This article analyzes how political science in Brazil became an institutionalized academic field by tracing the expansion of graduate training and the rise of a formal evaluation regime.
📚 What the study looks at
- Expansion of the graduate system: growth of Master’s and doctoral degree programs in political science.
- The evaluation process: an assessment model that relies on peer review and the rating of scientific production.
- Comparison with neighboring disciplines: contrasts between Political Science, Sociology, and Anthropology.
🔎 How the evaluation model is described
- Details the assessment framework used to judge programs and scholarly output.
- Emphasizes the roles of peer reviews and publication-based ratings in shaping institutional standing.
🧭 Timing and comparative perspective
- Locates the sequence and pace of political science’s academic institutionalization relative to Sociology and Anthropology.
- Uses this comparative lens to highlight differences in development and placement within the broader social sciences.
⚖️ Consequences for the field today
- Considers how the timing of institutional growth and the reliance on a production-focused evaluation model have influenced the consolidation of political science in Brazil.
- Identifies persistent vulnerabilities implied by this historical-institutional process and its assessment regime.
Why It Matters: The article connects organizational growth, evaluation technologies, and disciplinary positioning to explain current strengths and weaknesses in Brazilian political science, offering a framework for understanding how evaluation regimes shape academic fields.