The International Journal of Politics, Culture, and Society welcomes original articles on issues arising at the intersection of nations, states, civil societies, and global institutions and processes. The editors are particularly interested in article manuscripts dealing with changing patterns in world economic and political institutions; analysis of ethnic groups, social classes, religions, personal networks, and special interests; changes in mass culture, propaganda, and technologies of communication and their social effects; and the impact of social transformations on the changing order of public and private life. The journal is interdisciplinary in orientation and international in scope, and is not tethered to particular theoretical or research traditions. The journal presents material of varying length, from research notes to article-length monographs.
Founded in the UK in 2002, Contemporary Political Theory has quickly established itself in the top rank of peer-reviewed journals in political theory and philosophy. Under new editorship in 2010, the journal is now based in both the USA and UK and reaches out to authors and readers in Europe, Asia and Oceania. It will continue, through a rigorous peer-review process, to seek out the very best work from the wide array of interests that constitute ‘contemporary political theory’: from post-structuralist thought to analytical philosophy, from feminist theory to international relations theory, from philosophies of the social sciences to the cultural construction of political theory itself. The editors welcome submissions from disciplines outside philosophy and political science, including but certainly not limited to: geography and anthropology, women’s studies and gender studies, cultural studies and economics, literary theory and film studies. Contemporary Political Theory publishes a challenging and eclectic mix of articles that contribute both to rethinking what political theory is and does, and to promoting lively engagements with contemporary global politics.
British Politics offers the only forum explicitly designed to promote research in British political studies, and seeks to provide a counterweight to the growing fragmentation of this field during recent years. To this end, the journal aims to promote a more holistic understanding of British politics by encouraging a closer integration between theoretical and empirical research, between historical and contemporary analyses, and by fostering a conception of British politics as a broad and multi-disciplinary field of study. This incorporates a range of sub-fields, including psephology, policy analysis, regional studies, comparative politics, institutional analysis, political theory, political economy, historical analysis, cultural studies and social policy.
While recognising the validity and the importance of research into specific aspects of British politics, the journal takes it to be a guiding principle that such research is more useful, and indeed meaningful, if it is related to the field of British politics in a broader and fuller sense.
The scope of the journal will therefore be broad, incorporating a range of research papers and review articles from all theoretical perspectives, and on all aspects of British politics, including policy developments, institutional change and political behaviour. Priority will, however, be given to contributions which link contemporary developments in British politics to theoretical and/or historical analyses. The aim is as much to encourage the development of empirical research that is theoretically rigorous and informed, as it is to encourage the empirical application of theoretical work (or at least to encourage theorists to explicitly signify how their work could be applied in an empirical manner).
Interest Groups & Advocacy will engage broadly with the politics of interests. It will record and analyze how advocacy by groups, movements and lobbying professionals shapes policy, and it will address important debates about how such interests are mobilized and maintained. It will cast a wide net across politics and society to identify the forces, strategies, and tactics that determine policy change. Open to diverse methodologies, it welcomes studies that address theoretical issues, report rigorous empirical work, and deliver insight on the range of change agents and their behaviour and impact.
Although this is a field traditionally dominated by American political science, in recent years there has been a widening geographical range as scholarly attention has reflected the growth of numbers, lobbyists have proliferated, and spending has increased in Europe, and in many states, provinces and localities around the world. Such territorial expansion of focus has been accompanied by broadened interest in the number and type of advocacy organizations, (far from the textbook stereotypes of interest groups), such as multi-national corporations, NGOs, and social movements, that seek to influence public policies.
With the active assistance of a diverse and experienced editorial board, the Editors explicitly seek to create a visible, well-regarded journal with the highest standards.
Whether in addressing historical issues or recent events, prospective articles should be sophisticated and of interest to a wide audience. We seek incisive, well-researched, and well-written articles. These qualities are especially important given our desire to attract contributions and attention from practitioners in the worlds of lobbying and group organization. Alongside the Editorial Board there is a Practice Panel to ensure our contents are credible in the world of practice.
Although this journal is anchored within political science, these aims will not be addressed satisfactorily without submissions from other disciplines, such as economics, sociology, law, and history. Social movement scholarship clearly falls under the broad field; likewise, public affairs makes up a major component of the process of competitive advocacy that is now commonplace as a proxy for democratic contestation.
The Editors and the editorial board welcome contributions in this broad area and intend to respond promptly to authors, with a goal of communicating decisions in no more than six weeks.
Although these matters have long received scholarly attention, they have never commanded the attention of a single journal and specialist reviewing. We look forward to establishing Interest Groups & Advocacy as this focal point.
In recent times, the study of France has been changing. Globalisation, Europeanisation, and interdependence have meant that it is less easy to see developments in contemporary France in a purely national context. External factors have intruded on the French political system. In the academic context the trend towards large-scale collaboration in comparative projects has meant an increasing opportunity for bringing France into the mainstream of academic research. Long considered to be an exceptional case, recent scholarship in political science has tended to emphasize the points of comparison between France and other polities. In short, the context of French politics is changing and the study of French politics is changing.
French Politics is designed to reflect these developments. It is an international, peer-reviewed journal of the highest quality that promotes the study of contemporary and comparative French politics, policy and society.
In addition to the focus on France, the journal has taken the decision to publish papers on the politics of Francophone countries and regions generally. Among others, we welcome submissions on Quebec, Francophone Belgium and Switzerland, and countries in Francophone Africa. We encourage submissions that adopt a comparative perspective as well as stand-along papers on these countries and regions.'
The journal focuses on the role of political institutions, political behaviour, public policy, political economy, international relations, public administration and public law. It particularly encourages and welcomes submissions that seek to incorporate the French and Francophone cases into more broad comparative and cross-national analyses, and that use these cases in theory-testing and theory building.
The journal also seeks contributions from a wide variety of methodological perspectives, including institutional analysis (historical, empirical, sociological), behavioural studies (survey data and timeseries analysis), rational choice (including game theory and rational choice institutionalism), political theory, political sociology and post-modern approaches (cultural theory).
Comparative Governance and Politics – Zeitschrift für Vergleichende Politikwissenschaft (ZfVP) was founded in 2007. It is an internationally renowned journal that adheres to the highest standards of quality (double-blind peer review). The journal is published quarterly, and it is the first bilingual (German and English) journal that focuses on innovative research results in the area of comparative politics.
The journal is a central academic forum for outstanding research achievements in the field of comparative politics, and covers the entire range of comparative research within the field. The journal publishes conceptual, methodological, and empirical studies from all the various research areas within the discipline of political science.
Special Issues and Special Sections
Special Issues and Special Sections offer the opportunity to present focal topics of comparative research. All submissions undergo a double-blind peer review procedure, which is conducted within the scope of a consultation between the author and the editors through our online submission system.
The editors will also initiate the creation of potential special issues through open calls for papers. At the same time, the editors always appreciate suggestions and initiatives from the comparative studies community. Proposals for Special Issues and Special Sections are also subjected to an internal evaluation process. Our Special Issues are published as one of the four quarterly issues and usually consist of six to ten articles, accompanied by an introduction written by the guest editor(s). Special Sections, on the other hand, are a topical focus in one of the four quarterly issues, consisting of three to five articles, which are supplemented by a guest editor’s preface.