nature of political science essay

Political Science: Meaning, Nature, Scopes, and Importance [7points]

When you are going to start the study of Political Science, the first thing you should know is the meaning nature, and scope of political science . Here I have explained each and every part of your query.

Human knowledge is basically divided into two extensive categories. One is Natural Science and the other one is Social Science.

Natural science deals with the physical world such as land, weather, water, forests, etc, whereas social science deals with the human being, their collective social life, and activities.

meaning nature and scope of political science

Humans have a multidimensional social life such as economic, political, historical, sociological, etc.

Table of Contents

What is Political Science?

Political science is a part of social science that deals with the political problems of human beings and the subject matter of political science is political institutions (State, Government, Judiciary, Parliament, Pressure groups, Political Parties , etc.), Political behavior, and activities of humans, etc. It is also related to other social science subjects like history, sociology, philosophy, economics, etc.

Meaning and Definition of Political Science

Political science is the combination of two words one is Political and another one is science .

Political refers to power and authority. That is, everything related to power and authority is political. For example, all institutions (State, Government, Judiciary, Parliament, Pressure groups, Political Parties, etc) and actions of humans related to power are subject to politics.

The English word ‘Science’ comes from the Latin word ‘Scientia’, which means knowledge that is acquired by systematic study.

Must Read- Is Political Science A Science? [3 Reasons]

So It means a systematic study of political institutions, the political behavior of human beings, political systems, international relations, and all the issues related to power and authority.

The famous Greek philosopher Aristotle said that “ Man is by nature a political animal…he who is unable to live in a society or who has no need because he is sufficient for himself, must be either a beast or God ”.

He is considered the father of political science because he is the first person who has defined politics using scientific methods.

The definition of political science is determined by the scope of its field of discussion. The scope of political science has been discussed in the last part of the writing.

The problems of people’s political life are increasing. As time has passed, people’s political thinking has developed more and more.

As a result, the number and variety of definitions of political science are increasing exponentially. There is no universal definition in any social science subject. Since it is a part of social science is also a dynamic science, so its definition is also dynamic.

There are two views to define political science. One is the Traditional View and the other one is the Modern view.

Traditional Definition of Political Science

All the concepts of political science before the nineteenth century belong to the traditional view. And the entire political scientists at that time is called traditional political scientists.

According to traditional political scientists , it deals with the state, Government, and other political institutions.

An American Professor Garner once said that ‘ political science begins and ends with the state ’. In his view, political science is the social science that determines some formula about the origin and form of the state, the shape, nature, and history of political institutions, and political progress and development.

So in the traditional view, it discusses the origin, nature, ideals, and goals, of the state.

Here are some definitions by different authors of the traditional view

Political science is a historical investigation of what the state has been, an analytical study of what the state is, and a politico-ethical discussion of what the state should be. R.G Gettel ,

Political Science investigates the phenomena of the government as political economy deals with wealth, biology with life, algebra with numbers, and geometry with space and magnitude John Robert Seeley

Political Science is that part of the social science which treats of the foundations of the sate and principles of the government Paul Janet

Political science deals with the origin, development, purpose, and all political problems of the states. Garies

Political science is concerned with the state and with conditions essential for its development. Lord Acton

If you read the above definitions of traditional political scientists carefully then you have noticed that every definition of political science is concentrated on state and government.

So it is clear that in the traditional view, the field of discussion of political science was confined to the state and the government.

Modern Definition of Political Science

The flow of international events now has a profound effect on individual and national life. For this reason, state activity cannot be neutral to the flow of international events and customs.

The social and political relations of the socialized people, the relations of the state with the individual under the state, the relations of the social institution with the individual, and the interrelationships between different states, etc. are included in the modern view of political science.

The modern view of political science refers to the view of political scientists who emerges at the beginning of the twentieth century.

According to modern political scientists like George Catlin, Charles Marriam, Almond, Powell, and David Easton, political science not only deals with the state and government.

It has a broader area that also deals with individual’s political behavior, Political Power, Society, Political Culture, Political Socialization, International Laws, and International Relations, Political systems, Political Processes, and other political groups.

Must-Read- Political Culture: Meaning, Features, 4 Types, And Importance

Here are some definitions by different authors of the modern view

Politics is the study of Influence and the influential Lasswell

Political Science concern itself with the life of men in relation to organized state Laski

David Easton defines political science as an Authoritative allocation of values. He has not seen it as a discussion of state institutions but presents this as a discussion of a political system or process.

Politics is the struggle for power or the influencing of those power. Max Weber

Acceptable Definition of Political Science

As I said, there is no universal definition of it. But from the discussion of the traditional and modern view of political science, it could have an acceptable definition.

Political science is a part of social science in which the philosophical, organizational, and administrative context of the state and politics, the context of national and international, legal and organizational relations, and the comparative context of multiple political systems are scientifically discussed and reviewed.

After completing the Meaning and definition of our topic “Meaning nature and scope of political science”, now it’s time for the Nature of Political Science .

Nature of Political Science

When you study political science, you see politics and political science are used interchangeably. Some political scientists use political theory and political philosophy and political science in the same way.

Again, many are reluctant to call it a science. In order to overcome such confusion, the nature of political science must be studied in a good way. So let’s start.

Political Theory, Political Philosophy, Politics, or Political Science?

The origin of the concept of the state is the need for human interaction. Political Theory includes various views and interpretations about the origin and development of the state, its nature, functions, organizations, and subsidiaries.

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Some basic questions about the nature and purpose of the state take place in the discussion of Political Philosophy .

Must Read – Meaning, History, Features, and Importance of Political Philosophy

Although the name politics is used more for the sake of popularity, political scientists are willing to use the name political science.

Many people want to use the name political science in order to ensure that the discussion of politics does not become a futile policy, but prevails in practical politics.

Political science, like science, has the potential for observation, experience, analysis, and classification. It teaches us how it is possible to analyze political and humanitarian issues in the light of empirical and observational methods.

Scope of Political Science

As I said before, it is a dynamic and social science. That’s why it’s scope or subject matter is always changing.

Until the nineteenth century, its field of discussion was state-centered. At present, the state and any other issues that touch people’s political life are included in the discussion of political science.

So the Scope of political science can be divided into two categories.

State-Centric
Non-State-Centric

State-Centric discussion

The state is the ultimate expression of socialized life. People’s political life revolves around the state. As a result, the personality of the socialized people develops, and peaceful social life is possible. So there is no doubt that the state is the central subject of political science.

1. Study of Government

This state was again embodied through the government. The state cannot be imagined without the government. The state fulfilled its goals through the government. So the discussion of the state as well as the government becomes necessary.

2. Study of the history of the State

The idea of the present state remains incomplete if we do not discuss the history of the state. In the context of the past and present discussion of the state, it is necessary to see how this institution evolved from the past to the present.

3. Study of Laws

In addition to the state and the government, laws enacted by the government are also included in the discussion of political science. The government passes laws on behalf of the state and maintains peace. So the discussion of law is another matter of political science.

4. Study of International Relations and International laws

At present, the interaction between the citizen and the state is influenced by multiple issues. The flow of international events affects national life.

So, it also deals with international relations and international laws. It includes international organizations like the United Nations, International Monetary Fund, and The World Bank.

5. Study of theoretical and applied political science

Theoretical discussions of political science are about the origin, nature, ideology, independence, law, etc. of the state.

On the other hand, the classification of government, functions, legislation, functions of political institutions, international customs, treaties, and diplomacy are the main topics of applied discussion in it.

Non-State-Centric Discussion

Modern political scientists think that at present political science deals not only with the state but with non-governmental organizations and individuals or groups of political activities, pressure groups, etc. So let’s discuss this in detail.

Must Read- Pressure Group: Meaning, Definitions, Features, & 4Types

1. Study of Influence and Influential

The study of politics is the study of influence and the influential. Lasswell

Many times a person is getting others to work on what he wants. In this case, the person who did it is called influential and the power of the influential is called influence.

Similarly, a special relationship between an individual, a group, an organization, and a state is called influence.

influence is a relation among actors in which one actor induces other actors to act in some way they would not otherwise act. Robart Dahl

In modern times many political scientists have emphasized influence as a subject of political science. The tendency of behavioral statesmen is particularly observed. According to them, the influential people of society control the distribution of goods or values.

And this is exactly the reason why it is necessary to discuss political science with influence and influential.

2. Study of Conflict and Disagreement

Conflict lies at the heart of politics. In a world of universal agreement, there would be no room for it. J.D.B Miller

Disagreements and disputes create politics. That means the political situation is created when the work on which there is disagreement is organized. And that is when the law needs to be created and enacted.

According to eminent scientists, politics prevails when there is disagreement. And politics is about resolving that conflict.

So it can be said that it also deals with the conflict and disagreements which are occurred in any society and finding out the resolution of those conflicts.

3. Study of Authoritative Allocation of Values

According to Political scientist David Easton , it deals with the authoritative allocation of values. “ Political Science be described as the study of the authoritative allocation of values for society” .

Here are three words in the above sentence. These are Value, Allocation, and Authoritative.

The word value here refers to the needs and wants of socialized people. What is valuable to a person is what he needs. It is not possible to meet all the needs of all people in any society because every society has a shortage of resources.

So it meets the needs of some people. Conflict begins among members of society to meet their own needs. Conflict resolution is needed to prevent social crises as a result of this conflict.

Society has to constantly decide how much car needs to be met on the basis of limited resources. That is, in Easton’s language, how the value will be fixed or how its allocation will be.

Authority makes this important decision for society. The process of making this decision by the authority is called the allocation of values.

4. Study of Political Dynamics

The study of political dynamics is very important because it deals with the current forces at work in government and politics. It includes the study of political parties, pressure groups, public opinion, lobbies, etc.

Importance of Political Science

The study of political science is very important and significant in this socio-economic-political society. By studying it people can know how and why the state is organized and why its constitution is justified.

It makes people more conscious about their rights and duties. Those who know political science, always take useful part in social and political affairs.

Robert Dahl rightly said that “ A citizen encounters politics in the government of a country, town, school, church, business firm, trade union, club, political party, civic association and a host of organizations. Politics is one of the unavoidable facts of human existence. Everyone is involved in some fashion at some time in some kind of political system .”

After knowing about the meaning nature and scope of political science, you have realized some basic points which tell you why to study it. or what is the importance of political science ?

1. Understand Citizenship

It enables you to understand the relationship between an individual or citizen and the state. Citizen participates in the decision-making process of governance in the name of election and forms a government under which they are governed.

2. Know the Political Thoughts and Ideas of the Eminent Political Thinkers

We are influenced by the ideas of political thinkers like Plato, Aristotle, Hobbes, Karl Marx, etc. and it helps us to understand the present political problem and allow us to find out the solution to those problems.

3. Make Citizen Conscious of Their Rights and Duties

I have already said that it allows us to understand our rights and duties in the society we live. Rights are the most important aspect of any individual.

Rights are the one that helps individuals to grow in terms of their talent. Besides this, it also tells citizens about their duties to society.

4. Understands Recent Trends in the World

It also allows us to understand the current trends in the world. By the study of political science, we can search for what is happening around us. This is the era of globalization. And globalization affects our daily life but how? To solve this question we have to study it.

5. Understand the Role of Government, Political Parties, and Pressure Groups

What should be the role of a political party and how do pressure groups affect the decision-making process of the government?

It gives you clear ideas of these questions that help you to understand how the government is formed, what’s your role in the decision-making process of the government, etc.

So it can be said that a modern man cannot be perfect without knowing facts about political science. In simple importance it is precious. It improves our living standards.

After a long discussion on the Meaning Nature and Scope of Political Science, it can be concluded that it is the branch of social science in which we study the state, government, political theory, politics, political institutions, the life of political man, international relations, laws and organizations, influence and influential, authoritative allocation of values, etc.

So it can be said that it is a dynamic science which means the nature and scope of political science are extensive and always changeable. It empowers us to think differently about our society as a political as well as a social animal.

Let me share your experience with what you have learned in “ Meaning Nature and Scope of Political Science “.

Share this with the needful students as much as you can. Thank you.

Mahajan, V. Political theory . 5th ed. India: S Chand & Company Ltd, 2015.
Easton, David. The Political System-An Inquiry into the Study of Political Science , New York, 1971.
Hacker, Andrew. Political Theory , New York, 1961.
Dahl, Robert A. A Preface to Democratic Theory , Chicago, 1967.

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1.3 Political Science: The Systematic Study of Politics

Learning outcomes.

By the end of this section, you will be able to:

Define political science.
Describe the scientific study of politics.

The systematic study of the process of who gets what, when, and how— political science —investigates the reasons behind the decisions governments make. For example, political scientists investigate the degree of control governments choose to exercise over various forms of communication, like your smartphone. Political scientists examine both the ways individuals and groups seek to influence governmental action and the ways governmental decisions in turn affect individuals and groups.

Political scientists may not have lab coats or electron microscopes, but like other types of scientists, they use theory, logic, and evidence in an attempt to answer questions, to make predictions, or to arrive at conclusions. Some political scientists strive to understand the fundamental laws of politics in much the same way theoretical physicists seek to comprehend the cosmos for pure knowledge. These political scientists try to uncover the universal principles of how humans and their institutions aim to prevail in political conflicts. But most political scientists accept that human behavior is not entirely deterministic (that is, perfectly predictable), so they instead look for patterns that may enable them to predict in general how humans and their institutions interact.

What Logic Brings Palestinian and Israeli Women Together to March for Peace?

When women on both sides of the conflict in Israel grew weary of its human consequences, they decided to take matters into their own hands in 2017. In human societies, there are many sources of and paths to political conflict and its resolution.

Other political scientists are more like chemists, who may use their knowledge to develop and improve medicines or create more deadly toxins. These political scientists aspire to improve the institutions or processes of government.

Some uses of political science are not so benign. Motivated actors can and have used political science knowledge to manipulate voters and suppress vulnerable populations. When people understand how political science works, they are less susceptible to such manipulation and suppression.

So what is scientific about politics?

One way to think about whether politics is “scientific” is to focus on the content of politics. Does political behavior follow general laws—that is, does it align with universal statements about nature, based on empirical observations? Does politics have the equivalent of Isaac Newton ’s laws of motion (for example, Newton’s second law is “force is equal to mass multiplied by acceleration,” and his third law is “to every action there is an equal and opposite reaction”)? Not precisely, although political scientists have at times claimed that such laws exist.

The sticking point is the word “universal.” Force always equals mass multiplied by acceleration. To every action there is always an equal and opposite reaction. In politics, it seems, virtually nothing is always the case. If one defines science as a body of universal laws about an unchanging universe, then politics is not and cannot be a science. Politics is not the same as physics. Empirical political science seeks to identify regularities—what is likely to happen given certain conditions.

Political science is probabilistic rather than deterministic . An event is deterministic if it is possible to say, “If this happens, that will happen.” Events are probabilistic if one can say only, “If this happens, that is likely to happen.” The sun coming up in the east? Deterministic. Will it rain in the morning? Probabilistic. Will incumbents win their next bid for reelection? Political science gives us the ability to estimate the probability that they will win (again, given the rules, the reality, and the choices those incumbents make).

So science does not require universal laws that explain an unchanging universe. What science does require is a way to learn about the world around us: this way is the scientific method . The scientific method seeks to understand the world by testing hypotheses (for example “The world is round”) by systematically collecting data sufficient to test that hypothesis and by making these hypotheses and data available to others so that your work can be challenged or verified. Political science uses the scientific method to understand the political world; political science carefully and methodically uses logic and evidence to find the answers to political questions.

