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{{Short description|Scientific study of politics and social science}}
{{about|the field of study||Political Science (disambiguation)}}
{{redirect|Poli sci|the album by John Forte|Poly Sci}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2016}}
{{Use Oxford spelling|date=August 2016}}
{{politics}}

'''Political science'''{{Efn|sometimes abbreviated as '''poli sci''', '''policsci''', or '''polsci'''{{citation needed|date = November 2025}}}} is the [[Social science|social scientific]] study of [[politics]]. It deals with systems of [[governance]] and [[Power (social and political)|power]], and the analysis of political activities, [[political philosophy|political thought]], [[political behavior]], and associated [[constitution]]s and [[law]]s. Specialists in the field are '''political scientists'''.

==History==
{{main|History of political science}}

===Origin===
Political science is a social science dealing with systems of [[governance]] and power, and the analysis of political activities, political institutions, political thought and behavior, and associated [[constitution]]s and [[laws]].<ref name=":3">{{cite web |title=Definition from ''Lexico'' powered by Oxford University Press. Retrieved 23 February 2020 |url=https://www.lexico.com/definition/political_science |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191230225002/https://www.lexico.com/definition/political_science |archive-date=30 December 2019 |access-date=23 February 2020 }}</ref>

As a social science, contemporary political science started to take shape in the latter half of the 19th century and began to separate itself from political [[philosophy]] and history.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last=Bevir |first=Mark |date=2022 |title=A History of Political Science |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/elements/history-of-political-science/F1FADCBCCCCB95BB3B8DF694A0A805F3 |journal=Cambridge University Press |language=en |doi=10.1017/9781009043458|isbn=978-1-009-04345-8 |url-access=subscription }}</ref> Into the late 19th century, it was still uncommon for political science to be considered a distinct field from history.<ref name=":1"/> The term "political science" was not always distinguished from [[political philosophy]], and the modern discipline has a clear set of antecedents including moral philosophy, political economy, [[political theology]], history, and other fields concerned with normative determinations of what ought to be and with deducing the characteristics and functions of the ideal state.{{Citation needed|date=April 2024}}

Generally, classical [[political philosophy]] is primarily defined by a concern for [[Greece|Hellenic]] and [[Age of Enlightenment|Enlightenment]] thought,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Zeitlin |first=Irving M. |title=Rulers and Ruled: An Introduction to Classical Political Theory |date=1997 |publisher=University of Toronto Press |isbn=978-0-8020-7877-3 |doi=10.3138/9781442679498|jstor=10.3138/9781442679498 }}</ref> political scientists are also marked by a great concern for "[[modernity]]" and the contemporary [[nation state]], along with the study of classical thought, and as such share more terminology with [[sociologists]] (e.g., [[structure and agency]]).<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Sigelman |first=Lee |date=2010 |title=Terminological Interchange Between Sociology and Political Science |journal=Social Science Quarterly |volume=91 |issue=4 |pages=883–905 |doi=10.1111/j.1540-6237.2010.00740.x |jstor=42956439 |issn=0038-4941}}</ref>

The advent of political science as a university discipline was marked by the creation of university departments and chairs with the title of political science arising in the late 19th century. The designation "political scientist" is commonly used to denote someone with a doctorate or master's degree in the field.<ref>{{Cite web |title=How to Become a Political Scientist |url=http://www.bls.gov/ooh/life-physical-and-social-science/political-scientists.htm#tab-4 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180627210137/https://www.bls.gov/ooh/life-physical-and-social-science/political-scientists.htm#tab-4 |archive-date=27 June 2018 |access-date=13 September 2016 |agency=Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor}}</ref> Integrating political studies of the past into a unified discipline is ongoing, and the history of political science has provided a rich field for the growth of both [[Norm (sociology)|normative]] and [[positive (social sciences)|positive]] political science, with each part of the discipline sharing some historical predecessors. The [[American Political Science Association]] and the ''[[American Political Science Review]]'' were founded in 1903 and 1906, respectively, in an effort to distinguish the study of [[politics]] from economics and other social phenomena. APSA membership rose from 204 in 1904 to 1,462 in 1915.<ref name=":1"/> APSA members played a key role in setting up political science departments that were distinct from history, philosophy, law, sociology, and economics.<ref name=":1"/>[[File:Map_of_unitary_and_federal_states.svg|right|300px|thumb|upright=1.5|A world map distinguishing countries of the world as [[federation]]s (green) from [[unitary state]]s (blue), a work of political science]]The journal ''[[Political Science Quarterly]]'' was established in 1886 by the Academy of Political Science. In the inaugural issue of ''Political Science Quarterly'', [[Munroe Smith]] defined political science as "the science of the state. Taken in this sense, it includes the organization and functions of the state, and the relation of states one to another."<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Smith |first=Munroe |date=1886 |title=Introduction: The Domain of Political Science |journal=Political Science Quarterly |volume=1 |issue=1 |page=2 |doi=10.2307/2139299 |jstor=2139299 }}</ref>

As part of a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) initiative to promote political science in the late 1940s, the International Political Science Association was founded in 1949, as well as national associations in France in 1949, Britain in 1950, and West Germany in 1951.<ref name=":1"/>

