The Centre for Political Research at Sciences Po (Cevipof) was founded in 1960 and affiliated to the CNRS in 1968.  It focuses on analysing the major political factors which shape political power and institutions together with the factors which contribute to orienting the political behaviour and attitudes of ordinary citizens.

The Cevipof is home to more than 80 full time researchers, teacher-researchers, associate researchers and PhD candidates.

Its approach is both international and interdisciplinary. The empirical and theoretical work carried out by its researchers contributes to developing an understanding of social and political change in France, Europe and in the major contemporary democracies.

The Cevipof today has become a top-ranking centre for the study of political thought, political ideas, voting behaviour, political attitudes and the analysis of political and social power in contemporary democracies.

Today, research at the Cevipof concentrates on two main domains: political attitudes, behaviour and parties; political thought and the history of ideas.
With regard to the analysis of political attitudes, behaviour and parties the focus is on transformations in public attitudes to politics. This includes work on the crisis in political confidence, the erosion of social ties, the decline of conventional forms of political participation (increase in abstention rates, spoiled votes, etc.) and the rise in forms of protest-based participation and associative activity, the emergence of new cleavages on issues such as authority, Europe, globalisation, etc. The focus is also on the notions of political competence, knowledge and reasoning. Finally, research is also carried out on transformations in the ways citizens become involved in politics and changes within political organisations, partisan culture and institutions.

Research on political thought concentrates on integrating the long-term context and collective memory into any reading of contemporary phenomena. It studies political groups, System Justification and changes in norms and rules in an increasingly fragmented society. This work, which is  theoretical and historical in nature, focuses on contemporary France. However, it also includes comparative, historical and international dimensions. In particular, it prioritises the birth of liberalism, the French republican tradition, the rise in nationalism, the metamorphosis of racism and the redefinition of democracy.