A hypothesis is a tentative statement about reality that can be tested to determine whether it is true or false—or, in practice, supported or unsupported based on the evidence. “A candidate’s ethnicity influences the likelihood that they will be elected” is an example of a hypothesis: ethnicity either does or does not influence election outcomes. An important task of the political scientist is to determine whether the evidence supports the hypothesis that they test.

Neil Degrasse Tyson: Analogy for the Scientific Method

In this video clip, astrophysicist and author Neil Degrasse Tyson relates a humorous anecdote about an everyday experience in a coffee shop that illustrates the basic principles of the scientific method.

The answers scientists find are always tentative, or uncertain. A hypothesis is supported rather than true or unsupported rather than false. Additional research may yield different answers as theories or methods improve or better data emerges, but also because political behavior itself can change in response to what people learn about it. The knowledge, for example, that politicians are likely to act in a certain way given certain circumstances might lead politicians to change their behavior if they believe that doing so will gain them an advantage. The specific knowledge (“politicians in this situation will behave in that way”) may become obsolete even if a broader general principle (“politicians will act strategically to advance their goals”) still appears to be true.

There are two main, interrelated types of political science: normative political science (also called political philosophy or political theory) and empirical political science .

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Home » Political Science » Political Science: History, Definition, Scope, Sub Fields and more

Political Science: History, Definition, Scope, Sub Fields and more

What is political science.

Political Science is the study of the theory and practice of politics and government. It is a social science that deals with the analysis of political systems, institutions, behavior, and public policy.

It encompasses a wide range of subfields, including political theory , comparative politics , international relations , public policy , and political behavior .

Political scientists use a variety of research methods, including quantitative analysis , statistical analysis , and qualitative research , to study the complex dynamics of politics and governance at the local, national, and international levels.

The goal of Political Science is to understand and explain the ways in which power is exercised, shared, and limited in society, and to use this understanding to promote more effective and just governance.

History of Political Science

Political science in ancient greece.

The study of politics and government can be traced back to ancient Greece, where philosophers such as Plato and Aristotle wrote extensively about the nature of politics and governance. They sought to understand the best way to organize and govern society, and their ideas continue to influence political thought today.

Plato (427-347 BCE)

Plato , a student of Socrates , wrote about the ideal state in his famous work “The Republic.” He believed that a just society could be achieved through the rule of philosopher-kings who possess knowledge of the eternal forms or ideas. He also wrote about the nature of justice and the role of the individual in society.

Aristotle (384-322 BCE)

Aristotle , a student of Plato , wrote about the nature of politics and the different forms of government in his work “Politics.”

He classified governments into three types: monarchy , aristocracy , and democracy . He believed that the best form of government is a constitutional government, in which power is shared among different groups. Aristotle also wrote about the importance of education and the role of virtue in politics.

Political Science in Middle Ages

During the Middle Ages, political thought was shaped by the Catholic Church and the writings of scholars such as Thomas Aquinas and Machiavelli . The Catholic Church held a great deal of political power and influence, and its teachings and doctrine played a central role in shaping political thought.

The works of scholars like Aquinas and Machiavelli were heavily influenced by the Church’s teachings and focused on the nature of political authority, the role of the state, and the relationship between the ruler and the ruled.

Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274)

Thomas Aquinas was a Dominican friar and theologian, and one of the most important figures in the history of political thought. He wrote extensively on the nature of political authority and the role of the state. He believed that the state was necessary to maintain order and justice in society, and that the ruler had a duty to promote the common good. He also believed that the state should be limited by natural law and that the ruler’s authority was derived from God.

Machiavelli (1469-1527)

Niccolò Machiavelli was an Italian diplomat, politician and writer, and one of the most influential figures in the history of political thought. He wrote the famous book “The Prince” which is considered as one of the seminal works of political science. He believed that the state was necessary to maintain order and security, and that the ruler should be willing to use any means necessary to maintain power. He also believed that the ruler’s authority was derived from the people, and that the ruler’s primary duty was to protect the state.

Period of Renaissance

The Renaissance saw a renewed interest in classical thought, and figures such as Hobbes, Locke, and Rousseau wrote about the nature of government and the social contract.

19th Century

In the 19th century, the field of Political Science began to emerge as a distinct academic discipline. Scholars such as Alexis de Tocqueville and Franz Oppenheimer wrote about the nature of democracy and the role of the state in society. The early 20th century saw the rise of positivist and behavioral approaches to the study of politics, which focused on the scientific study of political phenomena.

Definitions of Political Science

Aristotle (384-322 BCE) defined Political Science as “the science of creating the best possible constitution and the best possible life in a community.”
Harold Lasswell (1902-1978) defined Political Science as “the study of who gets what, when, and how.”
David Easton (1917-2014) defined Political Science as “the analysis of the authoritative allocation of values.”
Gabriel Almond (1911-2002) defined Political Science as “the study of the authoritative allocation of values for a society.”
Robert Dahl (1915-2014) defined Political Science as “the study of how power is exercised and shared in society.”
Woodrow Wilson (1856-1924) defined Political Science as “the study of government and the art of government.”

Scope of Political Science

The s cope of Political Science is vast and covers a wide range of topics, from the study of political theory and the ideal form of government, to the study of public policy and the impact of politics on society.

Study of Political System and Institutions

One of the key areas of study within Political Science is the study of political systems and institutions. This includes the examination of different forms of government, such as democracy , dictatorship , and monarchy , as well as the study of political parties, interest groups, and other political actors. Political scientists also study the workings of political systems, including the role of the state, the distribution of power, and the relationship between the ruler and the ruled.

Study of Public Policy

Another important area of study within Political Science is the study of public policy. This includes the examination of how policies are made, who is affected by them, and how they impact society. Political scientists also study the implementation of policies, including the management of public organizations and the role of bureaucrats. This subfield also deals with the study of public administration which includes the management of public organizations and the implementation of public policy.

Study of International Relations

Political Science also encompasses the study of international relations, which deals with the relations between countries and international organizations. This includes the examination of the causes of war and peace, the role of international institutions, and the impact of globalization on politics and governance. Political scientists in this subfield use a variety of methods, such as game theory and statistical analysis, to understand the dynamics of international relations and the factors that shape foreign policy.

Subfields of Political Science

Political Science is a multi-disciplinary field that encompasses a wide range of subfields, each with its own specific focus and methods of study. Here are some of the major subfields of Political Science:

Political theory
Comparative politics
International relations
Public policy
Political behavior
Public Administration
Political psychology
Environmental Politics
Political Economy

1. Political theory

Political theory is one of the subfields of Political Science. It is concerned with the nature of politics and the ideal form of government. It explores the origins of political authority, the foundations of the state, and the principles of democracy and justice. Political theorists use a variety of methods, such as historical analysis, philosophical inquiry, and comparative study, to understand the nature of politics and the principles that should guide it.

2. Comparative politics

Comparative politics is another subfield of Political Science. It is the study of the politics of different countries and regions. It seeks to understand how political systems differ, how they are similar, and how they change over time. Comparative politics uses a variety of methods, such as statistical analysis, case studies, and field research, to understand the politics of different countries and regions.

3. International relations

International relations is a subfield of Political Science that deals with the relations between countries and international organizations. It examines the causes of war and peace, the role of international institutions, and the impact of globalization on politics and governance. International relations scholars use a variety of methods, such as game theory, statistical analysis, and historical analysis, to understand the dynamics of international relations.

4. Public policy

Public policy is a subfield of Political Science that deals with the development and implementation of government policies. It examines how policies are made, who is affected by them, and how they impact society. Public policy scholars use a variety of methods, such as quantitative analysis, case studies, and field research, to understand the policy-making process and the impact of policies on society.

5. Political behavior

Political behavior is another subfield of Political Science that deals with how individuals and groups make political decisions. It examines how citizens form political attitudes, how they participate in politics, and how political institutions shape political behavior. Political behavior scholars use a variety of methods, such as surveys, experiments, and field research, to understand the factors that influence political decision-making.

6. Public Administration

Public Administration is a subfield of Political Science. It deals with the management of public organizations and the implementation of public policy. It examines how government organizations are managed and how they implement policies. Public administration scholars use a variety of methods, such as case studies and field research, to understand the organization and management of government agencies.

7. Political psychology

Political psychology is a subfield of Political Science. It deals with how individuals and groups think, feel, and act in political contexts, including the psychological factors that influence political decision-making. It examines how individuals form political attitudes and beliefs, how they participate in politics, and how they are influenced by political institutions and leaders. Political psychology scholars use a variety of methods, such as experiments, surveys, and field research, to understand the psychological processes that underlie political behavior.

8. Environmental Politics

This subfield deals with the relationship between politics and the environment. It examines how government policies and actions impact the environment and how environmental issues are addressed by political institutions. Environmental politics scholars use a variety of methods, such as case studies, statistical analysis, and field research, to understand the relationship between politics and the environment.

9. Political Economy

This subfield deals with the intersection of politics and economics. It examines how economic policies and institutions shape political outcomes and how politics affects economic performance. Political economy scholars use a variety of methods, such as game theory, statistical analysis, and case studies, to understand the relationship between politics and economics.

10. Public Law

This subfield deals with the study of laws and legal institutions that govern public policy, administration and politics. It examines how laws and legal institutions shape politics and how politics shape legal institutions. Public law scholars use a variety of methods, such as case studies, legal research, and historical analysis, to understand the relationship between politics and law.

Why we study Political Science?

There are many reasons why people choose to study Political Science. Some of the main reasons include:

Understanding the world: Political Science provides a framework for understanding the political, social, and economic systems that shape our world. It helps students understand how politics works and how it affects their lives and the lives of others.
Career opportunities: Political Science majors are well-prepared for a variety of careers in the public, private, and non-profit sectors. Graduates can work in government, international organizations, political campaigns, lobbying, public policy, and political consulting, among others.
Civic engagement: Political Science encourages students to become informed and active citizens. It provides the knowledge and skills needed to participate in the political process and to make a positive impact in their communities.
Critical thinking: Political Science encourages students to think critically about political issues and to develop the skills needed to analyze and evaluate political arguments.
Interdisciplinary: Political Science is an interdisciplinary field, which means it draws on concepts and theories from a variety of disciplines, such as history, sociology, economics, law, and psychology, to understand the complexities of politics and governance.
International perspective: Political Science also provides a global perspective on politics, helping students understand the dynamics of international relations and the impact of globalization on politics and governance.

Who is Called the Father of Political Science?

The Greek philosopher Aristotle is often considered the “Father of Political Science.” He wrote extensively on politics and government, and his ideas and concepts continue to be studied and debated by political scientists today.

In his book “Politics,” Aristotle outlined his views on politics and government, and discussed topics such as the nature of the state, the ideal form of government, and the role of citizens in the political process.

He also made significant contributions to the study of political theory, including the concepts of justice and the common good, which are still debated and studied today. Aristotle’s ideas and concepts have had a lasting impact on the field of Political Science and continue to be an important source of inspiration and understanding for scholars and students of the subject.

In conclusion, Political Science is a dynamic and multi-disciplinary field of study that encompasses a wide range of subfields, each with its own specific focus and methods of study. It provides students with a comprehensive understanding of the political, social and economic systems that shape our world. The scope of Political Science is vast and covers a wide range of topics, from the study of political theory and the ideal form of government, to the study of public policy and the impact of politics on society.

One of the key reasons to study Political Science is to gain an understanding of how politics works and how it affects our lives. Additionally, Political Science offers a wide range of career opportunities for graduates, as well as the ability to become an informed and active citizen. Furthermore, Political Science encourages critical thinking and provides a global perspective on politics and governance.

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[…] of political systems and institutions. Political theory, on the other hand, is a branch of political science that studies political concepts, ideas, and practices, and how they shape political systems and […]

Chapter 1 Nature, Scope and Significance of Political Science Definition and Meaning of Political Science

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Introduction to Politics (4th edn)

List of Boxes
About the Authors
Guided Tour of the Textbook Features
Guided tour of the Online Resources
1. Introduction: The Nature of Politics and Political Analysis
2. Politics and the State
3. Political Power, Authority, and the State
4. Democracy and Political Obligation
5. Freedom and Justice
6. Traditional Ideologies
7. Challenges to the Dominant Ideologies
8. Institutions and States
9. Political Culture and Non-Western Political Ideas
10. Law, Constitutions, and Federalism
11. Votes, Elections, Legislatures, and Legislators
12. Political Parties
13. Executives, Bureaucracies, Policy Studies, and Governance
14. Civil Society, Interest Groups, and the Media
15. Democracies, Democratization, and Authoritarian Regimes
16. Introducing Global Politics
17. Traditional Theories in Global Politics
18. Critical Approaches to Global Politics
19. Security and Insecurity
20. Diplomacy and Foreign Policy
21. International Organizations in Global Politics
22. Global Political Economy
23. Conclusion: Towards a Globalizing, Post- Western-Dominated World

p. 1 1. Introduction: The Nature of Politics and Political Analysis

Robert Garner Robert Garner Professor of Politics, University of Leicester
https://doi.org/10.1093/hepl/9780198820611.003.0001
Published in print: 08 April 2020
Published online: August 2020

This introductory chapter examines the nature of politics and the political, and more specifically whether politics is an inevitable feature of all human societies. It begins by addressing questions useful when asking about ‘who gets what, when, how?’; for example, why those taking decisions are able to enforce them. The discussion proceeds by focusing on the boundary problems inherent in an analysis of the nature of the political. One such problem is whether politics is equivalent to consensus and cooperation, so that it does not exist in the event of conflict and war. The chapter then explores different forms of political analysis — the empirical, the normative, and the semantic—as well as deductive and inductive methods of studying politics. Finally, it asks whether politics can ever be a science to rival subjects in the natural sciences.

boundary problem
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Aristotle’s Political Theory

Aristotle (b. 384–d. 322 BCE), was a Greek philosopher, logician, and scientist. Along with his teacher Plato, Aristotle is generally regarded as one of the most influential ancient thinkers in a number of philosophical fields, including political theory. Aristotle was born in Stagira in northern Greece, and his father was a court physician to the king of Macedon. As a young man he studied in Plato’s Academy in Athens. After Plato’s death he left Athens to conduct philosophical and biological research in Asia Minor and Lesbos, and he was then invited by King Philip II of Macedon to tutor his young son, Alexander the Great. Soon after Alexander succeeded his father, consolidated the conquest of the Greek city-states, and launched the invasion of the Persian Empire. Aristotle returned as a resident alien to Athens, and was a close friend of Antipater, the Macedonian viceroy. At this time (335–323 BCE) he wrote, or at least worked on, some of his major treatises, including the Politics . When Alexander died suddenly, Aristotle had to flee from Athens because of his Macedonian connections, and he died soon after. Aristotle’s life seems to have influenced his political thought in various ways: his interest in biology seems to be reflected in the naturalism of his politics; his interest in comparative politics and his qualified sympathies for democracy as well as monarchy may have been encouraged by his travels and experience of diverse political systems; he reacts critically to his teacher Plato, while borrowing extensively, from Plato’s Republic , Statesman , and Laws ; and his own Politics is intended to guide rulers and statesmen, reflecting the high political circles in which he moved.