Founded in 1903, the American Political Science Association (APSA) is the leading professional organization for the study of political science and serves more than 11,000 members in more than 100 countries.<ref>{{Cite web |title=About APSA |url=https://apsanet.org/about/about-apsa/ |access-date=2025-09-08 |website=American Political Science Association (APSA) |language=en-US}}</ref>

===Behavioral revolution and new institutionalism===
In the 1950s and the 1960s, a [[Behavioralism|behavioral revolution]] stressing the systematic and rigorously scientific study of individual and group behavior swept the discipline. A focus on studying political behavior, rather than institutions or interpretation of legal texts, characterized early behavioral political science, including work by [[Robert Dahl]], [[Philip Converse]], and in the collaboration between sociologist [[Paul Lazarsfeld]] and public opinion scholar [[Bernard Berelson]].{{Citation needed|date=April 2024}}

The late 1960s and early 1970s witnessed a takeoff in the use of deductive, [[game theory|game-theoretic]] formal modelling techniques aimed at generating a more analytical corpus of knowledge in the discipline. This period saw a surge of research that borrowed theory and methods from economics to study political institutions, such as the United States Congress, as well as political behavior, such as voting. [[William H. Riker]] and his colleagues and students at the [[University of Rochester]] were the main proponents of this shift.{{Citation needed|date=April 2024}}

Despite considerable research progress in the discipline based on all types of scholarship discussed above, scholars have noted that progress toward systematic theory has been modest and uneven.<ref>Kim Quaile Hill, "In Search of General Theory", ''Journal of  Politics'' '''74''' (October 2012), 917–31.</ref>

===21st century===
In 2000, the [[Perestroika Movement]] in political science was introduced as a reaction against what supporters of the movement called the mathematicization of political science. Those who identified with the movement argued for a plurality of methodologies and approaches in political science and for more relevance of the discipline to those outside of it.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=veelUVVHg8MC |title=Perestroika!: The Raucous Rebellion in Political Science |date= 2005 |publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=978-0-300-13020-1 |language=en |access-date=24 May 2016 |archive-date=20 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200820003122/https://books.google.com/books?id=veelUVVHg8MC |url-status=live }}</ref>

Some [[evolutionary psychology]] theories argue that humans have evolved a highly developed set of psychological mechanisms for dealing with politics. However, these mechanisms evolved for dealing with the small group politics that characterized the ancestral environment and not the much larger political structures in today's world. This is argued to explain many important features and systematic [[cognitive bias]]es of current politics.<ref name="AEP">Michael Bang Petersen. "The evolutionary psychology of mass politics". In {{Cite book |last=Roberts |first=S.C. |title=Applied Evolutionary Psychology |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2011 |isbn=978-0-19-958607-3 |editor-last=Roberts |editor-first=S. Craig |doi=10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199586073.001.0001}}</ref>

==Overview==
{{image frame|content={{Photomontage
| photo1a = 2011 Philippine State of the Nation Address.jpg{{!}}National and regional politics and government (sometimes referred to as area studies)
| photo1b = United States Capitol - west front.jpg{{!}}United States Capitol, United States of America
| photo2a = United Nations General Assembly Hall (3).jpg{{!}}United Nations General Assembly
| photo2b = ANICET-CHARLES-GABRIEL LEMONNIER A READING OF VOLTAIRE.jpg{{!}}A reading of Voltaire's "L'Orpheline de la Chine" in the salon of Madame Geoffrin
| photo3a = Stockmarket.jpg{{!}}The Stock Market
| photo3b = Social Network Analysis Visualization.png{{!}}Visualization of a Social Network
| photo4a = Zal Uchilischa pravovedenia.jpg{{!}}''Hall of the School of Jurisprudence in St. Petersburg'' (1840)
| photo4b = Banderas europeas en la Comisión Europea.jpg{{!}}Flags of the European Union outside of the European Commission
| size = 300
| spacing = 3
| color = #FFFFFF
| color_border = white
}}|width=312|caption='''Main sub-disciplines of political science''', from top left to right: '''1.''' [[Domestic policy|Domestic politics and government]]; '''2.''' [[Comparative politics]]; '''3.''' [[International relations]]; '''4.''' [[Political theory]]; '''5.''' [[Political economy]]; '''6.''' [[Political methodology]]; '''7.''' [[Public administration]]; '''8.''' [[Public policy]]}}Political science is a social study concerning the allocation and transfer of [[Power (social and political)|power]] in [[decision making]], the roles and systems of governance including [[governments]] and [[international organizations]], political behaviour, and [[public policies]]. It measures the success of [[governance]] and specific policies by examining many factors, including [[Economic stability|stability]], [[justice]], [[material wealth]], [[peace]], and [[public health]]. Some political scientists seek to advance [[positive (social sciences)|positive]] theses (which attempt to describe how things are, as opposed to how they should be) by analysing politics; others advance [[Norm (sociology)|normative]] theses, such as by making specific policy recommendations. The study of politics and policies can be closely connected—for example, in comparative analyses of which types of political institutions tend to produce certain types of policies.<ref>{{cite book |first=Edeltraud |last=Roller |title=The Performance of Democracies: Political Institutions and Public Policy |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2005}}</ref> Political science provides analysis and predictions about political and governmental issues.<ref name="Maddocks">{{Cite web |last=Maddocks |first=Krysten Godfrey |date=26 Jun 2020 |title=What is Political Science All About? |url=https://www.snhu.edu/about-us/newsroom/social-sciences/what-is-political-science |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210925233617/https://www.snhu.edu/about-us/newsroom/social-sciences/what-is-political-science |archive-date=25 September 2021 |access-date=2021-09-25 |website=snhu.edu |language=en}}</ref> Political scientists examine the processes, systems and political dynamics of countries and regions of the world, often to raise public awareness or to influence specific governments.<ref name=Maddocks/>

