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For use of the name Sciences Po, see Use of Sciences Po.

For other French Institutes of Political Studies, see IEP.

The Paris Institute of Political Studies (French: Institut d'etudes politiques de Paris), often referred to as Sciences Po (pronounced see-ahns po), is a Grand Établissement in Paris, France.

Sciences Po was founded in February 1872 as École Libre des Sciences Politiques (ELSP) by a group of French intellectuals, politicians, and businessmen. ELSP was meant to serve as “the breeding ground where nearly all the major, non-technical state commissioners were trained.”

On 9 October 1945, Charles de Gaulle nationalized the ELSP. The school was split into a teaching entity, Paris Institute of Political Studies, (French: Institut d'Études Politiques, IEP) and a research and administrative body, National Foundation of Political Science (France) (French: Fondation nationale des sciences politiques, FNSP). Both entities are referred to as Sciences Po, and were tasked by the French government to ensure “the progress and the diffusion, both within and outside France, of political science, economics, and sociology”

Sciences Po is comprised of a series of 17th and 18th century mansions located on and around rue Saint-Guillaume in the VIIe arrondissement of the Left Bank. Its main campus is just off the Seine River, and within walking distance of Notre Dame de Paris, Panthéon, and Assemblée Nationale.

History of Sciences Po

The name Sciences Po refers to three distinct, yet complementary institutions:

• École Libre des Sciences Politiques (ELSP), which was replaced in 1945 by
  • Fondation nationale des sciences politiques (FNSP), a research foundation; and
  • Institut d'etudes politiques de Paris (IEP), a teaching school.

1872-1945

Sciences Po was established in February 1872 as the ELSP by a group of French intellectuals, politicians and businessmen led by Emile Boutmy, and including Hippolyte Taine, Ernest Renan, Albert Sorel, Paul Leroy Beaulieu, and François Guizot. Following defeat in the 1870 war, the demise of Napoleon III, and the Paris Commune, these men sought to reform the training of French politicians. Politically and economically, people feared France's international stature was waning due to inadequate teaching of its political and diplomatic corps.

ELSP developed a humanistic and pragmatic teaching program: instructors included academics as well as ministers, high civil servants, and businessmen. New discipines such as International Relations, International Law, Political Economy and Comparative Government were introduced. In August 1894, the British Association for the Advancement of Science spoke out for the need to advance the study of politics along the lines of ELSP. Sidney and Beatrice Webb used the purpose and curriculum of Sciences Po as part of their inspiration for creating the London School of Economics in 1895.

The situation since 1945

As per ordinance 45-2284, issued by Charles de Gaulle on 9 October 1945, two entities were created from ELSP: National Foundation of Political Science (France) (French: Fondation nationale des sciences politiques) or FNSP and Paris Institute of Political Studies (French: Institut d'études politiques de Paris) or IEP Paris. The epithet Sciences Po was applied to both entities, which inherited the reputation previously vested in ELSP.

France's Legislature entrusted FNSP with managing IEP Paris, its library, and budget, and an administrative council assured the development of these activities.

The curriculum and methodology of the ELSP were also the template for creating an entire system of institutes of political studies (French: Institut d'études politiques) across France.

FNSP further strengthened its role as a scientific publication center with significant donations from the Rockefeller Center. FNSP periodicals such as la Revue française de science politique, le Bulletin analytique de documentation, la Chronologie politique africaine, and the Cahiers de la Fondation as well as its seven research centres and main publishing house, Presses de Sciences Po, contribute to the notoriety attained by Sciences Po research.

Recent Reforms

Sciences Po has undergone myriad reforms under Richard Descoings, Director of Sciences Po (1997-present). Sciences Po has introduced a compulsory year abroad component to its undergraduate degree, and now offers a multilingual curriculum in French, English, and other languages. New educational sites have been set up in Nancy, Dijon, Poitiers, and Menton. Sciences Po also set the length of its undergradate program to three years and its graduate program to two years in line with the Bologna Process.

Sciences Po also implemented reforms in its admissions process. Previously, Sciences Po recruited its students almost exclusively from elite schools (mostly state-funded) in France, but in March 2001, the school's governing council widened its admissions policy. From September 2002, Sciences Po began accepting a small batch of students from economically depressed suburbs of Paris on the basis of their school record and a 45-minute interview, rather than the name-blind examination all other students must pass to be admitted. The reform is intended to broaden the socio-economic characteristics of Sciences Po student-body, and gained national and international media attention, though remains highly controversial.

Method of Instruction

Sciences Po's curriculum focuses on the full-range of the social sciences, including public policy, international relations, contemporary (modern) history, economics, finance, geography, constitutional and administrative law, philosophy, management, and sociology. Students are given the opportunity to specialize in a social science discipline in their final two years of the five-year program, which leads to the Diplôme de Sciences Po. Instruction is provided by a staff of around 1,400 teachers, a majority of whom are practitioners in their respective fields. Most recently, instructors included Dominique de Villepin, Pascal Lamy, Hubert Vedrine, and Dominique Strauss-Kahn. These instructors are anchored by around 800 tenured professors. As of 2004, approximately one third of the student body was foreign.

Research

FNSP manages the research faculty and facilities of Sciences Po, and is one of the largest social sciences research bodies in Europe. FNSP manages research centres, a doctoral school, a library and a publishing house.