Supplement: Characteristics and Problems of Aristotle’s Politics

Supplement: Presuppositions of Aristotle’s Politics

Supplement: Political Naturalism

4. Study of Specific Constitutions

5. aristotle and modern politics, glossary of aristotelian terms, a. greek text of aristotle’s politics, b. english translations of aristotle’s politics, c. anthologies, d. single-authored commentaries and overviews, e. studies of particular topics, other internet resources, related entries, 1. political science in general.

The modern word ‘political’ derives from the Greek politikos , ‘of, or pertaining to, the polis’. (The Greek term polis will be translated here as ‘city-state’. It is also commonly translated as ‘city’ or simply anglicized as ‘polis’. City-states like Athens and Sparta were relatively small and cohesive units, in which political, religious, and cultural concerns were intertwined. The extent of their similarity to modern nation-states is controversial.) Aristotle’s word for ‘politics’ is politikê , which is short for politikê epistêmê or ‘political science’. It belongs to one of the three main branches of science, which Aristotle distinguishes by their ends or objects. Contemplative science (including physics and metaphysics) is concerned with truth or knowledge for its own sake; practical science with good action; and productive science with making useful or beautiful objects ( Top . VI.6.145a14–16, Met . VI.1.1025b24, XI.7.1064a16–19, EN VI.2.1139a26–8). Politics is a practical science, since it is concerned with the noble action or happiness of the citizens (although it resembles a productive science in that it seeks to create, preserve, and reform political systems). Aristotle thus understands politics as a normative or prescriptive discipline rather than as a purely empirical or descriptive inquiry.

In the Nicomachean Ethics Aristotle describes his subject matter as ‘political science’, which he characterizes as the most authoritative science. It prescribes which sciences are to be studied in the city-state, and the others — such as military science, household management, and rhetoric — fall under its authority. Since it governs the other practical sciences, their ends serve as means to its end, which is nothing less than the human good. “Even if the end is the same for an individual and for a city-state, that of the city-state seems at any rate greater and more complete to attain and preserve. For although it is worthy to attain it for only an individual, it is nobler and more divine to do so for a nation or city-state” ( EN I.2.1094b7–10). The two ethical works (the Nicomachean Ethics and the Eudemian Ethics ) explain the principles that form the foundations for the Politics : that happiness is the highest human good, that happiness is the activity of moral virtue defined in terms of the mean, and that justice or the common advantage is the political good. Aristotle’s political science thus encompasses the two fields which modern philosophers distinguish as ethics and political philosophy. (See the entry on Aristotle’s ethics .) Political philosophy in the narrow sense is roughly speaking the subject of his treatise called the Politics . For a further discussion of this topic, see the following supplementary document:

2. Aristotle’s View of Politics

Political science studies the tasks of the politician or statesman ( politikos ), in much the way that medical science concerns the work of the physician (see Politics IV.1). It is, in fact, the body of knowledge that such practitioners, if truly expert, will also wield in pursuing their tasks. The most important task for the politician is, in the role of lawgiver ( nomothetês ), to frame the appropriate constitution for the city-state. This involves enduring laws, customs, and institutions (including a system of moral education) for the citizens. Once the constitution is in place, the politician needs to take the appropriate measures to maintain it, to introduce reforms when he finds them necessary, and to prevent developments which might subvert the political system. This is the province of legislative science, which Aristotle regards as more important than politics as exercised in everyday political activity such as the passing of decrees (see EN VI.8).

Aristotle frequently compares the politician to a craftsman. The analogy is imprecise because politics, in the strict sense of legislative science, is a form of practical knowledge, while a craft like architecture or medicine is a form of productive knowledge. However, the comparison is valid to the extent that the politician produces, operates, maintains a legal system according to universal principles ( EN VI.8 and X.9). In order to appreciate this analogy it is helpful to observe that Aristotle explains the production of an artifact such as a drinking cup in terms of four causes: the material, formal, efficient, and final causes ( Phys . II.3 and Met . A.2). For example, clay (material cause) is molded into a roughly cylindrical shape closed at one end (formal cause) by a potter (efficient or moving cause) so that it can contain a beverage (final cause). (For discussion of the four causes see the entry on Aristotle’s physics .)

One can also explain the existence of the city-state in terms of the four causes. It is a kind of community ( koinônia ), that is, a collection of parts having some functions and interests in common ( Pol . II.1.1261a18, III.1.1275b20). Hence, it is made up of parts, which Aristotle describes in various ways in different contexts: as households, or economic classes (e.g., the rich and the poor), or demes (i.e., local political units). But, ultimately, the city-state is composed of individual citizens (see III.1.1274a38–41), who, along with natural resources, are the “material” or “equipment” out of which the city-state is fashioned (see VII.14.1325b38–41).

The formal cause of the city-state is its constitution ( politeia ). Aristotle defines the constitution as “a certain ordering of the inhabitants of the city-state” (III.1.1274b32–41). He also speaks of the constitution of a community as “the form of the compound” and argues that whether the community is the same over time depends on whether it has the same constitution (III.3.1276b1–11). The constitution is not a written document, but an immanent organizing principle, analogous to the soul of an organism. Hence, the constitution is also “the way of life” of the citizens (IV.11.1295a40–b1, VII.8.1328b1–2). Here the citizens are that minority of the resident population who possess full political rights (III.1.1275b17–20).

The existence of the city-state also requires an efficient cause, namely, its ruler. On Aristotle’s view, a community of any sort can possess order only if it has a ruling element or authority. This ruling principle is defined by the constitution, which sets criteria for political offices, particularly the sovereign office (III.6.1278b8–10; cf. IV.1.1289a15–18). However, on a deeper level, there must be an efficient cause to explain why a city-state acquires its constitution in the first place. Aristotle states that “the person who first established [the city-state] is the cause of very great benefits” (I.2.1253a30–1). This person was evidently the lawgiver ( nomothetês ), someone like Solon of Athens or Lycurgus of Sparta, who founded the constitution. Aristotle compares the lawgiver, or the politician more generally, to a craftsman ( dêmiourgos ) like a weaver or shipbuilder, who fashions material into a finished product (II.12.1273b32–3, VII.4.1325b40–1365a5).

The notion of final cause dominates Aristotle’s Politics from the opening lines:

Since we see that every city-state is a sort of community and that every community is established for the sake of some good (for everyone does everything for the sake of what they believe to be good), it is clear that every community aims at some good, and the community which has the most authority of all and includes all the others aims highest, that is, at the good with the most authority. This is what is called the city-state or political community. [I.1.1252a1–7]

Soon after, he states that the city-state comes into being for the sake of life but exists for the sake of the good life (2.1252b29–30). The theme that the good life or happiness is the proper end of the city-state recurs throughout the Politics (III.6.1278b17–24, 9.1280b39; VII.2.1325a7–10).

To sum up, the city-state is a hylomorphic (i.e., matter-form) compound of a particular population (i.e., citizen-body) in a given territory (material cause) and a constitution (formal cause). The constitution itself is fashioned by the lawgiver and is governed by politicians, who are like craftsmen (efficient cause), and the constitution defines the aim of the city-state (final cause, IV.1.1289a17–18). Aristotle’s hylomorphic analysis has important practical implications for him: just as a craftsman should not try to impose a form on materials for which it is unsuited (e.g. to build a house out of sand), the legislator should not lay down or change laws which are contrary to the nature of the citizens. Aristotle accordingly rejects utopian schemes such as the proposal in Plato’s Republic that children and property should belong to all the citizens in common. For this runs afoul of the fact that “people give most attention to their own property, less to what is communal, or only as much as falls to them to give attention” ( Pol. II.3.1261b33–5). Aristotle is also wary of casual political innovation, because it can have the deleterious side-effect of undermining the citizens’ habit of obeying the law (II.8.1269a13–24). For a further discussion of the theoretical foundations of Aristotle’s politics, see the following supplementary document:

It is in these terms, then, that Aristotle understands the fundamental normative problem of politics: What constitutional form should the lawgiver establish and preserve in what material for the sake of what end?

3. General Theory of Constitutions and Citizenship

Aristotle states, “The politician and lawgiver is wholly occupied with the city-state, and the constitution is a certain way of organizing those who inhabit the city-state” (III.1.1274b36–8). His general theory of constitutions is set forth in Politics III. He begins with a definition of the citizen ( politês ), since the city-state is by nature a collective entity, a multitude of citizens. Citizens are distinguished from other inhabitants, such as resident aliens and slaves; and even children and seniors are not unqualified citizens (nor are most ordinary workers). After further analysis he defines the citizen as a person who has the right ( exousia ) to participate in deliberative or judicial office (1275b18–21). In Athens, for example, citizens had the right to attend the assembly, the council, and other bodies, or to sit on juries. The Athenian system differed from a modern representative democracy in that the citizens were more directly involved in governing. Although full citizenship tended to be restricted in the Greek city-states (with women, slaves, foreigners, and some others excluded), the citizens were more deeply enfranchised than in modern representative democracies because they were more directly involved in governing. This is reflected in Aristotle’s definition of the citizen (without qualification). Further, he defines the city-state (in the unqualified sense) as a multitude of such citizens which is adequate for a self-sufficient life (1275b20–21).

Aristotle defines the constitution ( politeia ) as a way of organizing the offices of the city-state, particularly the sovereign office (III.6.1278b8–10; cf. IV.1.1289a15–18). The constitution thus defines the governing body, which takes different forms: for example, in a democracy it is the people, and in an oligarchy it is a select few (the wealthy or well born). Before attempting to distinguish and evaluate various constitutions Aristotle considers two questions. First, why does a city-state come into being? He recalls the thesis, defended in Politics I.2, that human beings are by nature political animals, who naturally want to live together. For a further discussion of this topic, see the following supplementary document:

Aristotle then adds, “The common advantage also brings them together insofar as they each attain the noble life. This is above all the end for all both in common and separately” (III.6.1278b19–24). Second, what are the different forms of rule by which one individual or group can rule over another? Aristotle distinguishes several types of rule, based on the nature of the soul of the ruler and of the subject. He first considers despotic rule, which is exemplified in the master-slave relationship. Aristotle thinks that this form of rule is justified in the case of natural slaves who (he asserts without evidence) lack a deliberative faculty and thus need a natural master to direct them (I.13.1260a12; slavery is defended at length in Politics I.4–8). Although a natural slave allegedly benefits from having a master, despotic rule is still primarily for the sake of the master and only incidentally for the slave (III.6.1278b32–7). (Aristotle provides no argument for this: if some persons are congenitally incapable of governing themselves, why should they not be ruled primarily for their own sakes?) He next considers paternal and marital rule, which he also views as defensible: “the male is by nature more capable of leadership than the female, unless he is constituted in some way contrary to nature, and the elder and perfect [is by nature more capable of leadership] than the younger and imperfect” (I.12.1259a39–b4).

Aristotle is persuasive when he argues that children need adult supervision because their rationality is “imperfect” ( ateles ) or immature. But he is unconvincing to modern readers when he alleges (without substantiation) that, although women have a deliberative faculty, it is “without authority” ( akuron ), so that females require male supervision (I.13.1260a13–14). (Aristotle’s arguments about slaves and women appear so weak that some commentators take them to be ironic. However, what is obvious to a modern reader need not have been so to an ancient Greek, so that it is not necessary to suppose Aristotle’s discussion is disingenuous.) It is noteworthy, however, that paternal and marital rule are properly practiced for the sake of the ruled (for the sake of the child and of the wife respectively), just as arts like medicine or gymnastics are practiced for the sake of the patient (III.6.1278b37–1279a1). In this respect they resemble political rule, which is the form of rule appropriate when the ruler and the subject have equal and similar rational capacities. This is exemplified by naturally equal citizens who take turns at ruling for one another’s advantage (1279a8–13). This sets the stage for the fundamental claim of Aristotle’s constitutional theory: “constitutions which aim at the common advantage are correct and just without qualification, whereas those which aim only at the advantage of the rulers are deviant and unjust, because they involve despotic rule which is inappropriate for a community of free persons” (1279a17–21).

The distinction between correct and deviant constitutions is combined with the observation that the government may consist of one person, a few, or a multitude. Hence, there are six possible constitutional forms ( Politics III.7):


	Kingship	Tyranny
	Aristocracy	Oligarchy
	Polity	Democracy

This six-fold classification (which is doubtless adapted from Plato’s Statesman 302c–d) sets the stage for Aristotle’s inquiry into the best constitution, although it is modified in various ways throughout the Politics . For example, he observes that the dominant class in oligarchy (literally rule of the oligoi , i.e., few) is typically the wealthy, whereas in democracy (literally rule of the dêmos , i.e., people) it is the poor, so that these economic classes should be included in the definition of these forms (see Politics III.8, IV.4, and VI.2 for alternative accounts). Also, polity is later characterized as a kind of “mixed” constitution typified by rule of the “middle” group of citizens, a moderately wealthy class between the rich and poor ( Politics IV.11).

Aristotle’s constitutional theory is based on his theory of justice, which is expounded in Nicomachean Ethics book V. Aristotle distinguishes two different but related senses of “justice” — universal and particular — both of which play an important role in his constitutional theory. Firstly, in the universal sense “justice” means “lawfulness” and is concerned with the common advantage and happiness of the political community ( NE V.1.1129b11–19, cf. Pol. III.12.1282b16–17). The conception of universal justice undergirds the distinction between correct (just) and deviant (unjust) constitutions. But what exactly the “common advantage” ( koinê sumpheron ) entails is a matter of scholarly controversy. Some passages imply that justice involves the advantage of all the citizens; for example, every citizen of the best constitution has a just claim to private property and to an education ( Pol. VII.9.1329a23–4, 13.1332a32–8). But Aristotle also allows that it might be “in a way” just to ostracize powerful citizens even when they have not been convicted of any crimes (III.13.1284b15–20). Whether Aristotle understands the common advantage as safeguarding the interests of each and every citizen has a bearing on whether and to what extent he anticipates what moderns would understand as a theory of individual rights. (See Fred Miller and Richard Kraut for differing interpretations.)

Secondly, in the particular sense “justice” means “equality” or “fairness”, and this includes distributive justice, according to which different individuals have just claims to shares of some common asset such as property. Aristotle analyzes arguments for and against the different constitutions as different applications of the principle of distributive justice (III.9.1280a7–22). Everyone agrees, he says, that justice involves treating equal persons equally, and treating unequal persons unequally, but they do not agree on the standard by which individuals are deemed to be equally (or unequally) meritorious or deserving. He assumes his own analysis of distributive justice set forth in Nicomachean Ethics V.3: Justice requires that benefits be distributed to individuals in proportion to their merit or desert. The oligarchs mistakenly think that those who are superior in wealth should also have superior political rights, whereas the democrats hold that those who are equal in free birth should also have equal political rights. Both of these conceptions of political justice are mistaken in Aristotle’s view, because they assume a false conception of the ultimate end of the city-state. The city-state is neither a business enterprise to maximize wealth (as the oligarchs suppose) nor an association to promote liberty and equality (as the democrats maintain). Instead, Aristotle argues, “the good life is the end of the city-state,” that is, a life consisting of noble actions (1280b39–1281a4). Hence, the correct conception of justice is aristocratic, assigning political rights to those who make a full contribution to the political community, that is, to those with virtue as well as property and freedom (1281a4–8). This is what Aristotle understands by an “aristocratic” constitution: literally, the rule of the aristoi , i.e., best persons. Aristotle explores the implications of this argument in the remainder of Politics III, considering the rival claims of the rule of law and the rule of a supremely virtuous individual. Here absolute kingship is a limiting case of aristocracy. Again, in books VII-VIII, Aristotle describes the ideal constitution in which the citizens are fully virtuous.

