Political Science contra a democracia: a forma？？o de uma tradi？？o

the article analyzes the formation years of political science in the united states. the bibliography has highlighted three characteristics that would be the core of an american tradition in this study field: 1) the commitment to the principle of liberalism, 2) the institutionalist approach, and 3) the affirmation of the scientific character of its entrepreneurship. in a still little elaborated way, these haracteristics are present in a "citizen literature" in the end of the 18th century, but they were defined in a more precise way in the process of institutionalization of political science in the second half of the 19th century, and has become the hallmarks of this science in the united states. this research shows how these characteristics have been displayed in the emergence of political science and argues that for its better understanding it is necessary to highlight a forth characteristic: its mistrust democracy and the people.