The Platform of Empirical Political Science

Until recently, quantitative political studies were dominated by "politically oriented" sociologists. In recent years, there has been a marked growth of interest in this discipline among political scientists. Yet, most such empirical research is still conducted individually by single scholars. This results in the problems typical for newly developed fields of study, such as:

  • dispersion and lack of coordination of research activities
  • limited access to specialist literature
  • lack of "data banks"

In some cases, the scholars put much effort and resources into data collecting projects, unaware that the material they are working on has already been gathered by someone else.

Project "The Platform of Empirical Political Science" aims to meet the challenges faced by political sciences in Poland, especially those related to the promotion of research institutions and the information about their ongoing projects and the results of their recent research. It will involve the creation of a system for the exchange and dissemination of data from the broadly understood area of empirical research on politics. It is planned that the Platform will become an online information center on empirical political science, serving the attainment of the following goals:

  • dissemination of information about the publications and research and providing access to the data gathered during the research
  • promotion of research institutions which carry out empirical studies in the field of social sciences, with special focus on political science
  • creating a network of information exchange between different centers of empirical research on politics, in order to foster interdisciplinary synergy in this area.

The implementation of the project will consist in the creation of a web portal that will include an electronic library of publications and bibliographies, a database library, and a promotional website. Our offer is primarily directed at the persons carrying out research projects that involve gathering and processing of large sets of data pertaining to:

  • elections and electoral systems
  • party systems
  • lawmaking process
  • funding in politics
  • functioning of parliamentary coalitions

The cooperation within the Platform of Empirical Political Science can be generally understood in two ways. Firstly, it is a useful tool provided by the database and the complex and constantly expanding information exchange platform. In the second, broader sense, the undertaking can be the first step towards closer collaboration of political scientists from Poland and, in the long run, the whole Central Europe.

To learn more about the project, please read the documents attached below (Polish version only):

Collaboration and data distribution rules within the academic networking run by the Platform of Empirical Political Science

Main forms of participation in the Platform