Although justice is in Aristotle’s view the foremost political virtue ( Pol . III.9.1283a38–40), the other great social virtue, friendship, should not be overlooked, because the two virtues work hand in hand to secure every sort of association ( EN VIII.9.1159b26–7). Justice enables the citizens of a city-state to share peacefully in the benefits and burdens of cooperation, while friendship holds them together and prevents them from breaking up into warring factions (cf. Pol . II.4.1262b7–9). Friends are expected to treat each other justly, but friendship goes beyond justice because it is a complex mutual bond in which individuals choose the good for others and trust that others are choosing the good for them (cf. EE VII.2.1236a14–15, b2–3; EN VIII.2.1155b34–3.1156a10). Because choosing the good for one another is essential to friendship and there are three different ways in which something can be called ‘good’ for a human being—virtuous (i.e., good without qualification), useful, or pleasant—there are three types of friendship: hedonistic, utilitarian, and virtuous. Political (or civic) friendship is a species of utilitarian friendship, and it is the most important form of utilitarian friendship because the polis is the greatest community. Opposed to political friendship is enmity, which leads to faction or civil war ( stasis ) or even to political revolution and the breakup of the polis, as discussed in Book V of the Politics. Aristotle offers general accounts of political or civic friendship as part of his general theory of friendship in EE VII.10 and EN VIII.9–12.

The purpose of political science is to guide “the good lawgiver and the true politician” (IV.1.1288b27). Like any complete science or craft, it must study a range of issues concerning its subject matter. For example, gymnastics (physical education) studies what sort of training is best or adapted to the body that is naturally the best, what sort of training is best for most bodies, and what capacity is appropriate for someone who does not want the condition or knowledge appropriate for athletic contests. Political science studies a comparable range of constitutions (1288b21–35): first, the constitution which is best without qualification, i.e., “most according to our prayers with no external impediment”; second, the constitution that is best under the circumstances “for it is probably impossible for many persons to attain the best constitution”; third, the constitution which serves the aim a given population happens to have, i.e., the one that is best “based on a hypothesis”: “for [the political scientist] ought to be able to study a given constitution, both how it might originally come to be, and, when it has come to be, in what manner it might be preserved for the longest time; I mean, for example, if a particular city happens neither to be governed by the best constitution, nor to be equipped even with necessary things, nor to be the [best] possible under existing circumstances, but to be a baser sort.” Hence, Aristotelian political science is not confined to the ideal system, but also investigates the second-best constitution or even inferior political systems, because this may be the closest approximation to full political justice which the lawgiver can attain under the circumstances.

Regarding the constitution that is ideal or “according to prayer,” Aristotle criticizes the views of his predecessors in the Politics and then offers a rather sketchy blueprint of his own in Politics VII–VIII. Although his own political views were influenced by his teacher Plato, Aristotle is highly critical of the ideal constitution set forth in Plato’s Republic on the grounds that it overvalues political unity, it embraces a system of communism that is impractical and inimical to human nature, and it neglects the happiness of the individual citizens ( Politics II.1–5). In contrast, in Aristotle’s “best constitution,” each and every citizen will possess moral virtue and the equipment to carry it out in practice, and thereby attain a life of excellence and complete happiness (see VII.13.1332a32–8). All of the citizens will hold political office and possess private property because “one should call the city-state happy not by looking at a part of it but at all the citizens.” (VII.9.1329a22–3). Moreover, there will be a common system of education for all the citizens, because they share the same end ( Pol . VIII.1).

If (as is the case with most existing city-states) the population lacks the capacities and resources for complete happiness, however, the lawgiver must be content with fashioning a suitable constitution ( Politics IV.11). The second-best system typically takes the form of a polity (in which citizens possess an inferior, more common grade of virtue) or mixed constitution (combining features of democracy, oligarchy, and, where possible, aristocracy, so that no group of citizens is in a position to abuse its rights). Aristotle argues that for city-states that fall short of the ideal, the best constitution is one controlled by a numerous middle class which stands between the rich and the poor. For those who possess the goods of fortune in moderation find it “easiest to obey the rule of reason” ( Politics IV.11.1295b4–6). They are accordingly less apt than the rich or poor to act unjustly toward their fellow citizens. A constitution based on the middle class is the mean between the extremes of oligarchy (rule by the rich) and democracy (rule by the poor). “That the middle [constitution] is best is evident, for it is the freest from faction: where the middle class is numerous, there least occur factions and divisions among citizens” (IV.11.1296a7–9). The middle constitution is therefore both more stable and more just than oligarchy and democracy.

Although Aristotle classifies democracy as a deviant constitution (albeit the best of a bad lot), he argues that a case might be made for popular rule in Politics III.11, a discussion which has attracted the attention of modern democratic theorists. The central claim is that the many may turn out to be better than the virtuous few when they come together, even though the many may be inferior when considered individually. For if each individual has a portion of virtue and practical wisdom, they may pool these moral assets and turn out to be better rulers than even a very wise individual. This argument seems to anticipate treatments of “the wisdom of the multitude” such as Condorcet’s “jury theorem.” In recent years, this particular chapter has been widely discussed in connection with topics such as democratic deliberation and public reason.

In addition, the political scientist must attend to existing constitutions even when they are bad. Aristotle notes that “to reform a constitution is no less a task [of politics] than it is to establish one from the beginning,” and in this way “the politician should also help existing constitutions” (IV.1.1289a1–7). The political scientist should also be cognizant of forces of political change which can undermine an existing regime. Aristotle criticizes his predecessors for excessive utopianism and neglect of the practical duties of a political theorist. However, he is no Machiavellian. The best constitution still serves as a regulative ideal by which to evaluate existing systems.

These topics occupy the remainder of the Politics . Books IV–VI are concerned with the existing constitutions: that is, the three deviant constitutions, as well as polity or the “mixed” constitution, which are the best attainable under most circumstances (IV.2.1289a26–38). The mixed constitution has been of special interest to scholars because it looks like a forerunner of modern republican regimes. The whole of book V investigates the causes and prevention of revolution or political change ( metabolê ) and civil war or faction ( stasis ). Books VII–VIII are devoted to the ideal constitution. As might be expected, Aristotle’s attempt to carry out this program involves many difficulties, and scholars disagree about how the two series of books (IV–VI and VII–VIII) are related to each other: for example, which were written first, which were intended to be read first, and whether they are ultimately consistent with each other. Most importantly, when Aristotle offers practical political prescriptions in Books IV–VI, is he guided by the best constitution as a regulative ideal, or is he simply abandoning political idealism and practicing a form of Realpolitik?For a further discussion of this topic, see the following supplementary document:

Aristotle has continued to influence thinkers up to the present throughout the political spectrum, including conservatives (such as Hannah Arendt, Leo Strauss, and Eric Voegelin), communitarians (such as Alasdair MacIntyre and Michael Sandel), liberals (such as William Galston and Martha C. Nussbaum), libertarians (such as Tibor R. Machan, Douglas B. Rasmussen, and Douglas J. Den Uyl), and democratic theorists (such as Jill Frank and Gerald M. Mara).

It is not surprising that such diverse political persuasions can lay claim to Aristotle as a source. For his method often leads to divergent interpretations. When he deals with a difficult problem, he is inclined to consider opposing arguments in a careful and nuanced manner, and he is often willing to concede that there is truth on each side. For example, though he is critical of democracy, in one passage he allows that the case for rule by the many based on the superior wisdom of the multitude “perhaps also involves some truth” ( Pol. III.11.1281a39–42). Again, he sometimes applies his own principles in a questionable manner, for example, when he reasons that because associations should be governed in a rational manner, the household should be run by the husband rather than by the wife, whose rational capacity “lacks authority” (I.13.1260a13). Modern commentators sympathetic with Aristotle’s general approach often contend that in this case he applies his own principles incorrectly–leaving open the question of how they should be applied. Further, the way he applies his principles may have seemed reasonable in his socio-political context–for example, that the citizen of a polity (normally the best attainable constitution) must be a hoplite soldier (cf. III.7,1297b4)–but it may be debatable how these might apply within a modern democratic nation-state.

The problem of extrapolating to modern political affairs can be illustrated more fully in connection with Aristotle’s discussion of legal change in Politics II.8. He first lays out the argument for making the laws changeable. It has been beneficial in the case of medicine, for example, for it to progress from traditional ways to improved forms of treatment. An existing law may be a vestige of a primitive barbaric practice. For instance, Aristotle mentions a law in Cyme that allows an accuser to produce a number of his own relatives as witnesses to prove that a defendant is guilty of murder. “So,” Aristotle concludes, “it is evident from the foregoing that some laws should sometimes be changed. But to those who look at the matter from a different angle, caution would seem to be required” (1269a12–14). Since the law gets its force from the citizens’ habit of obedience, great care should be exercised in making any change in it. It may sometimes be better to leave defective laws in place rather than encouraging lawlessness by changing the laws too frequently. Moreover, there are the problems of how the laws are to be changed and who is to change them. Although Aristotle offers valuable insights, he breaks off the discussion of this topic and never takes it up elsewhere. We might sum up his view as follows: When it comes to changing the laws, observe the mean: don’t be too bound by traditional laws, but on the other hand don’t be overeager in altering them. It is obvious that this precept, reasonable as it is, leaves considerable room for disagreement among contemporary “neo-Aristotelian” theorists. For example, should the laws be changed to allow self-described transsexual persons to use sexually segregated restrooms? Conservatives and liberals might agree with Aristotle’s general stricture regarding legal change but differ widely on how to apply it in a particular case.

Most scholars of Aristotle advisedly make no attempt to show that he is aligned with any contemporary ideology. Rather, insofar as they find him relevant to our times, it is because he offers a remarkable synthesis of idealism and pragmatism unfolding in deep and thought-provoking discussions of perennial concerns of political philosophy: the role of human nature in politics, the relation of the individual to the state, the place of morality in politics, the theory of political justice, the rule of law, the analysis and evaluation of constitutions, the relevance of ideals to practical politics, the causes and cures of political change and revolution, and the importance of a morally educated citizenry.

action: praxis
citizen: politês
city-state: polis (also ‘city’ or ‘state’)
community: koinônia
constitution: politeia (also ‘regime’)
faction: stasis (also ‘civil war’)
free: eleutheros
friendship: philia
good: agathos
happiness: eudaimonia
happy: eudaimôn
justice: dikaiosunê
lawgiver: nomothetês
master: despotês
nature: phusis
noble: kalon (also ‘beautiful’ or ‘fine’)
people ( dêmos )
political: politikos (of, or pertaining to, the polis )
political science: politikê epistêmê
politician: politikos (also ‘statesman’)
practical: praktikos
practical wisdom: phronêsis
revolution: metabolê (also ‘change’)
right: exousia (also ‘liberty’)
ruler: archôn
self-sufficient: autarkês
sovereign: kurios
virtue: aretê (also ‘excellence’)
without qualification: haplôs (also ‘absolute’)
without authority: akuron

Note on Citations . Passages in Aristotle are cited as follows: title of treatise (italics), book (Roman numeral), chapter (Arabic numeral), line reference. Line references are keyed to the 1831 edition of Immanuel Bekker which had two columns (“a” and “b”) on each page. Politics is abbreviated as Pol. and Nicomachean Ethics as NE . In this article, “ Pol . I.2.1252b27”, for example, refers to Politics book I, chapter 2, page 1252, column b, line 27. Most translations include the Bekker page number with column letter in the margin followed by every fifth line number.

Passages in Plato are cited in a similar fashion, except the line references are to the Stephanus edition of 1578 in which pages were divided into five parts (“a” through “e”).

Caveat on Bibliography. Although fairly extensive, this bibliography represents only a fraction of the secondary literature in English. However, the items cited here contain many references to other valuable scholarly work in other languages as well as in English.

Dreizehnter, Alois, Aristoteles’ Politik , Munich: Wilhelm Fink, 1970 [generally the most reliable critical edition].
Ross, W. D., Aristotelis Politica , Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1957.
Barker, Ernest, revised by Richard Stalley, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995.
Jowett, Benjamin, revised in The Complete Works of Aristotle (The Revised Oxford Translation), Jonathan Barnes (ed.), Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1984, vol. II, pp. 1986–2129.
Lord, Carnes, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2013, revised edition.
Rackham, H., Cambridge, London: Harvard University Press, 1932.
Reeve, C. D. C., Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Co., 2017 (new translation).
Simpson, Peter L. P., Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1996.
Sinclair, T. A., revised by Trevor J. Saunders, Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1983.

The Clarendon Aristotle Series (Oxford University Press) includes translation and commentary of the Politics in four volumes:

Trevor J. Saunders, Politics I–II (1995).
Richard Robinson with a supplementary essay by David Keyt, Politics III–IV (1995).
David Keyt, Politics V–VI (1999).
Richard Kraut, Politics VII–VIII (1997).
Also of interest is the Constitution of Athens , an account of the history and workings of the Athenian democracy. Although it was formerly ascribed to Aristotle, it is now thought by most scholars to have been written by one of his pupils, perhaps at his direction toward the end of Aristotle’s life. A reliable translation with introduction and notes is by P. J. Rhodes, Aristotle: The Athenian Constitution . Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1984.
Barnes, Jonathan, Malcolm Schofield, and Richard Sorabji (eds.), Articles on Aristotle (Volume 2: Ethics and Politics), London: Duckworth, 1977.
Boudouris, K. J. (ed.), Aristotelian Political Philosophy, 2 volumes, Athens: Kardamitsa Publishing Co., 1995.
Deslauriers, Marguerite, and Pierre Destrée (eds.), The Cambridge Companion to Aristotle’s Politics , Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2013.
Höffe, Otfried (ed.), Aristoteles Politik , Berlin: Akademie Verlag, 2001.
Keyt, David, and Fred D. Miller, Jr. (eds.), A Companion to Aristotle’s Politics , Oxford: Blackwell, 1991.
Kraut, Richard, and Steven Skultety (eds.), Aristotle’s Politics: Critical Essays , Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield, 2005.
Lockwood, Thornton, and Thanassis Samaras (eds.), Aristotle’s Politics: A Critical Guide , Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2015.
Lord, Carnes, and David O’Connor (eds.), Essays on the Foundations of Aristotelian Political Science , Berkeley: University of California Press, 1991.
Patzig, Günther (ed.), Aristoteles’ Politik: Akten des XI. Symposium Aristotelicum , Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1990.
Aquinas, Thomas, Commentary on Aristotle’s Politics , translated by Richard J. Regan, Indianapolis Publishing Co.: Hackett, 2007.
Barker, Ernest, The Political Thought of Plato and Aristotle , London: Methuen, 1906; reprinted, New York: Russell & Russell, 1959.
Bodéüs, Richard, The Political Dimensions of Aristotle’s Ethics , Albany: SUNY Press, 1993.
Brill, Sara, Aristotle on the Concept of the Shared Life , Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2020.
Hansen, Mogens Herman, Reflections on Aristotle’s Politics , Copenhagen: Tusculaneum Press, 2013.
Keyt, David, Nature and Justice: Studies in the Ethical and Political Philosophy of Plato and Aristotle , Leuven: Peeters, 2017.
Kontos, Pavlos, Aristotle on the Scope of Practical Reason: Spectators, Legislators, Hopes, and Evils , Abingdon, New York: Routledge, 2021.
Kraut, Richard, Aristotle: Political Philosophy , Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002.
Miller, Fred D., Jr., Nature, Justice, and Rights in Aristotle’s Politics , Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995.
Mulgan, Richard G., Aristotle’s Political Theory , Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1977.
Newman, W. L., The Politics of Aristotle , 4 vols. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1887–1902; reprinted Salem, NH: Ayer, 1985.
Nichols, Mary, Citizens and Statesmen: A Study of Aristotle’s Politics , Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 1992.
Pangle, Lorraine Smith, Reason and Character: The Moral Foundations of Aristotelian Political Philosophy , Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2020.
Pellegrin, Pierre, Endangered Excellent: On the Political Philosophy of Aristotle , translated by Anthony Preus, Albany, NY: SUNY Press, 2020.
Riesbeck, David J., Aristotle on Political Community , Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2016.
Roberts, Jean, Routledge Philosophy Guidebook to Aristotle and the Politics , London and New York: Routledge, 2009.
Schütrumpf, Eckart, Aristoteles: Politik , 4 vols. Berlin and Darmstadt: Akademie Verlag, 1999–2005.
Simpson, Peter, A Philosophical Commentary on the Politics of Aristotle , Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1998.
Strauss, Leo, “On Aristotle’s Politics,” in The City and Man , Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1964, pp. 13–49.
Susemihl, Franz, and R. D. Hicks, The Politics of Aristotle , London: Macmillan, 1894. [Includes books I–III and VII–VIII renumbered as IV–V.]
Trott, Adriel M., Aristotle on the Nature of Community , New York: Cambridge University Press, 2005.
Veogelin, Eric, Order and History (Vol. III: Plato and Aristotle ), Baton Rouge, LA: Louisiana State University Press, 1977.
Yack, Bernard, The Problems of a Political Animal: Community, Justice, and Conflict in Aristotelian Political Thought , Berkeley: University of California Press, 1993.