Political scientists may provide the frameworks from which journalists, special interest groups, politicians, and the [[Constituency|electorate]] analyze issues. According to Chaturvedy,
{{blockquote|Political scientists may serve as advisers to specific politicians, or even run for office as politicians themselves. Political scientists can be found working in governments, in political parties, or as civil servants. They may be involved with [[non-governmental organizations]] (NGOs) or political movements. In a variety of capacities, people educated and trained in political science can add value and expertise to [[corporation]]s. Private enterprises such as [[think tank]]s, research institutes, polling and [[public relations]] firms often employ political scientists.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Chaturvedy |first=J.C. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kzV4V59udu8C&pg=PA4 |title=Political Governance: Political theory |publisher=Isha Books |year=2005 |isbn=978-81-8205-317-5 |page=4 |access-date=28 October 2014 |archive-date=4 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150904012526/https://books.google.com/books?id=kzV4V59udu8C&pg=PA4 |url-status=live }}</ref>}}

===Country-specific studies===
Political scientists may study political phenomena within one specific country. For example, they may study just the [[politics of the United States]]<ref>{{cite book |last1=Ginsberg |first1=Benjamin |title=We the People: An Introduction to American Politics |last2=Lowi |first2=Theodore J. |last3=Weir |first3=Margaret |last4=Tolbert |first4=Caroline J. |author-link4=Caroline Tolbert |last5=Spit |first5=Robert J. |date=December 2012 |publisher=W. W. Norton & Company |isbn=978-0-393-92110-6 |display-authors=3}}</ref> or just the [[politics of China]].<ref>{{cite book |title=State and Peasant in Contemporary China: The Political Economy of Village Government |url=https://archive.org/details/statepeasantinco00jean |url-access=registration |last=Oi |first=Jean C. |author-link=Jean C. Oi |year=1989 |publisher=University of California Press |page=xvi}}</ref>

Political scientists look at a variety of data, including constitutions, [[elections]], [[public opinion]], and [[public policy]], [[foreign policy]], legislatures, and judiciaries. Political scientists will often focus on the politics of their own country; for example, a political scientist from Indonesia may become an expert in the politics of Indonesia.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://aipi-politik.org/kolom-aipi/220-sekelumit-prof-dr-h-c-miriam-budiardjo-m-a |language=id |title=Sekelumit Prof. Dr. Miriam Budiardjo |publisher=Indonesian Political Science Association |date=25 October 2013 |access-date=1 October 2020 |archive-date=29 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200929232141/https://aipi-politik.org/kolom-aipi/220-sekelumit-prof-dr-h-c-miriam-budiardjo-m-a |url-status=usurped }}</ref>

