Political Science - scope, careers, colleges, skills, jobs, salary

Definition

“Politics is the art of the possible, the attainable — the art of the next best” ~Otto von Bismarck

“The method of political science is the interpretation of life; its instrument is insight, a nice understanding of subtle, unformulated conditions.” ~Woodrow Wilson

Political Science, also called government, is a social science which deals with systems of governance, the analysis of political activities, political thoughts and political behavior. It deals extensively with the theory and practice of politics which is commonly thought of as determining the distribution of power and resources. Political scientists “see themselves engaged in revealing the relationships underlying political events and conditions, and from these revelations they attempt to construct general principles about the way the world of politics works.”

Political Science comprises numerous subfields, including comparative politics, political economy, international relations, political theory, public administration, public policy, and political methodology. Furthermore, political science is related to, and draws upon, the fields of economics, law, sociology, history, philosophy, geography, psychology, and anthropology.

Political Science is methodologically diverse and appropriates many methods originating in social research. Approaches include positivism, interpretivism, rational choice theory, behaviorism, structuralism, post-structuralism, realism, institutionalism, and pluralism. Political science, as one of the social sciences, uses methods and techniques that relate to the kinds of inquiries sought: primary sources such as historical documents and official records, secondary sources such as scholarly journal articles, survey research, statistical analysis, case studies, experimental research, and model building.