1. Biographical and Textual Studies

Barker, Ernest, “The Life of Aristotle and the Composition and Structure of the Politics ,” Classical Review , 45 (1931), 162–72.
Jaeger, Werner, Aristotle: Fundamentals of the History of His Development , Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1948.
Kelsen, Hans, “Aristotle and the Hellenic-Macedonian Policy,” in Jonathan Barnes et al. (eds.), Articles on Aristotle (Volume 2: Ethics and Politics), London: Duckworth, 1977, pp. 170–94.
Lord, Carnes, “The Character and Composition of Aristotle’s Politics ,” Political Theory , 9 (1981), 459–78.

2. Methodology and Foundations of Aristotle’s Political Theory

Adkins, A. W. H., “The Connection between Aristotle’s Ethics and Politics ,” in David Keyt and Fred D. Miller, Jr. (eds.), A Companion to Aristotle’s Politics , Oxford: Blackwell, 1991, pp. 75–93.
Cherry, Kevin M., Plato, Aristotle and the Purpose of Politics , Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012.
Depew, David J., “The Ethics of Aristotle’s Politics ,” in Ryan K. Balot (ed.), A Companion to Greek and Roman Political Thought , Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, 2009, pp. 399–418.
Frank Jill, “On Logos and Politics in Aristotle,” in Thornton Lockwood and Thanassis Samaras (eds.), Aristotle’s Politics: A Critical Guide , Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2015, pp. 9–26.
Frede, Dorothea, “The Political Character of Aristotle’s Ethics,” in Marguerite Deslauriers and Pierre Destrée (eds.), The Cambridge Companion to Aristotle’s Politics , Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2013, pp. 14–37.
Gerson, Lloyd, “On the Scientific Character of Aristotle’s Politics,” in K. I. Boudouris, K. I. (ed.), Aristotelian Political Philosophy, Athens: Kardamitsa Publishing Co., 1995, vol. I, pp. 35–50.
Irwin, Terence H., “Moral Science and Political Theory in Aristotle,” History of Political Thought , 6 (1985), pp. 150–68.
Kahn, Charles H., “The Normative Structure of Aristotle’s Politics ,” in Günther Patzig (ed.) Aristoteles’ ‘Politik’ , Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1990, pp. 369–84.
Kamtekar, Rachana, “The Relationship between Aristotle’s Ethical and Political Discourses ( NE X 9),” in Ronald Polansky (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics . Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2014, pp. 370–82.
Keyt, David, “Aristotle’s Political Philosophy,” in David Keyt, Nature and Justice: Studies in the Ethical and Political Philosophy of Plato and Aristotle , Leuven: Peeters, 2017, 165–95.
Lockwood, Thornton, “ Politics II: Political Critique, Political Theorizing, Political Innovation,” in Thornton Lockwood and Thanassis Samaras (eds.), Aristotle’s Politics: A Critical Guide , Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2015, pp. 64–83.
Miller, Fred D., Jr., “The Unity of Aristotle’s Ethics and Politics,” in David Konstan and David Sider (eds.), Philoderma: Essays in Greek and Roman Philosophy in Honor of Phillip Mitsis (Siracusa: Parnassos Press, 2022), pp. 215–43.
Ober, Joshua, “Aristotle’s Political Sociology: Class, Status, and Order in the Politics ,” in Carnes Lord and David O’Connor (eds.), Essays on the Foundations of Aristotelian Political Science , Berkeley: University of California Press, 1991.
Pellegrin, Pierre, “On the ‘Platonic’ Part of Aristotle’s Politics ,” in William Wians (ed.) Aristotle’s Philosophical Development , Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 1996, pp. 347–59.
–––, “Is Politics a Natural Science?” in Thornton Lockwood and Thanassis Samaras (eds.), Aristotle’s Politics: A Critical Guide , Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2015, pp. 27–45.
–––, “Aristotle’s Politics ,” in Christopher Shields (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Aristotle , Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012, pp. 558–85.
Peonids, F., “The Relation between the Nicomachean Ethics and the Politics Revisited,” History of Political Thought 22 (2001): 1–12.
Rowe, Christopher J., “Aims and Methods in Aristotle’s Politics ,” in David Keyt and Fred D. Miller, Jr. (eds.), A Companion to Aristotle’s Politics , Oxford: Blackwell, 1991, pp. 57–74.
Salkever, Stephen G., “Aristotle’s Social Science,” Political Theory , 9 (1981), pp. 479–508; reprinted in Richard Kraut and Steven Skultety (eds.), Aristotle’s Politics: Critical Essays , Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield, 2005, pp. 27–64.
–––, Finding the Mean: Theory and Practice in Aristotelian Political Philosophy , Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1990.
Santas, Gerasimos X.,“The Relation between Aristotle’s Ethics and Politics,” in K. I. Boudouris, K. I. (ed.), Aristotelian Political Philosophy, Athens: Kardamitsa Publishing Co., 1995, vol. I, pp. 160–76.
Smith, Nicholas D. and Robert Mayhew, “Aristotle on What the Political Scientist Needs to Know,” in K. I. Boudouris (ed.) Aristotelian Political Philosophy , Athens: International Center for Greek Philosophy and Culture, 1995, vol. I, pp. 189–98.
Vander Waerdt, Paul A., “The Political Intention of Aristotle’s Moral Philosophy,” Ancient Philosophy 5 (1985), 77–89.
–––, “The Plan and Intention of Aristotle’s Ethical and Political Writings,” Illinois Classical Studies 16 (1991), 231–53.

3. Political Naturalism

Ambler, Wayne, “Aristotle’s Understanding of the Naturalness of the City,” Review of Politics , 47 (1985), 163–85.
Annas, Julia, “Aristotle on Human Nature and Political Virtue,” The Review of Metaphysics , 49 (1996), 731–54.
Berryman, Sylvia, Aristotle on the Sources of the Ethical Life , Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2919, esp. Ch. 3 “Naturalism in Aristotle’s Politics. ”
Chan, Joseph, “Does Aristotle’s Political Theory Rest on a Blunder?” History of Political Thought , 13 (1992), 189–202.
Chappell, Timothy, “‘Naturalism’ in Aristotle’s Political Philosophy,” in Ryan K. Balot (ed.), A Companion to Greek and Roman Political Thought , Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, 2009, pp. 382–98.
Cherry, K. and E. A. Goerner, “Does Aristotle’s Polis Exist ‘By Nature’?” History of Political Thought , 27 (2006), 563–85.
Cooper, John M., “Political Animals and Civic Friendship,” in Günther Patzig (ed.), Aristoteles’ ‘Politik’ , Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1990, pp. 220–41; reprinted in Richard Kraut and Steven Skultety (eds.), Aristotle’s Politics: Critical Essays , Lanham MD: Rowman and Littlefield, 2005, pp. 65–89.
DePew, David J., “Humans and Other Political Animals in Aristotle’s Historia Animalium ,” Phronesis , 40 (1995), 156–76.
–––, “Political Animals and the Genealogy of the Polis : Aristotle’s Politics and Plato’s Statesman ,” in Geert Keil and Nora Kreft (eds.), Aristotle’s Anthropology , Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2019, pp. 238–57.
Everson, Stephen, “Aristotle on the Foundations of the State,” Political Studies , 36 (1988), 89–101.
Karbowski, Joseph, “Political Animals and Human Nature in Aristotle’s Politics ,” in Geert Keil and Nora Kreft (eds.), Aristotle’s Anthropology , Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2019, pp. 221–37.
Keyt, David, “The Meaning of BIOS in Aristotle’s Ethics and Politics ,” Ancient Philosophy , 9 (1989), 15–21; reprinted in David Keyt, Nature and Justice: Studies in the Ethical and Political Philosophy of Plato and Aristotle , Leuven: Peeters, 2017, 101–9.
–––, “Three Basic Theorems in Aristotle’s Politics ,” in David Keyt and Fred D. Miller, Jr. (eds.), A Companion to Aristotle’s Politics , Oxford: Blackwell, 1991, pp. 118–41; reprinted in David Keyt, Nature and Justice: Studies in the Ethical and Political Philosophy of Plato and Aristotle , Leuven: Peeters, 2017, 111–38.
Kullmann, Wolfgang, “Man as a Political Animal in Aristotle,” in David Keyt and Fred D. Miller, Jr. (eds.), A Companion to Aristotle’s Politics , Oxford: Blackwell, 1991, pp. 94–117.
Lloyd, Geoffrey, “Aristotle on the Natural Sociability, Skills and Intelligence of Animals,” in Verity Harte and Melissa Lane (eds.), Politeia in Greek and Roman Philosophy , Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2013, pp. 277–94.
Miller, Fred D., Jr., “Aristotle: Naturalism,” in Christopher J. Rowe and Malcolm Schofield (eds.), The Cambridge History of Greek and Roman Political Thought , Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000, pp. 321–43.
Mulgan, Richard, “Aristotle’s Doctrine that Man is a Political Animal,” Hermes , 102 (1974), 438–45.
Reeve, C. D. C., “The Naturalness of the Polis in Aristotle,” in Georgios Anagnostopoulos (ed.), A Companion to Aristotle , Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, 2009, pp. 512–25.
Roberts, Jean, “Political Animals in the Nicomachean Ethics ,” Phronesis , 34 (1989), 185–202.

4. Household: Women, Children, and Slaves

Booth, William James, “Politics and the Household: A Commentary on Aristotle’s Politics Book One,” History of Political Thought , 2 (1981), 203–26.
Brunt, P. A., “Aristotle and Slavery,” in Studies in Greek History and Thought , Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1993, pp. 434–88.
Chambliss, J. J., “Aristotle’s Conception of Children and the Poliscraft,” Educational Studies , 13 (1982), 33–43.
Cole, Eve Browning, “Women, Slaves, and ‘Love of Toil’ in Aristotle’s Moral Psychology,” in Bat-Ami Bar On (ed.), Engendering Origins: Critical Feminist Readings in Plato and Aristotle , Albany: SUNY Press, 1994, pp. 127–44.
Deslauriers, Marguerite, “The Virtues of Women and Slaves,” Oxford Studies in Ancient Philosophy , 25 (2003), 213–31.
–––, “Political Rule Over Women in Politics ,” in Thornton Lockwood and Thanassis Samaras (eds.), Aristotle’s Politics: A Critical Guide , Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2015, pp. 46–63.
Fortenbaugh, W. W., “Aristotle on Slaves and Women,” in Jonathan Barnes et al. (eds.), Articles on Aristotle , vol. 2, Ethics and Politics. London: Duckworth, 1977, pp. 135–9.
Frank, Jill, “Citizens, Slaves, and Foreigners: Aristotle on Human Nature,” American Political Science Review , 98 (2004), 91–104.
Freeland, Cynthia, Feminist Interpretations of Aristotle , University Park, PA: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1998.
Garnsey, Peter, Ideas of Slavery from Aristotle to Augustine , Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996.
Lindsay, Thomas K., “Was Aristotle Racist, Sexist, and Anti-Democratic?: A Review Essay,” Review of Politics 56 (1994), 127–51.
Lockwood, Thornton, “Justice in Aristotle’s Household and City,” Polis , 20 (2003), 1–21.
–––, “Is Natural Slavery Beneficial?” Journal of the History of Philosophy , 45 (2007), 207–21.
Mayhew, Robert, The Female in Aristotle’s Biology: Reason or Rationalization , Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2004.
Modrak, Deborah, “Aristotle: Women, Deliberation, and Nature,” in Bat-Ami Bar On (ed.), Engendering Origins: Critical Feminist Readings in Plato and Aristotle , Albany: SUNY Press, 1994, pp. 207–21.
Mulgan, Robert G., “Aristotle and the Political Role of Women,” History of Political Thought , 15 (1994), 179–202.
Nagle, D. Brendan, The Household as the Foundation of Aristotle’s Polis , Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006.
Pellegrin, Pierre, “Natural Slavery,” in Marguerite Deslauriers and Pierre Destrée (eds.), The Cambridge Companion to Aristotle’s Politics , Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2013, pp. 92–116.
Saxenhouse, Arlene W., “Family, Polity, and Unity: Aristotle on Socrates’ Community of Wives,” Polity , 15 (1982), 202–19.
Schofield, Malcolm, “Ideology and Philosophy in Aristotle’s Theory of Slavery,” in Günther Patzig (ed.) Aristoteles’ ‘Politik’ , Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1990, pp. 1–27; reprinted in Richard Kraut and Steven Skultety (eds.), Aristotle’s Politics: Critical Essays , Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield, 2005, pp. 91–119.
Senack, Christine M., “Aristotle on the Woman’s Soul,” in Bat-Ami Bar On (ed.), Engendering Origins: Critical Feminist Readings in Plato and Aristotle , Albany: SUNY Press, 1994, pp. 223–36.
Simpson, Peter, “Aristotle’s Criticism of Socrates’ Communism of Wives and Children,” Apeiron , 24 (1991), 99–114.
Smith, Nicholas D., “Plato and Aristotle on the Nature of Women,” Journal of the History of Philosophy , 21 (1983), 467–78.
–––, “Aristotle’s Theory of Natural Slavery,” in David Keyt and Fred D. Miller, Jr. (eds.), A Companion to Aristotle’s Politics , Oxford: Blackwell, 1991, pp. 142–55.
Spelman, E. V., “Aristotle and the Politicization of the Soul,” in Sandra Harding and M. B. Hintikka (eds) Discovering Reality: Feminist Perspectives on Epistemology, Metaphysics, Methodology, and Philosophy of Science , Dordrecht: D. Reidel, 1983, pp. 17–30.
–––, “Who’s Who in the Polis,” in Bat-Ami Bar On (ed.), Engendering Origins: Critical Feminist Readings in Plato and Aristotle , Albany: SUNY Press, 1994, pp. 99–125.
Stauffer, Dana J., “Aristotle’s Account of the Subjection of Women,” Journal of Politics , 70 (2008), 929–41.