===Anticipating crises===
The theory of political transitions,<ref>Acemoglu D., Robinson J.A. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/2677820 "A theory of political transitions."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200809203648/https://www.jstor.org/stable/2677820 |date=9 August 2020 }} American Economic Review. 2001 Sep 1:938–63.</ref> and the methods of analyzing and anticipating<ref name=":0"/> [[Crisis|crises]],<ref>McClelland C.A. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/2600146 "The Anticipation of International Crises: Prospects for Theory and Research."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200809211102/https://www.jstor.org/stable/2600146 |date=9 August 2020 }} International Studies Quarterly, Vol. 21, No. 1, Special Issue on International Crisis: Progress and Prospects for Applied Forecasting and Management (March 1977), pp. 15–38</ref> form an important part of political science. Several general indicators of crises and methods were proposed for anticipating critical transitions.<ref>Scheffer M., Carpenter S.R., Lenton T.M., ''et al.'' [https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.1225244 "Anticipating critical transitions."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200904011435/https://science.sciencemag.org/content/338/6105/344 |date=4 September 2020 }} Science. 2012 Oct 19; 338(6105):344–48.</ref> Among them, one statistical indicator of crisis, a simultaneous increase of [[variance]] and [[correlations]] in large groups, was proposed for crisis anticipation and may be successfully used in various areas.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Gorban |first1=A.N. |last2=Smirnova |first2=E.V. |last3=Tyukina |first3=T.A. |date=August 2010 |title=Correlations, risk and crisis: From physiology to finance |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/222687003 |journal=Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and Its Applications |volume=389 |issue=16 |pages=3193–3217 |arxiv=0905.0129 |bibcode=2010PhyA..389.3193G |doi=10.1016/j.physa.2010.03.035 |s2cid=276956 |access-date=23 May 2017 |archive-date=3 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220403175014/https://www.researchgate.net/publication/222687003_Correlations_Risk_and_Crisis_From_Physiology_to_Finance |url-status=live }}</ref> Its applicability for early diagnosis of [[political crisis|political crises]] was demonstrated by the analysis of the prolonged stress period preceding the 2014 Ukrainian [[economic crisis|economic]] and political crisis. There was a simultaneous increase in the total correlation between the 19 major public fears in the Ukrainian society (by about 64%) and in their statistical dispersion (by 29%) during the pre-crisis years.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Rybnikov |first1=S.R. |last2=Rybnikova |first2=N.A. |last3=Portnov |first3=B.A. |date=March 2017 |title=Public fears in Ukrainian society: Are crises predictable? |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/315918065 |journal=Psychology & Developing Societies |volume=29 |issue=1 |pages=98–123 |doi=10.1177/0971333616689398 |s2cid=151344338 |access-date=23 May 2017 |archive-date=3 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220403174938/https://www.researchgate.net/publication/315918065_Public_Fears_in_Ukrainian_Society_Are_Crises_Predictable |url-status=live }}</ref> A feature shared by certain major revolutions is that they were not predicted. The theory of apparent inevitability of crises and revolutions was also developed.<ref>Kuran T. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/30025019 "Sparks and prairie fires: A theory of unanticipated political revolution."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200809121543/https://www.jstor.org/stable/30025019 |date=9 August 2020 }} Public Choice, Vol. 61, No. 1 (April 1989), pp. 41–74</ref>

The study of major crises, both political crises and external crises that can affect politics, is not limited to attempts to predict regime transitions or major changes in political institutions. Political scientists also study how governments [[disaster management|handle unexpected disasters]], and how voters in democracies react to their governments' preparations for and responses to crises.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Healy |first1=Andrew |last2=Malhotra |first2=Neil |author-link2=Neil Malhotra |year=2009 |title=Myopic Voters and Natural Disaster Policy |journal=American Political Science Review |volume=103 |issue=3 |pages=387–406 |doi=10.1017/S0003055409990104 |s2cid=32422707}}</ref>

==Research methods==
{{main|Political methodology}}

Political science is [[methodology|methodologically]] diverse and appropriates many methods originating in psychology, [[social research]], political philosophy, and many others, in addition to those that developed chiefly within the field of political science.

Political scientists approach the study of politics from a host of different ontological orientations and with a variety of different tools. Because political science is essentially a study of [[human behavior]], in all aspects of [[politics]], observations in controlled environments are often challenging to reproduce or duplicate, though [[experiment]]al methods are increasingly common (see [[experimental political science]]).<ref>{{Cite book |title=Cambridge Handbook of Experimental Political Science |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2011 |isbn=978-0-521-17455-8|editor1-link=James N. Druckman |editor-last=Druckman |editor-first=James |location=New York |editor-last2=Green |editor-first2=Donald |editor-last3=Kuklinski |editor-first3=James |editor-last4=Lupia |editor-first4=Arthur |display-editors=2}}</ref> Citing this difficulty, former [[American Political Science Association]] President [[Lawrence Lowell]] once said "We are limited by the impossibility of experiment. Politics is an observational, not an experimental science."<ref name=":0">Lowell, A. Lawrence. 1910. "[https://www.jstor.org/stable/1944407 The Physiology of Politics] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200809185806/https://www.jstor.org/stable/1944407 |date=9 August 2020 }}." ''American Political Science Review'' 4: 1–15.</ref> Because of this, political scientists have historically observed political elites, institutions, and individual or group behaviour in order to identify patterns, draw generalizations, and build theories of politics.

Like all social sciences, political science faces the difficulty of observing human actors that can only be partially observed and who have the capacity for making conscious choices, unlike other subjects, such as non-human organisms in [[biology]], minerals in [[geoscience]], chemical elements in [[chemistry]], stars in [[astronomy]], or particles in [[physics]]. Despite the complexities, contemporary political science has progressed by adopting a variety of methods and theoretical approaches to understanding politics, and [[methodology|methodological]] pluralism is a defining feature of contemporary political science.

