Current Focus and Trends of Comparative Political Science: Germany, Great Britain and the USA

The analysis of the state of Comparative Politics in Germany clearly reveals an incongruity between the number of personnel working in the sub-discipline and their productivity. At the "Top 15" Political Science Departments in Germany almost one third of the personnel is engaged in the sub-discipline of Comparative Politics. This situation compares favourably to the United States and Great Britain where the share of comparatists is smaller. However, with regard to the number of publications (i.e. performance), German comparatists definitely perform less well. Comparatists only contribute 20 per cent of the articles published in three important German political science journals; female colleagues are more productive than male academics in this field. Concerning the object of study, a certain parochialism prevails: Most of the contributions relate to Germany or focus on the United States or Western Europe. There are some indications that the methodological consciousness has been increasing in the recent past.