5. Political Economy

Ambler, Wayne H., “Aristotle on Acquisition,” Canadian Journal of Political Science , 17 (1984), 487–502.
Crespo, Ricardo F., A Re-assessment of Aristotle ’ s Economic Thought . London: Routledge, 2014.
Dobbs, Darrell, “Aristotle’s Anticommunism,” American Journal of Political Science , 29 (1985), 29–46.
Finley, M. I., “Aristotle and Economic Analysis,” in Jonathan Barnes et al. (eds.), Articles on Aristotle , vol. 2, Ethics and Politics. London: Duckworth, 1977, pp. 140–58.
Gallagher, Robert L., Aristotle’s Critique of Political Economy with a Contemporary Application. London: Routledge, 2018.
Hadreas, Peter, “Aristotle on the Vices and Virtue of Wealth,” Journal of Business Ethics, 39 (2002), 361–76.
Hartman, Edwin M., “Virtue, Profit, and the Separation Thesis: An Aristotelian View,” Journal of Business Ethics ,99 (2011), 5–17.
–––, Virtue in Business: Conversations with Aristotle . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2013.
Inamura, Kazutaka, “The Role of Reciprocity in Aristotle’s Theory of Political Economy,” History of Political Thought , 32 (2011), 565–87.
Irwin, Terence H., “Aristotle’s Defense of Private Property,” in David Keyt and Fred D. Miller, Jr. (eds.). A Companion to Aristotle’s Politics , Oxford: Blackwell, 1991, pp. 200–25.
Judson, Lindsay, “Aristotle on Fair Exchange,” Oxford Studies in Ancient Philosophy , 15 (1997), 147–75.
Keyt, David, “Aristotle and the Joy of Working,” in David Keyt, Nature and Justice: Studies in the Ethical and Political Philosophy of Plato and Aristotle , Leuven: Peeters, 2017, pp. 223–39.
Mathie, William,“Property in the Political Science of Aristotle,” in Anthony Parel & Thomas Flanagan(eds.), Theories of Property: Aristotle to the Present . Waterloo, Ont.: Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 1979, pp. 12–35.
Mayhew, Robert, “Aristotle on Property,” The Review of Metaphysics , 46 (1993), 802–31.
McNeill, D., “Alternative Interpretations of Aristotle on Exchange and Reciprocity,” Public Affairs Quarterly , 4 (1990), 55–68.
Mei, Todd S., “The Preeminence of Use: Reevaluating the Relation between Use and Exchange in Aristotle’s Economic Thought,” American Journal of the History of Philosophy 47 (2009), 523–48.
Meikle, Scott, “Aristotle on Money” Phronesis 39 (1994), 26–44.
–––, Aristotle’s Economic Thought , Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995.
Miller, Fred D. Jr., “Property Rights in Aristotle,” in Richard Kraut and Steven Skultety (eds.), Aristotle’s Politics: Critical Essays , Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield, 2005, pp. 121–44.
–––, “Was Aristotle the First Economist?” Apeiron , 31 (1998), 387–98.
–––, “Aristotle and Business: Friend or Foe?” in Eugene Heath and Byron Kaldis (eds.), Wealth, Commerce and Philosophy: Foundational Thinkers and Business Ethics , Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2017, pp. 31–52.
Morris, Tom, If Aristotle Ran General Motors: The New Soul of Business , New York: Henry Holt, 1997.
Nielsen, Karen Margrethe, “Economy and Private Property,” in Marguerite Deslauriers and Pierre Destrée (eds.), The Cambridge Companion to Aristotle’s Politics , Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2013, pp. 67–91.
Solomon, Robert C., “Corporate Roles, Personal Virtues: An Aristotelian Approach to Business Ethics,” Business Ethics Quarterly , 2 (1992), 317–39.
–––, “Aristotle, Ethics, and Business Organizations,” Organization Studies, 25 (2004), 1021–43.

6. Political Justice and Injustice

Brunschwig, Jacques, “The Aristotelian Theory of Equity,” in Michael Frede and Gisela Striker (eds.), Rationality in Greek Thought , Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 115–55.
Marguerite Deslauriers, “Political Unity and Inequality,” in Marguerite Deslauriers and Pierre Destrée (eds.), The Cambridge Companion to Aristotle’s Politics , Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2013, pp. 117–43.
Georgiadis, Constantine, “Equitable and Equity in Aristotle,” in Spiro Panagiotou (ed.), Justice, Law and Method in Plato and Aristotle , Edmonton: Academic Printing & Publishing, 1987, pp. 159–72.
Keyt, David, “Aristotle’s Theory of Distributive Justice,” in David Keyt and Fred D. Miller, Jr. (eds.), A Companion to Aristotle’s Politics , Oxford: Blackwell, 1991, pp. 238–78.
–––, “The Good Man and the Upright Citizen in Aristotle’s Ethics and Politics ,” in David Keyt and Fred D. Miller, Jr. (eds.), Freedom, Reason, and the Polis: Essays in Ancient Greek Political Philosophy , Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007, 220–40. Reprinted in David Keyt, Nature and Justice: Studies in the Ethical and Political Philosophy of Plato and Aristotle , Leuven: Peeters, 2017, 197–221.
–––, “Nature and Justice,” in David Keyt, Nature and Justice: Studies in the Ethical and Political Philosophy of Plato and Aristotle , Leuven: Peeters, 2017, pp. 1–19.
Lockwood, Thornton, “Polity, Political Justice, and Political Mixing,” History of Political Thought , 27 (2006), 207–22.
Morrison, Donald, “The Common Good,” in Marguerite Deslauriers and Pierre Destrée (eds.), The Cambridge Companion to Aristotle’s Politics , Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2013, pp. 176–98.
Nussbaum, Martha C., “Nature, Function, and Capability: Aristotle on Political Distribution,” in Günther Patzig (ed.), Aristoteles’ ‘Politik’ , Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1990, pp. 153–87.
Roberts, Jean, “Justice and the Polis,” in Christopher J. Rowe and Malcolm Schofield (eds.), The Cambridge History of Greek and Roman Political Thought , Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000, pp. 344–65.
Rosler, Andrés, “Civic Virtue: Citizenship, Ostracism, and War,” in Marguerite Deslauriers and Pierre Destrée (eds.), The Cambridge Companion to Aristotle’s Politics , Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2013, pp. 144–75.
Saxonhouse, Arlene W., “Aristotle on the Corruption of Regimes: Resentment and Justice,” in Thornton Lockwood and Thanassis Samaras (eds.), Aristotle’s Politics: A Critical Guide , Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2015, pp. 184–203.
Schütrumpf, Eckart, “Little to Do With Justice: Aristotle on Distributing Political Power,” in Thornton Lockwood and Thanassis Samaras (eds.), Aristotle’s Politics: A Critical Guide , Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2015, pp. 163–83.
Young, Charles M., “Aristotle on Justice,” The Southern Journal of Philosophy , 27 (1988), 233–49.
Zingano, Marco, “Natural, Ethical, and Political Justice,” in Marguerite Deslauriers and Pierre Destrée (eds.), The Cambridge Companion to Aristotle’s Politics , Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2013, pp. 199–222.

7. Political Friendship and Enmity

Hatzistavrou, Antony, “Faction,” in Marguerite Deslauriers and Pierre Destrée (eds.), The Cambridge Companion to Aristotle’s Politics , Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2013, pp. 301–23.
Irrera, Elena, “Between Advantage and Virtue: Aristotle’s Theory of Political Friendship,” History of Political Thought , 26 (2005), 565–85.
Jang, Misung, “Aristotle’s Political Friendship as Solidarity,” in Liesbeth Huppes-Cluysenaer, & Nuno M.S. Coelho (eds.), Aristotle on Emotions in Law and Politics, Dordrecht: Springer, 2018. pp. 417–33.
Kalimtzis, Kostas, Aristotle on Political Enmity and Disease: An Inquiry into Stasis , Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 2000.
Kreft, Nora, “Aristotle on Friendship and Being Human,” in Geert Keil and Nora Kreft (eds.), Aristotle’s Anthropology , Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2019, pp. 182–99.
Kronman, Anthony, “Aristotle’s Idea of Political Fraternity,” American Journal of Jurisprudence , 24 (1979),114–138.
Leontsini, Eleni, “The Motive of Society: Aristotle on Civic Friendship, Justice, and Concord,” Res Publica , 19 (2013), 21–35.
Ludwig, Paul W., Rediscovering Political Friendship: Aristotle’s Theory and Modern Identity, Community, and Equality , Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2020.
Miller, Fred D., Jr., “Aristotle on Deviant Constitutions,” in K. I. Boudouris, K. I. (ed.), Aristotelian Political Philosophy, Athens: Kardamitsa Publishing Co., 1995, vol. II, pp. 105–15.
Mulgan, Richard, “The Role of Friendship in Aristotle’s Political Theory,” in Preston King, and Heather Devere (eds.), The Challenge to Friendship in M odernity , London: Frank Cass, 2000, pp. 15–32.
Schofield, Malcolm, “Political Friendship and the Ideology of Reciprocity,” in Saving the City , London: Routledge, 1999, pp. 82–99.
Schwarzenbach, Sibyl, “On Civic Friendship,” Ethics , 107 (1996), 97–128.
Skultety, Steven C.,. “Defining Aristotle’s Conception of Stasis in the Politics ,” Phronesis 54 (2009), 346–70.
–––, Conflict in Aristotle ’ s Political Philosophy , Albany NY: State University of New York Press, 2019.
Sosa, Javier Echeñique & Jose Antonio Errázuriz Besa, “Aristotle on Personal Enmity,” Ancient Philosophy , 62 (2022), 215–31.
Ward, Ann, “Friendship and politics in Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics ,” European Journal of Political Theory , 10 (2011), 443–62.
Weed, Ronald, Aristotle on Stasis: A Psychology of Political Conflict , Berlin: Logos Verlag, 2007.
Yack, Bernard, “Community and Conflict in Aristotle’s Political Philosophy,” Review of Politics , 47 (1985), 92–112.
–––, “Natural Right and Aristotle’s Understanding of Justice,” Political Theory , 18 (1990), 216–37.

8. Citizenship, Civic Obligation, and Political Rights

Allan, D. J., “Individual and State in the Ethics and Politics ,” Entretiens sur l’Antiquité Classique IX, La ‘Politique’ d’Aristote , Geneva: Fondation Hardt, 1964, pp. 53–95.
Barnes, Jonathan, “Aristotle and Political Liberty,” in Günther Patzig (ed.), Aristoteles’ ‘Politik’ , Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1990, pp. 249–63; reprinted in Richard Kraut and Steven Skultety (eds.), Aristotle’s Politics: Critical Essays , Lanham MD: Rowman and Littlefield, 2005, pp. 185–201.
Collins, Susan D., Aristotle and the Rediscovery of Citizenship , Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006.
Frede, Dorothea, “Citizenship in Aristotle’s Politics ,” in Richard Kraut and Steven Skultety (eds.), Aristotle’s Politics: Critical Essays , Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield, 2005, pp. 167–84.
Horn, Christoph, “Law, Governance, and Political Obligation,” in Marguerite Deslauriers and Pierre Destrée (eds.), The Cambridge Companion to Aristotle’s Politics , Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2013, pp. 223–46.
Irwin, Terence H., “The Good of Political Activity,” in Günther Patzig (ed.), Aristoteles’ ‘Politik’ , Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1990, pp. 73–98.
Kraut, Richard, “Are There Natural Rights in Aristotle?” The Review of Metaphysics , 49 (1996), 755–74.
Lane, Melissa, “Claims to Rule: The Case of the Mutlitude,” in Marguerite Deslauriers and Pierre Destrée (eds.), The Cambridge Companion to Aristotle’s Politics , Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2013, pp. 247–74.
Long, Roderick T., “Aristotle’s Conception of Freedom,” The Review of Metaphysics , 49 (1996), 775–802; reprinted in Richard O. Brooks and James Bernard Murphy (eds.), Aristotle and Modern Law , Aldershot Hants, UK: Ashgate Publishing Co., 2003, pp. 384–410.
Miller, Fred D., Jr., “Aristotle and the Origins of Natural Rights,” The Review of Metaphysics , 49 (1996), 873–907.
–––, “Aristotle’s Theory of Political Rights,” in Richard O. Brooks and James Bernard Murphy (eds.), Aristotle and Modern Law , Aldershot Hants, UK: Ashgate Publishing Co., 2003, pp. 309–50.
Morrison, Donald, “Aristotle’s Definition of Citizenship: A Problem and Some Solutions,” History of Philosophy Quarterly , 16 (1999), 143–65.
Mulgan, Robert G., “Aristotle and the Value of Political Participation,” Political Theory , 18 (1990), 195–215.
Roberts, Jean, “Excellences of the Citizen and of the Individual,” in Georgios Anagnostopoulos (ed.), A Companion to Aristotle , Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, 2009, pp. 555–65.
Samaras, Thanassis, “Aristotle and the Question of Citizenship,” in Thornton Lockwood and Thanassis Samaras (eds.), Aristotle’s Politics: A Critical Guide , Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2015, pp. 123–41.
Schofield, Malcolm, “Sharing in the Constitution,” The Review of Metaphysics , 49 (1996), 831–58; reprinted in Richard O. Brooks and James Bernard Murphy (eds.), Aristotle and Modern Law , Aldershot Hants, UK: Ashgate Publishing Co., 2003, pp. 353–80.
Zuckert, Catherine H., “Aristotle on the Limits and Satisfactions of Political Life,” Interpretation , 11 (1983), 185–206.