Empirical political science methods include the use of field experiments,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Ichino |first1=Nahomi |last2=Nathan |first2=Noah L. |date=May 2013 |title=Crossing the Line: Local Ethnic Geography and Voting in Ghana |journal=American Political Science Review |volume=107 |issue=2 |pages=344–361 |doi=10.1017/S0003055412000664 |s2cid=9092626}}</ref> surveys and survey experiments,<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=The Progress and Pitfalls of Using Survey Experiments in Political Science |encyclopedia=Oxford Research Encyclopedia |date=February 2020 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford}}</ref> case studies,<ref>{{cite book |first=Theda |last=Skocpol |year=1979 |title=States and Social Revolutions |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-29499-7}}</ref> process tracing,<ref>{{cite journal |first=James |last=Mahoney |title=The Logic of Process Tracing Tests in the Social Sciences |journal=Sociological Methods & Research |volume=41 |issue=4 |date=2 March 2012 |pages=570–597 |doi=10.1177/0049124112437709 |s2cid=122335417}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |first=Sherry |last=Zaks |title=Relationships Among Rivals (RAR): A Framework for Analyzing Contending Hypotheses in Process Tracing |journal=Political Analysis |volume=25 |issue=3 |pages=344–362 |date=July 2017 |doi=10.1017/pan.2017.12 |s2cid=125814475}}</ref> historical and institutional analysis,<ref>{{cite journal |first=Kathleen |last=Thelen |title=Historical institutionalism in comparative politics |journal=Annual Review of Political Science |volume=2 |pages=369–404 |year=1999 |doi=10.1146/annurev.polisci.2.1.369 |doi-access=free}}</ref> ethnography,<ref>{{cite journal |first=Evelyn Z. |last=Brodkin |title=The Ethnographic Turn in Political Science: Reflections on the State of the Art |journal=PS: Political Science & Politics |volume=50 |issue=1 |pages=131–134 |date=January 2017 |doi=10.1017/S1049096516002298 |s2cid=152094822}}</ref> participant observation,<ref>{{cite book |first=Katherine J. |last=Cramer |year=2016 |title=The Politics of Resentment |publisher=University of Chicago Press}}</ref> and interview research.<ref>{{cite book |title=Interview Research in Political Science |publisher=Cornell University Press |year=2013 |isbn=978-0-8014-7863-5 |editor-last=Mosley |editor-first=Layna}}</ref>

Political scientists also use and develop theoretical tools like game theory and agent-based models to study a host of political systems and situations.<ref>{{cite journal |first=Morris P. |last=Fiorina |title=Formal Models in Political Science |journal=American Journal of Political Science |volume=19 |issue=1 |pages=133–159 |date=February 1975 |doi=10.2307/2110698 |jstor=2110698}}</ref> Other approaches include the study of equation-based models and opinion dynamics.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Segovia-Martin |first1=Jose |last2=Rivero |first2=Oscar |title=Cross-border political competition |journal=PLOS ONE |date=May 29, 2024 |volume=19 |issue=5 |article-number=e0297731 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0297731 |doi-access=free |pmid=38809861 |pmc=11135741 |bibcode=2024PLoSO..1997731S }}</ref>

Political theorists approach theories of political phenomena with a similar diversity of positions and tools, including [[feminist political theory]], historical analysis associated with the [[Cambridge School (intellectual history)|Cambridge school]], and [[Leo Strauss#Straussianism|Straussian approaches]].

Political science may overlap with topics of study that are the traditional focuses of other social sciences—for example, when sociological [[Social norm|norms]] or psychological [[Cognitive bias|biases]] are connected to political phenomena. In these cases, political science may either inherit their methods of study or develop a contrasting approach.<ref name=wedeen02>{{cite journal |first=Lisa |last=Wedeen |author-link=Lisa Wedeen |title=Conceptualizing Culture: Possibilities for Political Science |journal=The American Political Science Review |volume=95 |issue=4 |pages=713–728 |date=December 2002 |doi=10.1017/S0003055402000400 |s2cid=145130880}}</ref> For example, [[Lisa Wedeen]] has argued that political science's approach to the idea of culture, originating with [[Gabriel Almond]] and [[Sidney Verba]] and exemplified by authors like [[Samuel P. Huntington]], could benefit from aligning more closely with the study of culture in anthropology.<ref name=wedeen02/> In turn, methodologies that are developed within political science may influence how researchers in other fields, like public health, conceive of and approach political processes and policies.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Bernier |first1=Nicole F. |last2=Clavier |first2=Carole |date=1 March 2011 |title=Public health policy research: making the case for a political science approach |journal=Health Promotion International |volume=26 |issue=1 |pages=109–116 |doi=10.1093/heapro/daq079 |pmid=21296911 |doi-access=free}}</ref>

