The Bumpy Road to Relevance: Croatia, Hungary and Lithuania in Perspective

This chapter examines how has the relevance of political science developed in Croatia, Hungary and Lithuania, that is how is the profession engaged with important audiences, namely the student body, society at large and pragmatic politics. Similar to the Western context the normative and pragmatic understanding of relevance appear in these emerging political science communities while identity formation and the achievement and preservation of legitimacy also define how political science can become relevant. The concept of relevance is built on three dimensions related to three potential fields of engagement: knowledge provision, social presence and practical impact. This chapter highlights that the profession continues to be beset by problems relating to the issue of relevance but differences between the countries are pronounced. Moreover, the three main aspects of relevance have not been achieved to the same level within the same country although we can duly expect a degree of adjustment as the three aspects are interconnected and will influence one another. This chapter argues that the development of relevance is a two-way process: government and university policies act as the external context, while the profession’s interests, commitment and ambitions constitute the internal force marking the way forward