Political science and the Internet

The Gutenberg invention of printing has been a major precondition for the d evelopment of present-day science and the science system. With this histori cal analogue as a starting point, the article addresses the present and fut ure impact of the emergence of electronic communication networks as epitomi zed by the Internet and the World Wide Web on the future organization and o peration of the science system, including political science and the effects that can already be found in the science system. The analysis finds that t he impact of electronic communication is already strongly felt in the "hard " sciences, but much less so in the humanities and social sciences, althoug h its potential there is also large. Electronic communication is a field wh ere the social sciences should engage much more in research than is present ly done.