The most common piece of academic writing in generalist political sciences is the research paper, which investigates an original [[research question]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Schmidt |first=Diane E. |chapter=Political Inquiry |date=2019 |title=Writing in Political Science |pages=1–25 |location=New York|publisher=Routledge |doi=10.4324/9781351252843-1 |isbn=978-1-351-25284-3}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Political Science |url=https://writingcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/political-science/ |access-date=2021-09-25 |website=The Writing Center • University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill |language=en-US |archive-date=25 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210925233648/https://writingcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/political-science/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Education==
{{Further|Public policy school|College of Arts and Sciences}}
Political science, possibly like the social sciences as a whole, can be described "as a discipline which lives on the fault line between the 'two cultures' in the academy, the [[sciences]] and the [[humanities]]."<ref name="Stoner">{{Cite web |url=http://www.allacademic.com/meta/p_mla_apa_research_citation/2/4/5/5/8/p245585_index.html |title=Political Science and Political Education |last=Stoner |first=J.R. |date=22 February 2008 |publisher=Paper presented at the annual meeting of the APSA Teaching and Learning Conference ([[American Political Science Association|APSA]]), San Jose Marriott, [[San Jose, California]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091130234044/http://www.allacademic.com/meta/p_mla_apa_research_citation/2/4/5/5/8/p245585_index.html |archive-date=30 November 2009 |access-date=19 October 2011 |quote=…although one might allege the same for social science as a whole, political scientists receive funding from and play an active role in both the [[National Science Foundation]] and the [[National Endowment for the Humanities]] [in the United States].}}</ref> Thus, in most American colleges, especially [[liberal arts college]]s, it would be located within the [[College of Arts and Sciences|school or college of arts and sciences]]. If no separate college of arts and sciences exists, or if the college or university prefers that it be in a separate constituent college or academic department, then political science may be a separate department housed as part of a division or school of humanities or [[Liberal Arts|liberal arts]].<ref name="Marist">See, e.g., the department of [http://www.marist.edu/liberalarts/polsci/ Political Science] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090319012259/http://www.marist.edu/liberalarts/polsci/ |date=19 March 2009 }} at [[Marist College]], part of a Division of Humanities before that division became the School of Liberal Arts (c. 2000).</ref> At some universities, especially [[Research university|research universities]] and in particular those that have a strong cooperation between research, undergraduate, and graduate faculty with a stronger more applied emphasis in public administration, political science would be taught by the university's [[public policy school]].

Most United States [[Higher education in the United States|colleges and universities]] offer BA programs in political science. MA or MAT and PhD or EdD programs are common at larger universities. The term ''political science'' is more popular in post-1960s [[North America]] than elsewhere while universities predating the 1960s or those historically influenced by them would call the field of study ''government'';<ref name=":4">{{Cite journal |last=DiSalvo |first=Daniel |date=2013-04-01 |title=The Politics of Studying Politics: Political Science Since the 1960s |journal=Society |language=en |volume=50 |issue=2 |pages=132–139 |doi=10.1007/s12115-013-9631-7 |issn=1936-4725 |s2cid=255514132}}</ref> other institutions, especially those outside the United States, see political science as part of a broader discipline of ''political studies'' or ''politics'' in general. While ''political science'' implies the use of the [[scientific method]], ''political studies'' implies a broader approach, although the naming of degree courses does not necessarily reflect their content. Separate, specialized or, in some cases, professional degree programs in [[international relations]], [[public policy]], and [[public administration]] are common at both the undergraduate and postgraduate levels, although most but not all undergraduate level education in these sub-fields of political science is generally found in [[academic concentration]]s within a political science [[academic major]]. Master's-level programs in [[public administration]] are [[professional degree]]s covering public policy along with other applied subjects; they are often seen as more linked to politics than any other discipline, which may be reflected by being housed in that department.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Vernardakis |first=George |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Rd3DDiQm3M8C&pg=PA77 |title=Graduate education in government |publisher=University Press of America |year=1998 |isbn=978-0-7618-1171-8 |page=77 |quote=…existing practices at Harvard University, the University of California at Berkeley, and the University of Michigan. |access-date=17 June 2015 |archive-date=4 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150904012526/https://books.google.com/books?id=Rd3DDiQm3M8C&pg=PA77 |url-status=live }}</ref>

The main national honor society for college and university students of government and politics in the United States is [[Pi Sigma Alpha]], while [[Pi Alpha Alpha]] is a national honor society specifically designated for [[public administration]].

==See also==
{{Portal|Politics}}
* {{Annotated link |Artificial intelligence and elections}}
* {{annotated link|Comparative politics}}
* {{annotated link|History of political science}}
* {{annotated link|International relations}}
* {{annotated link|Political history of the world}}
* {{annotated link|Political identity}}
* {{annotated link|Political philosophy}}

===Lists===
* {{annotated link|Index of politics articles}}
* {{annotated link|Political lists}}
* {{annotated link|Outline of political science}}

