This book is the result of a co-operative effort of an international team of researchers who came together in search of answers to the question concerning the situation and condition of political science in selected European countries. We have been concerned with this question for quite some time now and the result of our observations are two books devoted to political science in Poland, entitled Political Scientist, Who Are You? Past and Present of Political Science in Poland [in Polish: Kim jesteś politologu. Historia i stan dyscypliny w Polsce, B. Krauz-Mozer, P. Borowiec, P. Ścigaj, Kraków 2011 (vol. I), 2012 (vol. II) Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego]. The book we hereby present to the reader might be seen as a follow-up on those reflections. Together with the authors from a number of countries we have tried to paint a relatively coherent picture of political science in Europe. We are delighted to take this opportunity to thank our authors for their commitment. We are infinitely grateful for their co-operation, valuable observations and the results of their work.

The book contains papers prepared by researchers from various European academic centres, presenting their opinions regarding the condition of political science as well as observations regarding the dominant areas of interest to political scientists in their respective countries. The papers are not always uniform in structure and neither are they entirely coherent with each other in terms of presenting information and interpreting data. This in itself may be seen as a sign of the diversity of political science and its complex nature, which reflects the various ways in which the history of the discipline has unfolded in different countries. Bearing this in mind, we hope that this collection of papers will serve as a reliable compass for all those interested in this subject and will inspire an honest debate on the new challenges faced by political science. The reader alone can decide whether our aim has been achieved. If so, this would mean that we have succeeded in building a bridge that benefits us all.