Why Study Political Science?

 The Greek word "idiot" referred to "one who took no interest in the affairs of state." To evade that moniker, students can take advantage of the chance offered by political science to study governments and political behavior. UAH extends political science students unique opportunities to profit from a liberal arts education, as well as from relatively small classes, personal attention from faculty members, and an exciting exploration of the world.

As one avenue for benefiting from a liberal arts education, political science is an integral element of a broad-based undergraduate education that prepares individuals to respond to the needs of society in a variety of careers and professions. A general education will render individuals better able to face the challenges caused by a changing market place. Those with substantial liberal arts exposure will have the advantage over people with narrow training whose careers fall victim to technological change. Through study of governments and governance, students are trained to think clearly, critically, and analytically. Political science fosters the cultivation of skills in reasoning, synthesis of complex information, decision-making, and oral and written communication.

 In its broadest sense, politics is the means by which people live together more or less peaceably. It is how we relate to others--the individual and society. To enable us to cohabit, our forbears established general rules of conduct to regulate and distribute the resources of the world: governments.

Almost as old as society itself, political science focuses on fundamental questions of governance: given that some sorts of governments are necessary for the survival of society, how should they be constituted and how can they most effectively serve the people they govern. Toward that end, we analyze the theories of behavior and governance, as well as the institutions, procedures, and policies developed to enable us to coexist. We are interested in the origins, evolution, and decline of governments; the conditions necessary for the creation of governments; the conflicts among governments; and structure of governments. We also study the people who constitute these governments in terms of their values, political behavior, and appraisals of their government. We scrutinize the relationships between the governors and the governed.

The discipline of political science is diverse. As both a liberal art and a social science, it includes American government and politics, which focuses on American institutions and processes; comparative government and politics, which deals with institutions and processes of other nations; international politics and organization, which treats the relationships among governments and international entities; political philosophy; political economy; and research methods. More specifically, within the broader fields of American and comparative politics, political scientists focus on: bureaucracies and public administration; executive, legislative, or judicial institutions and processes; federalism; intergovernmental relations; state and local politics; system linkages, such as political parties and interest groups; voting behavior and other forms of political participation; political socialization and recruitment; ethnic or gender politics; urban politics and community organization; and public policies on critical issues facing society.

Please come by Morton Hall 250, talk with faculty members, and look at our available political science resources.