The purpose of this paper is to explore conceptions of the discipline of political science in the United States and West Germany over the past decade. To provide a basis for systematic analysis, three American and two German professional political-science journals have been content analyzed: the American Political Science Review (APSR), the Journal of Politics, the Midwest Journal of Political Science, the Politische Vierteljahresschrift (PVS) and the Zeitschrift fur Politik (ZfP). These journals provide a good basis for comparative analysis for several reasons. First, they are all official journals of major political-science organizations in their respective countries. Second, all aim at high quality scholarship and a readership primarily composed of political scientists. Third, none of the journals restricts itself to selected fields within political science, but rather all seek to cover the discipline. And fourth, all of the journals are quarterlies and include the same general types of materials, i.e., main articles, book reviews, professional news, etc. Thus, the journals provide a solid basis for comparison.
