Blondel graduated the Institut d'Études Politiques of Paris in 1953 and then attended St Antony's College at Oxford University from 1953 to 1955.

[1] After graduating with a B.Litt, he had returned to France for his military service and only then could conclude his studies on central and local government at Manchester University.

Latterly, he worked on the comparative approach to analysing presidentialism across the globe, with emphasis on the regions of Latin America, Africa and the former Soviet republics.

[6] In recognition of his work, the ECPR has since October 2003 awarded the annual Jean Blondel PhD Prize for the best thesis in politics nominated by a member institution in a given year.

[7] Blondel also held honorary doctorates from the Universities of Salford and Essex in the United Kingdom, Louvain-la-Neuve in Belgium, Turku in Finland, and Siena in Italy.