An interview with Luciano Bardi the new chairman of the European Consortium for Political research

by Maurizio Cotta | Published in issue3 /
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In April 2009 Luciano Bardi has been chosen as the new chairman of ECPR. After Giorgio Freddi of the University of Bologna he is the second Italian chairman of this important organisation.
Luciano Bardi (Ph.D. The Johns Hopkins University) is Professor of International Relations and Comparative Politics at the University of Pisa. His research interests include representation and democracy in the European Union, European Union Defence and Security Policy, party organization and party systems. He is co-director, with Peter Mair, of the EUI’s Robert Schuman Centre’s Observatory on Political Parties and Representation. He has written extensively in English and Italian on political parties in general and on European Union parties in particular. Recently, he has edited Partiti e sistemi di partito (2006) and co-edited I partiti italiani. Iscritti, dirigenti, eletti. (2007) as well as Dimensioni e dilemmi della sicurezza nel Mediterraneo (2008).

IPS has asked a few questions to the new chairman:

We all know the importance of ECPR for European political science but could you stress what are in your view the most important assets of this organisation ?

The ECPR’s most important assets are no doubt our members, our publications, and our staff. The number and scope of our activities has increased enormously in recent years. This is certainly due to my predecessors’ and to at least two Academic Directors’ initiatives and hard work, but it would not have been possible without our members’ stimuli, enthusiasm and constant commitment. ECPR members do a lot more than just participate: they work very hard at helping us fulfil what has always been the ECPR’s main mission, the promotion of political science research in and on Europe (and beyond). They have formed a number of important standing groups, 37 by the latest count, that organise sections at the General and Graduate Conferences, Workshops at the Joint Sessions, and Summer Schools, as well as Conferences of their own. They certainly are the scientific backbone of our organisation. At the same time the ECPR’s growing success has required very high dedication and professionalism on the part of the Administrative Director and of all of the ECPR’s Central Services staff. They have been simply priceless.

As you have already been part of the Executive committee for the past three years what have been recently the main trends of evolution ?

I would say there are four areas in which the ECPR has made the greatest progress in the last three years: internationalisation; publications; non research aspects of the profession, namely teaching; Official events. Michael Cox, my immediate predecessor, has been very successful at strengthening relations with non-European Political Science organisations, such as APSA, ISA and IPSA. As a result our mutual exchanges have increased significantly. Not disregarding the continuing success of our several book series, the most important developments concern our journals, with the launching of the European Political Science Review, the creation of an online version of European Political Science and with the incredible success of the European Journal of Political Research, ranked second of all world political science journals in 2008. Epsnet whose most important mission always was promoting co-operation in the teaching of political science in Europe has recently become an ECPR network, filling an important gap in our organisation. Finally we have had a consolidation of the Graduate Conference with two very successful editions in Essex and Barcelona, the affirmation of the General Conference as a world size event (1400 participants in Pisa and over 2000 expected in Potsdam) and the launch of the Capital Lecture Series, with a very successful first edition in Madrid.

Which do you see as the main challenges for the years to come ?

Certainly one will come from the demand, expressed by the membership, for Constitutional reform. The ECPR’s Constitution has worn thin over the years with the growth of the organisation. Its reform always was one of the objectives I had hoped to accomplish during my chairmanship, but the fact that the request came from the members before my formal inauguration makes it all the more important. With my fellow EC members I have already started to work at the new text which we will elaborate also on the basis of the debate we hope to generate within our membership (a dedicated blog will be up and running from August 1st). The other challenges will come from the need to alleviate our growth pains, but I am confident that we will find adequate responses.

As we celebrate the twenty years after the fall of the Berlin wall how do you evaluate the integration of Central and Eastern European countries in the field of political science? do you think ECPR has played a role ?

My assessment is positive overall, considering the initial and continuing economic and cultural difficulties. I have had very positive experiences cooperating with colleagues and participating in events especially in the Czech Republic and in the Baltic states. I think the ECPR has significantly contributed to this success in many ways: offering reduced rates, privileged access to mobility funds, and promoting initiatives (our largest summer school is located in Lublijana) and events, such as the 2005 Budapest General Conference and the 2008 Riga Conference of the ECPR Standing Group on the European Union.

Finally how do you see/interpret your role as Chairman ?

An ECPR Chairman’s term is only three years, too short in my view to allow me to depart radically from the line already drawn by my predecessors. So the short answer to the question is that I see my chairmanship as one of continuity and consolidation. As I indicated already, the ECPR has experienced significant expansion (new events, new journals, new networks) and growth (in terms of participation in our events, but also in terms of our participation in external events) in the last few years. This means that our current policies are successful and need to be continued. Naturally recently undertaken activities (like the EPSR or the Capital Lecture Series) need to be carefully monitored and consolidated, so they become as successful as other ECPR activities. This is also necessary in order to maintain the ECPR a financially viable organisation. In this general context, I will try to dedicate special attention to the further development of our Graduate network, a very important element for our current success (not only because of the Graduate conference, but also because of the numerous and qualified graduate student participation in other ECPR events) and for our future.

Thanks Luciano. From IPS and from the Italian Political Science community, congratulations and best wishes for your appointment!

Are there any other points you would like to make ?

No, I think your questions allowed me to cover all the important points. Thank you very much!