First, let us define politics. A general definition of politics is the struggle for power among different groups of people to determine the rules of society. As Harold Lasswell once said, “Who gets what, when, and how.”
Science includes natural and social sciences such as biology, physics, sociology, economics, etc. Natural science depends on objective regularities. There is also a science of politics. Political science studies the regularities in social life.
There are four main subfields of Political Science:
- American Politics – politics within the U.S.
- Examples: Elections, Constitution, Courts, Separation of powers.
- International Politics – politics between and among countries (also called states).
- Examples: War and peace, the UN, WTO, Human Rights.
- Comparative Politics – politics within foreign countries.
- Examples: Nationalism, democracy, dictatorship.
- Political Theory – philosophical questions and proposed answers to the nature and goals of politics.
- Examples: The history of political thought through text analysis (Plato, John Locke).