Abstract
The introductory chapter introduces the research project that the book’s chapters are built upon and identifies key questions that are addressed within the book’s thematic frame. The COST Action ‘ProSEPS’ project (Professionalization and Social Impact of European Political Science) collected updated information about the situation of the political science profession in Europe. Despite the widely acknowledged process of continental integration driven by the European Union (EU), the academic landscape has been and still is characterised by a great variety of traditions, institutions and resources. On this basis, this chapter explains that institutional development has been chosen as the major focus that could possibly introduce as well as explain the sources of this variety. It identifies the empirical, theoretical and comparative issues at stake and introduces the cases covered in the book and its structure.