from us.

We help interpret the world’s complex and changing political landscape for the benefit of all.

In an ever-changing world where democracy and academic freedom can seem alarmingly fragile, our original mission today resonates more than ever.

Through the eyes of our founders, we created a global network and the discipline of European political science. With that comes a responsibility to be the voice of our community, to speak out when we see challenges, to build bridges between countries, schools of thought, and the academic and public spheres.

Now in our second half-century, we will continue to grow a welcoming, diverse, and inclusive international network able to interpret the political landscape for all, to help the world understand and benefit from the critical importance of political science. And that, is our most important mission of all.

 

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Why we do what we do

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Our governance

Our organisation is led by political scientists, for the benefit of political scientists

The ECPR is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) registered and headquartered in the UK. A board of twelve trustees (the Executive Committee) elected from the membership provide academic and strategic governance. Members of the Executive Committee are highly respected professionals within the discipline, eager to contribute their ideas, time and energy to developing European political science. 

The operational offices are based in Colchester (originally at the University of Essex, a key founding member of ECPR) at Harbour House.