9. Constitutional Theory

Balot, Ryan, “The ‘Mixed Regime’ In Aristotle’s Politics ,” in Thornton Lockwood and Thanassis Samaras (eds.), Aristotle’s Politics: A Critical Guide , Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2015, pp. 103–22.
Bates, Clifford A., Aristotle’s “Best Regime”: Kingship, Democracy, and the Rule of Law , Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 2003.
Bobonich, Christopher, “Aristotle, Decision Making, and the Many,” in Thornton Lockwood and Thanassis Samaras (eds.), Aristotle’s Politics: A Critical Guide , Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2015, pp. 142–62.
Cherry, Kevin M., “The Problem of Polity: Political Participation in Aristotle’s Best Regime,” Journal of Politics , 71 (2009), 406–21.
Coby, Patrick, “Aristotle’s Three Cities and the Problem of Faction,” Journal of Politics , 50 (1988), 896–919.
Destrée, Pierre, “Aristotle on Improving Imperfect Cities,” in Thornton Lockwood and Thanassis Samaras (eds.), Aristotle’s Politics: A Critical Guide , Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2015, pp. 204–23.
Dietz, Mary G., “Between Polis and Empire: Aristotle’s Politics ,” American Political Science Review 106 (2012), 275–93.
Garsten, Bryan, “Deliberating and Acting Together,” in Marguerite Deslauriers and Pierre Destrée (eds.), The Cambridge Companion to Aristotle’s Politics , Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2013, pp. 324–49.
Huxley, G., “On Aristotle’s Best State,” in Paul Cartledge and F. D. Harvey (eds.), Crux: Essays Presented to G. E. M. de Ste. Croix , London: Duckworth, 1985, pp. 139–49.
Johnson, Curtis N., Aristotle’s Theory of the State , New York: Macmillan, 1990.
Keyt, David, “Aristotle and Anarchism,” Reason Papers , 18 (1993), 133–52; reprinted in Richard Kraut and Steven Skultety. Aristotle’s Politics: Critical Essays , Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield, 2005, pp. 203–22.
Kraut, Richard, “Aristotle’s Critique of False Utopias,” in Otfried Höffe (ed.), Aristoteles Politik , Berlin: Akademie Verlag, 2001, pp. 59–73.
Lintott, Andrew, “Aristotle and Democracy,” The Classical Quarterly (New Series), 42 (1992), 114–28.
Mayhew, Robert, Aristotle’s Criticism of Plato’s Republic , Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 1997.
–––, “Rulers and Ruled,” in Georgios Anagnostopoulos (ed.), A Companion to Aristotle , Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, 2009, pp. 526–39.
Miller, Fred D., Jr., “Aristotle on the Ideal Constitution,” in Georgios Anagnostopoulos (ed.), A Companion to Aristotle , Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, 2009, pp. 540–54.
–––, “The Rule of Reason,” in Marguerite Deslauriers and Pierre Destrée (eds.), The Cambridge Companion to Aristotle’s Politics , Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2013, pp. 38–66.
Mulgan, Richard, “Aristotle’s Analysis of Oligarchy and Democracy,” in David Keyt and Fred D. Miller, Jr. (eds.), A Companion to Aristotle’s Politics , Oxford: Blackwell, 1991, pp. 307–22.
–––, “Constitutions and the Purpose of the State,” in Otfried Höffe (ed.), Aristoteles Politik , Berlin: Akademie Verlag, 2001, pp. 93–106.
Mulhern, J. J., “ Politeia in Greek Literature, Inscriptions, and in Aristotle’s Politics : Reflections on Translation and Interpretation,” in Thornton Lockwood and Thanassis Samaras (eds.), Aristotle’s Politics: A Critical Guide , Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2015, pp. 84–102.
Murray, O., “Polis and Politeia in Aristotle,” in Mogens Herman Hansen (ed.), The Ancient Greek City-State , Copenhagen: Muksgaard, 1993, pp. 197–210.
Ober, Joshua, “Aristotle’s Natural Democracy,” in Richard Kraut and Steven Skultety (eds.), Aristotle’s Politics: Critical Essays , Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield, 2005, pp. 223–43.
–––, “Democracy’s Wisdom: An Aristotelian Middle Way for Collective Judgment,” American Political Science Review , 107 (2013), 104–22.
–––, “Nature, History, and Aristotle’s Best Possible Regime,” in Thornton Lockwood and Thanassis Samaras (eds.), Aristotle’s Politics: A Critical Guide , Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2015, pp. 224–43.
Polansky, Ronald, “Aristotle on Political Change,” in David Keyt and Fred D. Miller, Jr. (eds.), A Companion to Aristotle’s Politics , Oxford: Blackwell, 1991, pp. 322–45.
Rosler, Andres, Political Authority and Obligation in Aristotle , Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005.
Rowe, C. J., “Reality and Utopia,” Elenchos , 10 (1989), 317–36.
–––, “Aristotelian Constitutions,” in Christopher J. Rowe and Malcolm Schofield (eds.), The Cambridge History of Greek and Roman Political Thought , Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000, pp. 366–89.
Strauss, Barry, “On Aristotle’s Critique of Athenian Democracy,” in Carnes Lord and David O’Connor (eds.), Essays on the Foundations of Aristotelian Political Science , Berkeley: University of California Press, 1991, pp. 212–33.
Vander Waert, Paul A., “Kingship and Philosophy in Aristotle’s Best Regime,” Phronesis , 30 (1985), 249–73.
Waldron, Jeremy, “The Wisdom of the Multitude: Some Reflections on Book 3, Chapter 11 of Aristotle’s Politics ,” Political Theory , 20 (1992), 613–41; reprinted in Richard Kraut and Steven Skultety (eds.), Aristotle’s Politics: Critical Essays , Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield, 2005, pp. 145–65.
Wilson, James L., “Deliberation, Democracy, and the Rule of Reason in Aristotle’s Politics ,” American Political Science Review , 105 (2011), 259–74.

10. Education

Burnyeat, Myles F., “Aristotle on Learning to Be Good,” in Amelie O. Rorty (ed.), Essays on Aristotle’s Ethics , Berkeley: University of California Press, 1980, pp. 69–92.
Curren, Randall R., Aristotle on the Necessity of Public Education , Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield, 2000.
Depew, David J., “Politics, Music, and Contemplation in Aristotle’s Ideal State,” in David Keyt and Fred D. Miller, Jr. (eds.), A Companion to Aristotle’s Politics , Oxford: Blackwell, 1991, pp. 346–80.
Destrée, Pierre, “Education, Leisure, and Politics,” in Marguerite Deslauriers and Pierre Destrée (eds.), The Cambridge Companion to Aristotle’s Politics , Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2013, pp. 301–23.
Frede, Dorothea, “The Deficiency of Human Nature: The Task of a ‘Philosophy of Human Nature’,” in Geert Keil and Nora Kreft (eds.), Aristotle’s Anthropology , Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2019, pp. 258–74.
Jimenez, Marta, Aristotle on Shame and Learning to Be Good , Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2021.
Kraut, Richard, “Aristotle on Method and Moral Education,” in Jyl Gentzler (ed.), Method in Ancient Philosophy , Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998, pp. 171–90.
–––, “Aristotle on Becoming Good: Habituation, Reflection, and Perception,” in Christopher Shields (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Aristotle , Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012, pp. 529–57.
Lord, Carnes, Education and Culture in the Political Thought of Aristotle , Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1982.
Lynch, John Patrick, Aristotle’s School , Berkeley: University of California Press, 1972.
Muzio, G. D., “Aristotle on Improving One’s Character,” Phronesis , 45 (2000), 205–19.
Reeve, C. D. C, “Aristotelian Education,” in A. O. Rorty (ed.), Philosophers on Education , London: Routledge, 1998, pp. 51–65.
Stalley, Richard, “Education and the State,” in Georgios Anagnostopoulos (ed.), A Companion to Aristotle , Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, 2009, pp. 566–76.
Brooks, Richard O. and James B. Murphy (eds.), Aristotle and Modern Law , Aldershot Hants, UK and Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2003.
Burns, Tony, “Aristotle and Natural Law,” History of Political Thought , 19 (1998), 142–66.
Duke, George, Aristotle and Law: The Politics of Nomos , Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Gordley, James R., “Tort Law in the Aristotelian Tradition,” in Salvador Rus Rufino (ed.), Aristoteles: El Pensamiento Politico y Juridico . León & Seville: University of León & University of Seville, 1999, pp. 71–97.
Hamburger, Max, Morals and Law: The Growth of Aristotle’s Legal Theory , New Haven: Yale University Press, 1951.
Huppes-Cluysenaer, Liesbeth & Nuno M..S. Coelho (eds.), Aristotle on Emotions in Law and Politics , Dordrecht: Springer, 2018.
Miller, Eugene, “Prudence and the Rule of Law,” American Journal of Jurisprudence , 24 (1979), 181–206.
Miller, Fred D., Jr., “Aristotle’s Philosophy of Law,” in Fred D. Miller, Jr. and Carrie-Ann Biondi (eds.), A History of the Philosophy of Law from the Ancient Greeks to the Scholastics [vol. 6 of A Treatise of Legal Philosophy and General Jurisprudence , ed. Enrico Pattaro]. Dordrecht: Springer, 2007, pp.79–110.
Schroeder, Donald N., “Aristotle on Law,” Polis , 4 (1981), 17–31; reprinted in Richard O. Brooks and James Bernard Murphy (eds.), Aristotle and Modern Law , Aldershot Hants, UK: Ashgate Publishing Co., 2003, pp. 37–51.
Wormuth, F. D., “Aristotle on Law,” in M. R. Korvitz and A. E. Murphy (eds.), Essays in Political Theory Presented to G. H. Sabine, Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1948, pp. 45–61.
Zanetti, Gianfrancesco, “Problematic Aspects of Aristotle’s Philosophy of Law,” Archiv f ü r Rechts- und Sozialphilosophie , 81 (1995), 49–64.

12. Aristotle and Contemporary Politics

Biondi, Carrie-Ann, “Aristotle on the Mixed Constitution and Its Relevance for American Political Thought,” in David Keyt and Fred D. Miller, Jr. (eds.), Freedom, Reason, and the Polis: Essays in Ancient Greek Political Philosophy , Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007, 176–98.
Frank, Jill, A Democracy of Distinction: Aristotle and the Work of Politics , Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2005.
Galston, William A., Justice and the Human Good , Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1980.
Garver, Eugene, Aristotle’s Politics: Living Well and Living Together , Chicago: Chicago University Press, 2011.
Goodman, Lenn E. and Robert Talise (eds.), Aristotle’s Politics Today , Albany: State University of New York Press, 2003.
Kraut, Richard, “Aristotle and Rawls on the Common Good,” in Marguerite Deslauriers and Pierre Destrée (eds.), The Cambridge Companion to Aristotle’s Politics , Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2013, pp. 350–74.
Lord, Carnes, “Aristotle and the Idea of Liberal Education,” in Josiah Ober and Charles Hedrick (eds.), Demokrateia: A Conversation of Democracy, Ancient and Modern , Princeton: Princeton University Press Oxford: Blackwell, 1996, pp. 271–88.
Machan, Tibor R., “Aristotle and the Moral Status of Business,” Journal of Value Inquiry , 38 (2004), 217–33.
Mara, Gerald M., “The Culture of Democracy: Aristotle’s Athênaiôn Politeia as Political Theory,” in Aristide Tessitore (ed.), Aristotle and Modern Politics: The Persistence of Political Philosophy , Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 2002, 307–41.
Mulgan, Robert G., “Was Aristotle an ‘Aristotelian Social Democrat’?” Ethics , 111 (2000), 79–101.
Murphy, James Bernard, The Moral Economy of Labor: Aristotelian Themes in Economic Theory , New Haven: Yale University Press, 1993.
Nussbaum, Martha C., “Aristotelian Social Democracy,” in R. Bruce Douglas, Gerald M. Mara, and Henry S. Richardson (eds.) Liberalism and the Good , London: Routledge, 1990, pp. 203–52.
–––, “Capabilities and Human Rights,” Fordham Law Review , 66 (1997), 273–300; reprinted in Richard O. Brooks and James Bernard Murphy (eds.), Aristotle and Modern Law , Aldershot Hants, UK: Ashgate Publishing Co., 2003, pp. 413–40.
–––, “Aristotle, Politics, and Human Capabilities: A Response to Anthony, Arneson, Charlesworth, and Mulgan,” Ethics , 111 (2000), 102–40.
Pack, Spencer J., “Aristotle’s Difficult Relationship with Modern Economic Theory,” Foundations of Science , 13 (2008), 256–80.
Rasmussen, Douglas B. and Douglas J. Den Uyl, Liberty and Nature: An Aristotelian Defense of Liberal Order , La Salle, IL: Open Court, 1991.
–––, Norms of Liberty: A Perfectionist Basis for Non-Perfectionist Politics , University Park, PA: Pennsylvania State University Press, 2005.
Schollmeier, Paul, Rewriting Contemporary Political Philosophy with Plato and Aristotle: An Essay on Eudaimonic Politics, London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2019.
Salkever, Stephen S., Finding the Mean: Theory and Practice in Aristotelian Political Philosophy , Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1990.
Tessitore, Aristide (ed.), Aristotle and Modern Politics: The Persistence of Political Philosophy , Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 2002.
Wallach, John C., “Contemporary Aristotelianism,” Political Theory , 20 (1992), 613–41.

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This handout will help you to recognize and to follow writing standards in political science. The first step toward accomplishing this goal is to develop a basic understanding of political science and the kind of work political scientists do.

Defining politics and political science

Political scientist Harold Laswell said it best: at its most basic level, politics is the struggle of “who gets what, when, how.” This struggle may be as modest as competing interest groups fighting over control of a small municipal budget or as overwhelming as a military stand-off between international superpowers. Political scientists study such struggles, both small and large, in an effort to develop general principles or theories about the way the world of politics works. Think about the title of your course or re-read the course description in your syllabus. You’ll find that your course covers a particular sector of the large world of “politics” and brings with it a set of topics, issues, and approaches to information that may be helpful to consider as you begin a writing assignment. The diverse structure of political science reflects the diverse kinds of problems the discipline attempts to analyze and explain. In fact, political science includes at least eight major sub-fields:

American politics examines political behavior and institutions in the United States.
Comparative politics analyzes and compares political systems within and across different geographic regions.
International relations investigates relations among nation states and the activities of international organizations such as the United Nations, the World Bank, and NATO, as well as international actors such as terrorists, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and multi-national corporations (MNCs).
Political theory analyzes fundamental political concepts such as power and democracy and foundational questions, like “How should the individual and the state relate?”
Political methodology deals with the ways that political scientists ask and investigate questions.
Public policy examines the process by which governments make public decisions.
Public administration studies the ways that government policies are implemented.
Public law focuses on the role of law and courts in the political process.

What is scientific about political science?

Investigating relationships.

Although political scientists are prone to debate and disagreement, the majority view the discipline as a genuine science. As a result, political scientists generally strive to emulate the objectivity as well as the conceptual and methodological rigor typically associated with the so-called “hard” sciences (e.g., biology, chemistry, and physics). They see themselves as engaged in revealing the relationships underlying political events and conditions. Based on these revelations, they attempt to state general principles about the way the world of politics works. Given these aims, it is important for political scientists’ writing to be conceptually precise, free from bias, and well-substantiated by empirical evidence. Knowing that political scientists value objectivity may help you in making decisions about how to write your paper and what to put in it.

Political theory is an important exception to this empirical approach. You can learn more about writing for political theory classes in the section “Writing in Political Theory” below.

Building theories

Since theory-building serves as the cornerstone of the discipline, it may be useful to see how it works. You may be wrestling with theories or proposing your own as you write your paper. Consider how political scientists have arrived at the theories you are reading and discussing in your course. Most political scientists adhere to a simple model of scientific inquiry when building theories. The key to building precise and persuasive theories is to develop and test hypotheses. Hypotheses are statements that researchers construct for the purpose of testing whether or not a certain relationship exists between two phenomena. To see how political scientists use hypotheses, and to imagine how you might use a hypothesis to develop a thesis for your paper, consider the following example. Suppose that we want to know whether presidential elections are affected by economic conditions. We could formulate this question into the following hypothesis:

“When the national unemployment rate is greater than 7 percent at the time of the election, presidential incumbents are not reelected.”

Collecting data

In the research model designed to test this hypothesis, the dependent variable (the phenomenon that is affected by other variables) would be the reelection of incumbent presidents; the independent variable (the phenomenon that may have some effect on the dependent variable) would be the national unemployment rate. You could test the relationship between the independent and dependent variables by collecting data on unemployment rates and the reelection of incumbent presidents and comparing the two sets of information. If you found that in every instance that the national unemployment rate was greater than 7 percent at the time of a presidential election the incumbent lost, you would have significant support for our hypothesis.

