Dec 19, 2025 · political science, the systematic study of governance by the application of empirical and generally scientific methods of analysis. As traditionally defined and studied, …

political science, Academic discipline concerned with the empirical study of government and politics.

Dec 7, 2025 · Plato and Aristotle wrote of the polis, or city-state, as an ideal form of association, in which the whole community’s religious, cultural, political, and economic needs could be satisfied.

Dec 19, 2025 · Political science - Rational Choice, Decision Making, Institutions: The dominant school of thought in political science in the late 20th century was rational choice theory.

Beginning in the 1960s, political scientists began to move away from focusing on political institutions and instead almost exclusively studied the actions of individual political actors.

Britannica Dictionary definition of POLITICAL SCIENCE [noncount] : the study of governments and how they work a degree in political science

Political science is also closely related to law because lawmaking is one of the chief functions of government. The scope of political science is as broad as the nature of government.

Dec 7, 2025 · A more-detailed definition documents the means through which an institution forms. The emphasis is on the principles, norms, rules, and decision-making procedures around …

Political activities are carried out by agents, whose agency inheres in their power to produce effects. In politics, agency is generally reserved for human actors, and, more controversially, it …

Legitimacy, popular acceptance of a government, political regime, or system of governance. The word legitimacy can be interpreted in either a normative way or a “positive” (see positivism) way.