== Notes ==
{{Notelist}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
{{div col}}
* ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20140716091610/http://www.apsanet.org/content_34140.cfm The Evolution of Political Science]'' (November 2006). APSR Centennial Volume of ''[[American Political Science Review]]''. ''Apsanet''. 4 February 2009.
* Alter, Karen J., et al. "Gender and status in American political science: Who determines whether a scholar is noteworthy?." ''Perspectives on Politics'' 18.4 (2020): 1048–1067. [https://scholar.archive.org/work/xbhhphrsbvcpthqsatywdzbafm/access/wayback/https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/E2682D0FF7BA686CF20BDA89FA2C30C3/S1537592719004985a.pdf/div-class-title-gender-and-status-in-american-political-science-who-determines-whether-a-scholar-is-noteworthy-div.pdf online]
* Atchison, Amy L, ed. ''Political Science Is for Everybody : An Introduction to Political Science''. University of Toronto Press, 2021.
* Badie, Bertrand, et al. ''International Encyclopedia of Political Science''. SAGE, 2011.
* Berlin, Mark Stephen, and Anum Pasha Syed. "The Middle East and North Africa in Political Science Scholarship: Analyzing Publication Patterns in Leading Journals, 1990–2019". ''International Studies Review'' 24.3 (2022): viac027.
* Blatt, Jessica. ''Race and the Making of American Political Science'' University of Pennsylvania Press, 2018.
* Breuning, Marijke, Joseph Bredehoft, and Eugene Walton. "Promise and performance: an evaluation of journals in International Relations." ''International Studies Perspectives'' 6.4 (2005): 447–461. [https://www.academia.edu/download/68292348/j.1528-3577.2005.00220.x20210724-3457-eoc4t4.pdf online]{{Dead link|date=April 2024|bot=InternetArchiveBot|fix-attempted=yes}}
* Frickel, Scott. "Political scientists". ''Sociological Forum'' 33#1 (2018).
* Garand, James C., and Micheal W. Giles. "Journals in the discipline: a report on a new survey of American political scientists". ''PS: Political Science & Politics'' 36.2 (2003): 293–308. [https://www.researchgate.net/publication/231955121_Journals_in_the_Discipline_A_Report_on_a_New_Survey_of_American_Political_Scientists available from the authors]
* Gerardo L. Munck and Richard Snyder, eds. ''Passion, Craft, and Method in Comparative Politics.'' (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2007)
* Goodin, R.E.; Klingemann, Hans-Dieter. ''A New Handbook of Political Science''. (Oxford University Press, 1996). {{ISBN|0198294719}}.
* Goodin, Robert E, ed. ''The Oxford Handbook of Political Science''. Oxford University Press, 2011.
* Hochschild, Jennifer L. "Race and Class in Political Science" ''Michigan Journal of Race and Law'', 2005 11(1): 99–114.
* Hunger, Sophia, and Fred Paxton. "What's in a buzzword? A systematic review of the state of populism research in political science". ''Political Science Research and Methods'' (2021): 1–17. [https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/D9CD5E7E13DFA30FD05D41F32E6C122B/S2049847021000443a.pdf/whats-in-a-buzzword-a-systematic-review-of-the-state-of-populism-research-in-political-science.pdf online]
* Katznelson, Ira, et al. ''Political Science: The State of the Discipline''. W.W. Norton, 2002.
* Kellstedt, Paul M, and Guy D Whitten. ''The Fundamentals of Political Science Research'' Third ed., Cambridge University Press, 2018.
* Klingemann, Hans-Dieter, ed. ''The State of Political Science in Western Europe'' (Opladen: Barbara Budrich Publisher 2007). {{ISBN|978-3866490451}}.
* Kostova, Dobrinka, et al. "Determinants and Diversity of Internationalisation in Political Science: The Role of National Policy Incentives". ''European Political Science'' (2022): 1–14. [https://link.springer.com/article/10.1057/s41304-022-00365-x online]
* Lowndes, Vivien, et al., editors. ''Theory and Methods in Political Science.'' Fourth ed., Palgrave Macmillan, 2018.
* Noel, Hans (2010-10-14 | DOI [https://doi.org/10.2202/1540-8884.1393 Ten Things Political Scientists Know that You Don't]) [http://www.degruyter.com/view/j/for.2010.8.3_20120105083456/for.2010.8.3/for.2010.8.3.1393/for.2010.8.3.1393.xml "Ten Things Political Scientists Know that You Don't"] ''The Forum'': Vol. 8: Iss. 3, Article 12.
* Morlino, Leonardo, et al. ''Political Science: A Global Perspective''. Sage, 2017.
* Nisonger, Thomas E. "Journals of the Century in Political Science and International Relations". in ''Journals of the Century'' (Routledge, 2019) pp.&nbsp;271–288.
* Peez, Anton. "Contributions and blind spots of constructivist norms research in international relations, 1980–2018: A systematic evidence and gap analysis". ''International Studies Review'' 24.1 (2022): viab055. [https://academic.oup.com/isr/article/24/1/viab055/6506126 online]
* Raadschelders, Jos CN, and Kwang‐Hoon Lee. "Trends in the study of public administration: Empirical and qualitative observations from Public Administration Review, 2000–2009." ''Public Administration Review'' 71.1 (2011): 19–33. [https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Jos-Raadschelders/publication/229494370_Trends_in_the_Study_of_Public_Administration_Empirical_and_Qualitative_Observations_from_Public_Administration_Review_2000-2009/links/59c24d060f7e9b21a82a53ee/Trends-in-the-Study-of-Public-Administration-Empirical-and-Qualitative-Observations-from-Public-Administration-Review-2000-2009.pdf online]
* [[Michael Roskin|Roskin, M.]] et al. ''Political Science: An Introduction'' (14th ed. Pearson, 2020). [https://www.amazon.com/Political-Science-Introduction-Updated-2-downloads-ebook/dp/B08DFWBPMK/ excerpt]
* Schram, S.F.; Caterino, B., eds. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=kyJ5GJ7DeMQC Making Political Science Matter: Debating Knowledge, Research, and Method]''. (New York University Press, 2006).
*  [[Glendon A. Schubert|Schubert, Glendon A.]]  (1958) The Theory of "The Public Interest" in Judicial Decision-Making – {{JSTOR|2109163}}
*  ——  (1958) The Study of Judicial Decision-Making as an Aspect of Political Behavior  –  {{JSTOR|1951981}}
*  ——  (1959) Quantitative Analysis of Judicial Behavior
* Shively, W. Phillips, and David Schultz. ''Power and choice: An introduction to political science'' (Rowman & Littlefield, 2022).
* Simon, Douglas W., and Joseph Romance. ''The challenge of politics: an introduction to political science'' (CQ press, 2022).
* Tausch, Arno, "[https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3950846 For a globally visible political science in the 21st Century. Bibliometric analyses and strategic consequences]" (2021).
* {{Citation |last=Tausch |first=Arno |title=Farewell - peace and justice?: a look back at (my) half a century of political science in times of the Ukraine crisis |publication-date=2023 |publisher=Nova Science Publishers |isbn=979-8-89113-055-5}}
* Taylor, C. L., & Russett, B. M. Eds..'' Karl W. Deutsch: Pioneer in the Theory of International Relations'' (Springer, 2020). [https://www.amazon.com/Karl-Deutsch-International-Humanities-Engineering-ebook/dp/B0825NM1NZ/ excerpt]
* Tronconi, Filippo, and Isabelle Engeli. "The networked researcher, the editorial manager, and the traveller: the profiles of international political scientists and the determinants of internationalisation". ''European Political Science'' (2022): 1–14. [https://link.springer.com/article/10.1057/s41304-022-00368-8online ]
* Van Evera, Stephen. ''Guide to Methods for Students of Political Science''. Cornell University Press, 1997. [https://www.amazon.com/Guide-Methods-Students-Political-Science/dp/080148457X/ excerpt]
* Weber, Erik, et al. "Thinking about laws in political science (and beyond)". ''Journal for the Theory of Social Behaviour'' 52.1 (2022): 199–222.
* Zippelius, Reinhold (2003). ''Geschichte der Staatsideen (History of political Ideas)'', 10th ed. Munich: [[C.H. Beck]]. {{ISBN|3406494943}}.
* Zippelius, Reinhold (2010). ''Allgemeine Staatslehre, Politikwissenschaft (Political Science)'', 16th ed. Munich: [[C.H. Beck]]. {{ISBN|978-3406603426}}.
{{end div col}}