Research centres

The FNSP manages eight research centres (*five jointly with CNRS). The foundation of Sciences Po predates by a few decades the creation of political science, as such the Institute focuses on all the social sciences that study the political field.

• social sciences
  • history : Centre d’histoire de Sciences Po
  • sociology :
    • OSC (Observatoire sociologique du changement)*
    • CSO (Centre de Sociologie des organisations)*
  • Economics, including economic policy
    • GEM (Groupe d'économie mondiale)
    • OFCE (Observatoire français des conjonctures économiques)
• Branches of political science
  • international relations
    • CERI (Centre d’études et de recherches internationales)*
  • politics in France and Europe
    • CEVIPOF (Centre d’étude de la vie politique française)*
    • OIP (Observatoire interrégional du politique)*

Doctoral School

The Doctoral School is headed by Marc Lazar and includes 175 faculty members and 600 doctoral students.

Library (Bibliothèque de Sciences Po)

Founded in 1871, the nucleus of the school’s research is Bibliothèque de Sciences Po, which houses a million-volume collection of works in the social sciences. The Bibliothèque is also the hub of the Documentary Service which maintains 16,000 press dossiers on a wide range of sub-topics, and which each years abstracts and indexes some 21,000 articles from 9,500 periodicals each year. In 1982, the National Ministry of Education made the Bibliothèque the Centre for Acquisition and Dissemination of Scientific and Technical Information in the field of political science, and since 1994, it has been the antenna associated with Bibliothèque Nationale de France. Bibliothèque de Sciences Po is also the main French partner in the International Bibliography of the Social Sciences, which is based at the London School of Economics.

Publishing House

Presses de Sciences Po is the publishing house of Sciences Po. It publishes academic works related to the social sciences, and is the leading French publisher in the fields of public policy, international relations, political history, French government, and economics. It publishes 6 French academic journals in the social sciences, and has 900 titles in its catalogue, with 30 new titles added annually.

Global Public Policy Network

Sciences Po offers dual master’s degrees with the London School of Economics and the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University. This collaboration has existed since the early 1990s, but was formalized in September 2005 with the official launch of the Global Public Policy Network in Beijing, China. The partnership is meant to foster greater academic collaboration between students, faculty, and research centers of three leading public policy schools in what could arguably be termed the three world capital cities. The network is further intended to facilitate collaboration on public policy research, student and faculty exchanges, and international conferences and fora with policymakers from the USA, UK, and France. This alliance has produced five degree programs with LSE, including masters degrees in International Relations, Negotiation, International Political Economy, Public Affairs, and the Practice of International Affairs, and two degree programs with Columbia, specifically a Masters of International Affairs and a Masters of Public Affairs.

Notable Faculty & Alumni

See List of Sciences Po People

Sciences Po alumni and former staff include twenty-eight heads of state or government, specifically three past or present French presidents, thirteen past or present French prime ministers, twelve past or present foreign heads of state or government, and a former United Nations Secretary-General. Nearly every French politician or diplomat has attended Sciences Po since its inception; however the school has also educated fourteen current CEO's of France's forty largest companies. Graduates of Sciences Po are usually referred to as Sciences Po but may be referred to as sciences-potistes or sciences-potaches. Some French students further their studies at École nationale d'administration (ENA), which is often viewed as the compulsory educational step before serving in French politics or diplomacy.

Notes

1. “Sciences Po 1945-1979” Centre d’histoire de Sciences Po
2. “Sciences Po 1945-1979” Centre d’histoire de Sciences Po
3. “Sciences Po 1945-1979” Centre d’histoire de Sciences Po
4. "LSE: A History of the London School of Economics and Political Science, 1895-1995", Oxford University Press, June 1, 1995.
5. "Consolidation de L'autonomie de Sciences Po" Sénat, 1996.
6. "Le statut juridique de Sciences Po: la dualité FNSP et IEP de Paris" Centre d’histoire de Sciences Po
7. “Sciences Po Paris Overview: Introducing Sciences Po” Sciences Po Website, 2001.
8. “Sciences Po Paris Overview: Introducing Sciences Po” Sciences Po Website, 2001.
9. “Sciences Po Paris Overview: Introducing Sciences Po” Sciences Po Website, 2001.
10. "IBSS Boosts Coverage of French Social Science Journals", IBSS, 2005.
11. "Presses de Sciences Po", Sciences Po Website, October 21, 2004.
12. "Columbia University, LSE and Sciences Po launch Global Public Policy Network", PRNewsWire, September 19, 2005.
13. "Sciences Po’s Joint Degrees", Association of Professional Schools of International Affairs, October 21, 2004.
14. "Sciences Po ― an elite institution's introspection on its power, position and worth in French society" NYU Department of Journalism, September 09, 2003.

External links

• Sciences Po (FNSP and IEP Paris) official English-version website
• Federation of Alumni Associations
• Sciences Po USA Alumni Association
• Sciences Po: A Brief History

• Alumni of Sciences Po
• Association of Professional Schools of International Affairs
• Education in Paris
• Founders of Sciences Po
• Grands établissements
• Instituts d'études politiques
• Libraries in Paris
• List of People Associated with Sciences Po