Resumo

BARRIENTOS DEL MONTE, Fernando. Political Science in Latin America: a brief historical introduction. Convergencia [online]. 2013, vol.20, n.61, pp.105-133. ISSN 2448-5799.

This essay provides a model to analyze the development of political science in Latin America along the last sixty years. It identifies some of the theoretical disciplines, such as law and sociology, which set it in motion at the beginning, but at the same time they hindered its development as an independent science until recent decades in which political approaches predominate. Likewise, this essay shows the structural conditions of its development through the illustration of several variables, such as the proliferation of academic programs, political science scholar associations and academic production in journals, in order to evaluate the degree of institutionalization of political science in Latin America thus far. It concludes that political science in Latin America has accomplished its autonomy as an independent science, but it shows great diversity across the region.

Palavras-chave : political science; political scientists; Latin America; history; social sciences.