==External links==
{{Sister project links |wikt= |c= |n=no |q= |s=no |b= |v=}}
{{Scholia|topic}}
* [http://ipsaportal.unina.it/ IPSAPortal: Top 300 websites for Political Science] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150227123603/http://ipsaportal.unina.it/ |date=27 February 2015 }}
* [https://ooir.org/index.php?field=Social+Sciences&category=Political+Science Observatory of International Research (OOIR): Latest Papers and Trends in Political Science]
* [http://www.politicalscience.org/ PROL: Political Science Research Online (prepublished research)]

===Professional organizations===
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20131002032919/http://www.ecpr.eu/ European Consortium for Political Research]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20160415202647/http://icrhs.tsukuba.ac.jp/en/ Institute for Comparative Research in Human and Social Sciences (ICR) in Japan]
* [https://iapss.org/ International Association for Political Science Students]
* [http://www.ipsa.org/ International Political Science Association]
* [http://www.isanet.org/ International Studies Association]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20121025031651/http://www.mpsanet.org/ Midwest Political Science Association]
* [http://www.psa.ac.uk/ Political Studies Association of the UK]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20141219111720/http://spsa.net/ Southern Political Science Association]

===Library guides===
* {{Cite web |url=http://guides.lib.umich.edu/content.php?pid=17084 |title=Political Science |last=Library |website=Research Guides |publisher=[[University of Michigan]] |location=Michigan |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140707175200/http://guides.lib.umich.edu/content.php?pid=17084 |archive-date=7 July 2014 |access-date=15 February 2014}}
* {{Cite web |url=http://ox.libguides.com/politics |title=Political Science |last=Bodleian Libraries |author-link=Bodleian Libraries |website=LibGuides |publisher=University of Oxford |location=UK |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140218121858/http://ox.libguides.com/politics |archive-date=18 February 2014 |access-date=15 February 2014 }}
* {{Cite web |url=http://libguides.princeton.edu/politics |title=Politics Research Guide |last=Library |website=LibGuides |publisher=[[Princeton University]] |location=New Jersey |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140723120001/http://libguides.princeton.edu/politics |archive-date=23 July 2014 |access-date=15 February 2014}}
* {{Cite web |url=http://researchguides.library.syr.edu/polisci |title=Political Science |last=Libraries |website=Research Guides |publisher=[[Syracuse University]] |location=New York |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140708232448/http://researchguides.library.syr.edu/polisci |archive-date=8 July 2014 |access-date=15 February 2014}}
* {{Cite web |url=http://guides.library.tamu.edu/politicalscience?hs=a |title=Political Science |last=University Libraries |website=Research Guides |publisher=[[Texas A&M University]] |location=Texas |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141021070243/http://guides.library.tamu.edu/politicalscience?hs=a |archive-date=21 October 2014 |access-date=15 February 2014}}

{{Social sciences}}
{{Government}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Political Science}}
[[Category:Political science| ]]