[1] At the end of the 19th and at the beginning of the 20th century while political science actively proved itself in the USA and in many European countries, only a few schools of thought - first of all those that were connected with the national statehood - started to develop in Russia. Then after October of 1917, the process of development of political science was interrupted for a long time.
[2] The first attempts to legalise it in the Soviet Union were made in the 1960s. As a result of the efforts made by a group of Soviet social scientists, the Soviet Political Science Association was established in December of 1960. An important event was the 11th World Congress of International Political Science Association (IPSA) held in 1979 in Moscow. During the preparation and sitting of the Congress, the Soviet participants demonstrated considerable professional competence and having met the leading scientists of the world face to face, received a great impetus for further research work. However, only in the period of perestroika in the second half of the 1980s, there was a practical need for political science that was able to suggest solutions to issues of today 1 (Note1: Politicheskaya nauka v Rossii. Vypusk 1. Sbornic obzorov. М. 1993. p. 6.)
[3] In the tide of common changes that began in the field of social sciences, the State Committee for Science and Technology in the USSR adopted the Resolution “On Nomenclature of Scholars’ Qualifications’ of 1988. It established the following political science qualifications: theory and history of political science; political institutions and processes; political culture and ideology; political problems of international systems and global development. Another two qualifications – socio-political processes; organisation and management and public opinion – were established in the section “Social sciences”. 2 (Note2: Byulleten’ VAK pri Sovete Ministrov SSSR. №3. 1989. p.18.)
[4] The first specialised dissertation councils, which were accredited to examine dissertations in political science, were founded at the Institute of Social Sciences under the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and at the Ural Department of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR in 1990. Some of the specialised councils on historical studies, philosophical, legal and social sciences received the same right with the condition that they would employ qualified experts. The first expert council on political science was founded within the Supreme Certification Commission (VAK) in autumn of 1990. The first defence of candidate and doctoral dissertations took place a year and a half later after the publication of the Resolution.
[5] Shortly after this, chairs of political science with a new (compulsory) discipline “Political Science” were set up in higher educational institutions of Russia. New departments and sections of political science were opened in some research institutes. The first issue of the journal – a specialised magazine in political science - appeared in January of 1991. Within a short time, the first textbooks in this new discipline were published; scientific seminars and conferences were held. Consequently, political science in Russia has received legal status as an independent social science discipline with its own subject and research methodology, theoretical tools and conceptual apparatus, schools of thought and orientations.
[6] During its establishment, it was confronted with such problems as:
[7] All these problems were connected with both objective and subjective reasons. The fact that Russian political science is very young remains one of the main objective reasons. The attitude towards political science on the part of authorities at different levels is one of the most important subjective reasons. The research results of professional political scientists are not always required by authorities.
[8] Certainly, these and other problems could not and cannot be solved at once. Without the establishment of an infrastructure that is necessary for every scientific discipline – system of education of professional staff, postgraduate education, doctorate, dissertation councils, professional periodicals, etc. – it is impossible to establish scientific schools and centres that set scientific directions and promote development of theoretical and applied components of political science. Nevertheless, political science in Russia has developed quite steadily in the last few years. This estimation is proved in particular by the data concerning dynamics of dissertation defence (See Table One).
[9] This development is based on a gradual growth of the number of departments and faculties responsible for education of professional political scientists, the growth of the number of research students, doctoral students and degree-seeking students as well as on more intensive work of dissertation councils in the leading higher educational institutions and academic centres.
[10] Dissertation councils, which are qualified to be the main filters in securing a high quality of scientific works, are contributing significantly to the development of political science in Russia.
[11] The Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation approved the “Regulation on the Council for Defence of Doctoral and Candidate Dissertations” in January of 2007. The reorganisation of the network of dissertation councils started in autumn of this year in order to modernise the Russian certification system for scholars.
[12] This process is still continuing, therefore it is too soon to take stock of it. A positive outcome must result from the fact that dissertation councils (most of them doctoral) which employ new experts are expected to examine both the quality of scientific research and the dissertation defence itself more strictly and critically including the demand for quantity and quality of the publications on the dissertation theme 3 (Note3: The recommendation of the General Committee of the Higher Appraisal Commission adopted at the end of 2007 prescribes that a candidate for a doctoral degree has to publish at least seven scientific works on the dissertation theme by publishers from the list of the Commission.). This should lead to a higher quality of scientific works and elimination of such negative occurrences as writing of dissertations “on request” for good money.
[13] It should be noted that this problem is not that widespread in political science as, for example, in the field of economics. A more serious problem is the quality of dissertations, especially doctoral ones.
[14] Candidates for a scientific degree, their curators and consultants, chairs and finally dissertation councils, often forget the clause 8 of the “Regulation on the Conferment of Advanced Academic Degrees”. It says: “A thesis for a Doctor’s degree should be a well-qualified scientific work. The theoretical items based on the research done by the author must constitute new and remarkable achievements in science, or solve a significant scientific problem that is of great socio-cultural or economic importance…”
[15] A thesis for a degree of Candidate of Science should be a qualified scientific work that solves a problem that is of significant importance to the corresponding branch of knowledge.” 4 (Note4: See Sbornik normativnykh dokumentov po attestatsii nauchnykh i nauchno-pedagogicheskikh rabotnikov. Ministerstvo obrazovaniya RF. – М.: Izdatel’stvo IKAR, 2003. p.9.) (Author’s view is stated in italics).
[16] Dissertation councils as well as the Expert Council and the presidium of the Supreme Certifying Commission must be subject to these standards during the estimation of dissertations. However, dissertation councils often ignore the prescribed standards and undercut the requirements. A dissertation must undergo at least a threefold (!!!) quality control on the part of the scientific curator or consultant, on the part of the chair and at the stage of an interim defence. There are often failures at all these stages.
[17] Around 30 out of 67 dissertation councils in political science existing at the end of 2005 were reorganised by the end of March. One hopes that they will work in a more responsible manner.
[18] During the optimisation process, first of all regional Dissertation councils for Candidate degrees were cut significantly. It is not likely that all 11 councils existing in Russian regions at the end of 2005 will be able to convert to doctoral ones. There are no objective preconditions for that yet.
[19] Closing of the Dissertation councils for Candidate degrees can have a negative influence on the development of the scientific infrastructure in the regions, which is confronting serious problems anyway. Certainly, it will be a serious endurance test for all that was accomplished in the field of development of the infrastructure of political science and the educational system of scholars in the last 20 years.
[20] Nevertheless, one can state confidently that:
[21] Activation of the work of regional departments of the Russian Political Science Association (RPSA) as well as expending international cooperation contributes to a successful development of the science.
published July 2008
