Two Decades of Political Science Research Assessment

Today, there is a general acceptance of, or at least resignation about, Dutch Research Assessments, whether in political science or in other disciplines. Research assessment exercises started in the Netherlands in 1993, and are held every six years. To a large extent, research assessments are a non-issue. In comparison to the experience of political scientists in many other countries, this may seem surprising, but several factors help account for this counter-intuitively high level of satisfaction. The single most important factor underlying the acceptance undoubtedly is the simple fact that the role of the government in organizing, administering and supervising the assessments is marginal. A recent report by an independent think tank concluded that nowhere in Europe is the involvement of the government or other state actors as minimal as it is in the Netherlands (Van Drooge et al. 2013). The universities alone are responsible for the assessments. The Standard Evaluation Protocol (SEP), which outlines the aims and procedures of the research assessments, has been developed by the Dutch Association of Universities (VSNU) together with the Dutch Science Foundation (NWO) and the Royal Academy of Sciences (KNAW), organizations that are beyond the direct control of the government.