The eight-volume International Encyclopedia of Political Science from Sage Reference is a set without any directly comparable works. A large part of that fact may be explained by its nominally contradictory assessment of a subject area more traditionally associated with North American educational institutions within an international context. While “political science” has an established history in the humanities departments of universities all across the United States, one is still more likely to encounter departments of “political philosophy” or “political economy” or just plain old “politics” around most of the rest of the globe. Nonetheless, this work was developed in partnership with the International Political Science Association which was itself borne out of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and its calculated push to further develop the social science-related disciplines in the immediate post-World War II era. As such, its editors Badie, Berg-Schlosser, and Morlino represent prestigious universities in France, Germany, and Italy respectively and the list of contributors exceeds 600 individuals representing the educational institutions of over 40 nations (but with a decided tilt towards the United States and the countries of the European Union).

This work as reviewed here in its tangible print format is comprised of eight hard bound volumes of a quality and attractiveness to be expected of Sage.Beyond the lists of entries and contributors, it also includes such standard tools as an index and a “Reader’s Guide,” organizing more narrow topics within broader concepts of political science, which helps to make the set as appropriate for undergraduate students and the general public as for those individuals with graduate level or otherwise advanced familiarity of the discipline. Both the list of entries and the index are mercifully reprinted in each volume to help sate the impulse towards the instantaneous search capability of the modern technological era. The main entries are alphabetical, signed by the authors and include “see also” references along with extensive bibliographies for “further reading.” The list of entries heavily emphasizes concepts (from anarchism to Zionism) and their associated terminology over individual figures except in cases where concepts are so named for particular individuals (for example, Marxism or Maoism) and in cases where the impact of those individuals is deeply felt at the theoretical level. But there are some puzzlingly inconsistent choices (yes to solo entries on Machiavelli, Hobbes, and Kant, but none for Aristotle, Montesquieu or Burke). The first volume also contains an invaluable “Introduction to Political Science” article penned by the editors which summarizes the historical evolution of the discipline and lays out its general parameters as defined by the IPSA. As can be reasonably expected from an organization so intricately tied up with the United Nations, those parameters fall squarely within the conventional mainstream academic study and analysis of political science to the point of nearly excluding the likes of an Ayn Rand on the right or a Frantz Fanon on the left. Still, those who wish to gain insight to the basics of the discipline regardless of whether they agree with its perspective will find much to like here.

In a world where even Encyclopedia Britannica has finally called “uncle” on its print component, the ebook version is likely preferable to the undergraduate audience which will find the greatest utility in this set.