Sciences Po: The Foundation and Early Teaching of Its Predecessor

The early history of Sciences Po begins with its predecessor, the École libre des sciences politiques. On February 25, 1871, Émile Boutmy wrote to Ernest Vinet, librarian at the École des Beaux-Arts, linking France's military defeat to reform of higher education. Professional education for doctors, lawyers, and engineers already existed, he argued, but systematic training that enabled educated citizens to understand contemporary politics and judge public questions was lacking.

This letter and Vinet's reply were subsequently published as Quelques idées sur la création d’une faculté libre d’enseignement supérieur. Boutmy advocated an educational experiment through private association rather than merely submitting a proposal to a minister. His objectives included rebuilding the intellectual capacities and public influence of society's upper strata, rather than universal education offering all social classes equal opportunities.

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The school's 1872 prospectus gave its temporary address as 17 rue de l'Abbaye, Paris, in the building of the Society for the Encouragement of Industry, explaining that classes would exceptionally begin in January that year, with November planned for later years. Worthington's correspondence published in 1887 recorded January 10, 1872 as the first teaching day. The initiative of 1871 and the start of classes in 1872 were related but distinct stages.

The beginnings were modest. Dominique Damamme's archival research notes that the school rented a classroom by the hour, registered eighty-nine listeners, and faced irregular attendance. The prospectus listed six courses planned for that year, while the study summarizes five actually taught at the outset; a planned schedule and implementation at a particular moment should not mechanically be treated as identical. Sorel's diplomatic history and Leroy-Beaulieu's financial history were among the core early courses.

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Funding was not abundant from the start. Recounting the foundation, Worthington wrote that fewer than fifty shares had initially been subscribed, while available resources included several thousand francs Boutmy raised for particular chairs and advances from the founding committee. Only as subscriptions were gradually completed could activities expand. His account shows that institutional independence also meant continually seeking financial support.

The temporary regulations of 1872 set a combined registration fee of one hundred francs for the year's courses and special lectures, while allowing enrollment in individual courses. Attendance required prior registration; these were not completely unrestricted public street lectures. Full-course and selective attendees could coexist, with fees and registration linking income, audience organization, and teaching arrangements.

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The curriculum emphasized contemporary questions, cross-national comparison, and historical and critical methods. Diplomatic history traced international relations since the Peace of Westphalia; constitutional history compared European and American institutions after 1776; financial history addressed budgets, taxation, debt, and borrowing; and histories of agriculture, industry, and commerce called for interpretation of statistics on production, circulation, and wealth distribution. Together they addressed concrete institutions and facts rather than merely teaching abstract political rhetoric.

The faculty reflected this combination. The prospectus named Sorel, Leroy-Beaulieu, Levasseur, and Paul Janet, among others, bringing together historical researchers, economic writers, and teachers from existing academic institutions. The original plan distributed ten courses across two years, with six to eight months of teaching annually, and proposed quickly establishing a reading room and library focused on contemporary political history. This library remained an arrangement to be implemented, not a complete facility at opening.

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The temporary regulations provided a thesis defense for those completing the full course over two consecutive years. Besides its particular subject, the thesis had to address questions from other courses. Examiners would include the entire faculty and at least three outside writers on political science, and a public defense could lead to a diploma certifying competence. This shows an attempt to turn scattered attendance into connected training, but the diploma did not automatically confer government employment.

Seminar teaching developed later with greater attention to learning processes. Worthington described teachers and students sitting together in 1887 to discuss budgets, diplomatic documents, or statistical tables, compare interpretations, and resolve questions. Questions arising in formal lectures were chiefly reserved for seminars. He believed this exposed students to original sources and methods for using them critically, while also complaining that some lectures supplied no reading lists. The contemporary observation records both distinctive methods and practical shortcomings.

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Interest in knowledge alone could not easily sustain a stable audience. Drawing on Boutmy's reports and letters, Damamme notes a July 1872 decision to establish diplomatic and administrative tracks, connecting courses more directly to professional needs. Expectations of supporters including bankers, business leaders, and officials also shaped development; the academic proposal did not remain unchanged once announced.

By 1887, Worthington, studying in Paris, could introduce this combination of courses and seminars to American colleagues. He praised teachers' practical administrative experience but criticized some teaching on American institutions as superficial. Knowledge exchange thus involved scrutiny in both directions. The school's early achievement was to organize political, historical, economic, and administrative knowledge into continuing instruction, while constantly balancing broad education, career prospects, and reliable research.

References: [3] [4]