However, research in political science seldom yields immediately conclusive results. In this case, for example, although in most recent presidential elections our hypothesis holds true, President Franklin Roosevelt was reelected in 1936 despite the fact that the national unemployment rate was 17%. To explain this important exception and to make certain that other factors besides high unemployment rates were not primarily responsible for the defeat of incumbent presidents in other election years, you would need to do further research. So you can see how political scientists use the scientific method to build ever more precise and persuasive theories and how you might begin to think about the topics that interest you as you write your paper.

Clear, consistent, objective writing

Since political scientists construct and assess theories in accordance with the principles of the scientific method, writing in the field conveys the rigor, objectivity, and logical consistency that characterize this method. Thus political scientists avoid the use of impressionistic or metaphorical language, or language which appeals primarily to our senses, emotions, or moral beliefs. In other words, rather than persuade you with the elegance of their prose or the moral virtue of their beliefs, political scientists persuade through their command of the facts and their ability to relate those facts to theories that can withstand the test of empirical investigation. In writing of this sort, clarity and concision are at a premium. To achieve such clarity and concision, political scientists precisely define any terms or concepts that are important to the arguments that they make. This precision often requires that they “operationalize” key terms or concepts. “Operationalizing” simply means that important—but possibly vague or abstract—concepts like “justice” are defined in ways that allow them to be measured or tested through scientific investigation.

Fortunately, you will generally not be expected to devise or operationalize key concepts entirely on your own. In most cases, your professor or the authors of assigned readings will already have defined and/or operationalized concepts that are important to your research. And in the event that someone hasn’t already come up with precisely the definition you need, other political scientists will in all likelihood have written enough on the topic that you’re investigating to give you some clear guidance on how to proceed. For this reason, it is always a good idea to explore what research has already been done on your topic before you begin to construct your own argument. See our handout on making an academic argument .

Example of an operationalized term

To give you an example of the kind of rigor and objectivity political scientists aim for in their writing, let’s examine how someone might operationalize a term. Reading through this example should clarify the level of analysis and precision that you will be expected to employ in your writing. Here’s how you might define key concepts in a way that allows us to measure them.

We are all familiar with the term “democracy.” If you were asked to define this term, you might make a statement like the following:

“Democracy is government by the people.”

You would, of course, be correct—democracy is government by the people. But, in order to evaluate whether or not a particular government is fully democratic or is more or less democratic when compared with other governments, we would need to have more precise criteria with which to measure or assess democracy. For example, here are some criteria that political scientists have suggested are indicators of democracy:

Freedom to form and join organizations
Freedom of expression
Right to vote
Eligibility for public office
Right of political leaders to compete for support
Right of political leaders to compete for votes
Alternative sources of information
Free and fair elections
Institutions for making government policies depend on votes and other expressions of preference

If we adopt these nine criteria, we now have a definition that will allow us to measure democracy empirically. Thus, if you want to determine whether Brazil is more democratic than Sweden, you can evaluate each country in terms of the degree to which it fulfills the above criteria.

What counts as good writing in political science?

While rigor, clarity, and concision will be valued in any piece of writing in political science, knowing the kind of writing task you’ve been assigned will help you to write a good paper. Two of the most common kinds of writing assignments in political science are the research paper and the theory paper.

Writing political science research papers

Your instructors use research paper assignments as a means of assessing your ability to understand a complex problem in the field, to develop a perspective on this problem, and to make a persuasive argument in favor of your perspective. In order for you to successfully meet this challenge, your research paper should include the following components:

An introduction
A problem statement
A discussion of methodology
A literature review
A description and evaluation of your research findings
A summary of your findings

Here’s a brief description of each component.

In the introduction of your research paper, you need to give the reader some basic background information on your topic that suggests why the question you are investigating is interesting and important. You will also need to provide the reader with a statement of the research problem you are attempting to address and a basic outline of your paper as a whole. The problem statement presents not only the general research problem you will address but also the hypotheses that you will consider. In the methodology section, you will explain to the reader the research methods you used to investigate your research topic and to test the hypotheses that you have formulated. For example, did you conduct interviews, use statistical analysis, rely upon previous research studies, or some combination of all of these methodological approaches?

Before you can develop each of the above components of your research paper, you will need to conduct a literature review. A literature review involves reading and analyzing what other researchers have written on your topic before going on to do research of your own. There are some very pragmatic reasons for doing this work. First, as insightful as your ideas may be, someone else may have had similar ideas and have already done research to test them. By reading what they have written on your topic, you can ensure that you don’t repeat, but rather learn from, work that has already been done. Second, to demonstrate the soundness of your hypotheses and methodology, you will need to indicate how you have borrowed from and/or improved upon the ideas of others.

By referring to what other researchers have found on your topic, you will have established a frame of reference that enables the reader to understand the full significance of your research results. Thus, once you have conducted your literature review, you will be in a position to present your research findings. In presenting these findings, you will need to refer back to your original hypotheses and explain the manner and degree to which your results fit with what you anticipated you would find. If you see strong support for your argument or perhaps some unexpected results that your original hypotheses cannot account for, this section is the place to convey such important information to your reader. This is also the place to suggest further lines of research that will help refine, clarify inconsistencies with, or provide additional support for your hypotheses. Finally, in the summary section of your paper, reiterate the significance of your research and your research findings and speculate upon the path that future research efforts should take.

Writing in political theory

Political theory differs from other subfields in political science in that it deals primarily with historical and normative, rather than empirical, analysis. In other words, political theorists are less concerned with the scientific measurement of political phenomena than with understanding how important political ideas develop over time. And they are less concerned with evaluating how things are than in debating how they should be. A return to our democracy example will make these distinctions clearer and give you some clues about how to write well in political theory.

Earlier, we talked about how to define democracy empirically so that it can be measured and tested in accordance with scientific principles. Political theorists also define democracy, but they use a different standard of measurement. Their definitions of democracy reflect their interest in political ideals—for example, liberty, equality, and citizenship—rather than scientific measurement. So, when writing about democracy from the perspective of a political theorist, you may be asked to make an argument about the proper way to define citizenship in a democratic society. Should citizens of a democratic society be expected to engage in decision-making and administration of government, or should they be satisfied with casting votes every couple of years?

In order to substantiate your position on such questions, you will need to pay special attention to two interrelated components of your writing: (1) the logical consistency of your ideas and (2) the manner in which you use the arguments of other theorists to support your own. First, you need to make sure that your conclusion and all points leading up to it follow from your original premises or assumptions. If, for example, you argue that democracy is a system of government through which citizens develop their full capacities as human beings, then your notion of citizenship will somehow need to support this broad definition of democracy. A narrow view of citizenship based exclusively or primarily on voting probably will not do. Whatever you argue, however, you will need to be sure to demonstrate in your analysis that you have considered the arguments of other theorists who have written about these issues. In some cases, their arguments will provide support for your own; in others, they will raise criticisms and concerns that you will need to address if you are going to make a convincing case for your point of view.

Drafting your paper

If you have used material from outside sources in your paper, be sure to cite them appropriately in your paper. In political science, writers most often use the APA or Turabian (a version of the Chicago Manual of Style) style guides when formatting references. Check with your instructor if they have not specified a citation style in the assignment. For more information on constructing citations, see the UNC Libraries citation tutorial.

Although all assignments are different, the preceding outlines provide a clear and simple guide that should help you in writing papers in any sub-field of political science. If you find that you need more assistance than this short guide provides, refer to the list of additional resources below or make an appointment to see a tutor at the Writing Center.

Works consulted

We consulted these works while writing this handout. This is not a comprehensive list of resources on the handout’s topic, and we encourage you to do your own research to find additional publications. Please do not use this list as a model for the format of your own reference list, as it may not match the citation style you are using. For guidance on formatting citations, please see the UNC Libraries citation tutorial . We revise these tips periodically and welcome feedback.

Becker, Howard S. 2007. Writing for Social Scientists: How to Start and Finish Your Thesis, Book, or Article , 2nd ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Cuba, Lee. 2002. A Short Guide to Writing About Social Science , 4th ed. New York: Longman.

Lasswell, Harold Dwight. 1936. Politics: Who Gets What, When, How . New York: McGraw-Hill.

Scott, Gregory M., and Stephen M. Garrison. 1998. The Political Science Student Writer’s Manual , 2nd ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Turabian, Kate. 2018. A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, Dissertations , 9th ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

You may reproduce it for non-commercial use if you use the entire handout and attribute the source: The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

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Table Of Contents

Analyses of politics appeared in ancient cultures in works by various thinkers, including Confucius (551–479 bce ) in China and Kautilya (flourished 300 bce ) in India. Writings by the historian Ibn Khaldūn (1332–1406) in North Africa have greatly influenced the study of politics in the Arabic-speaking world. But the fullest explication of politics has been in the West. Some have identified Plato (428/427–348/347 bce ), whose ideal of a stable republic still yields insights and metaphors , as the first political scientist, though most consider Aristotle (384–322 bce ), who introduced empirical observation into the study of politics, to be the discipline’s true founder.

Aristotle’s students gathered descriptions of 158 Greek city-states , which Aristotle used to formulate his famous sixfold typology of political systems . He distinguished political systems by the number of persons ruling (one, few, or many) and by whether the form was legitimate (rulers governing in the interests of all) or corrupt (rulers governing in their own interests). Legitimate systems included monarchy (rule by one), aristocracy (rule by the few), and polity (rule by the many), while corresponding corrupt forms were tyranny , oligarchy , and democracy . Aristotle considered democracy to be the worst form of government, though in his classification it meant mob rule . The best form of government, a polity, was, in contemporary terms, akin to an efficient, stable democracy. Aristotle presciently noted that a polity functions best if the middle class is large, a point confirmed by modern empirical findings. Aristotle’s classification endured for centuries and is still helpful in understanding political systems.

Plato and Aristotle focused on perfecting the polis ( city-state ), a tiny political entity, which for the Greeks meant both society and political system. The conquest of the Mediterranean world and beyond by Aristotle’s pupil Alexander the Great (336–323 bce ) and, after his death, the division of his empire among his generals brought large new political forms, in which society and political system came to be seen as separate entities. This shift required a new understanding of politics. Hellenistic thinkers, especially the Stoics , asserted the existence of a natural law that applied to all human beings equally; this idea became the foundation of Roman legalism and Christian notions of equality ( see Stoicism ). Thus, the Roman orator Marcus Tullius Cicero (106–43 bce ), who was strongly influenced by the Stoics , was noteworthy for his belief that all human beings, regardless of their wealth or citizenship, possessed an equal moral worth.

Early Christian thinkers, such as St. Augustine (354–430), emphasized the dual loyalty of Christians to both God and temporal rulers, with the clear implication that the “heavenly city” is more important and durable than the earthly one. With this came an otherworldly disdain for politics. For eight centuries knowledge of Aristotle was lost to Europe but preserved by Arab philosophers such as al-Fārābī (c. 878–c. 950) and Averroës (1126–1198). Translations of Aristotle in Spain under the Moors revitalized European thought after about 1200. St. Thomas Aquinas (1224/25–1274) Christianized Aristotle’s Politics to lend it moral purpose. Aquinas took from Aristotle the idea that humans are both rational and social, that states occur naturally, and that government can improve humans spiritually. Thus, Aquinas favoured monarchy but despised tyranny, arguing that kingly authority should be limited by law and used for the common good . The Italian poet and philosopher Dante (1265–1321) argued in De monarchia (c. 1313; On Monarchy ) for a single world government. At the same time, the philosopher Marsilius of Padua (c. 1280–c. 1343), in Defensor Pacis (1324; “Defender of the Peace”), introduced secularization by elevating the state over the church as the originator of laws. For this, as well as for proposing that legislators be elected, Marsilius ranks as an important modernizer.

The first modern political scientist was the Italian writer Niccolò Machiavelli (1469–1527). His infamous work The Prince (1531), a treatise originally dedicated to Florence’s ruler, Lorenzo di Piero de’ Medici , presented amoral advice to actual and would-be princes on the best means of acquiring and holding on to political power . Machiavelli’s political philosophy , which completed the secularization of politics begun by Marsilius, was based on reason rather than religion. An early Italian patriot, Machiavelli believed that Italy could be unified and its foreign occupiers expelled only by ruthless and single-minded princes who rejected any moral constraints on their power. Machiavelli introduced the modern idea of power—how to get it and how to use it—as the crux of politics, a viewpoint shared by today’s international relations “realists,” rational choice theorists, and others. Machiavelli thus ranks alongside Aristotle as a founder of political science.

The English philosopher Thomas Hobbes (1588–1679) also placed power at the centre of his political analysis. In Leviathan; or, The Matter, Form, and Power of a Commonwealth, Ecclesiastical and Civil (1651), completed near the end of the English Civil Wars (1642–51), Hobbes outlined, without reference to an all-powerful God, how humans, endowed with a natural right to self-preservation but living in an anarchic state of nature , would be driven by fear of violent death to form a civil society and submit to a single sovereign authority (a monarch) to ensure their peace and security through a social contract —an actual or hypothetical agreement between citizens and their rulers that defines the rights and duties of each. English philosopher John Locke (1632–1704), who also witnessed the turmoil of an English civil war—the Glorious Revolution (1688–89)—argued in his influential Two Treatises on Civil Government (1690) that people form governments through a social contract to preserve their inalienable natural rights to “life, liberty, and property.” He further maintained that any government that fails to secure the natural rights of its citizens may properly be overthrown. Locke’s views were a powerful force in the intellectual life of 18th-century colonial America and constituted the philosophical basis of the American Declaration of Independence (1776), many of whose drafters, particularly Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826), were well acquainted with Locke’s writings.

If Hobbes was the conservative of the “contractualists” and Locke the liberal, then the French philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712–78) was the radical. Rousseau’s The Social Contract (1762) constructs a civil society in which the separate wills of individuals are combined to govern as the “general will” ( volonté générale ) of the collective that overrides individual wills, “forcing a man to be free.” Rousseau’s radical vision was embraced by French revolutionaries and later by totalitarians, who distorted many of his philosophical lessons.

Montesquieu (1689–1755), a more pragmatic French philosopher, contributed to modern comparative politics with his The Spirit of Laws (1748). Montesquieu’s sojourn in England convinced him that English liberties were based on the separation and balance of power between Parliament and the monarchy, a principle later embraced by the framers of the Constitution of the United States ( see separation of powers ; checks and balances ). Montesquieu also produced an innovative analysis of governance that assigned to each form of government an animating principle—for example, republics are based on virtue, monarchies on honour, and despotisms on fear. Montesquieu’s analysis concluded that a country’s form of government is determined not by the locus of political power but by how the government enacts public policy.

The Scottish economist and philosopher Adam Smith (1723–90) is considered the founder of classical economic liberalism . In An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations (1776), he argued that the role of the state should be restricted primarily to enforcing contracts in a free market . In contrast, the classical conservatism of the English parliamentarian Edmund Burke (1729–97) maintained that established values and institutions were essential elements of all societies and that revolutions that sought to destroy such values (e.g., the French Revolution ) delivered people to irrational impulses and to tyranny. Burke thus introduced an important psychological or cultural insight: that political systems are living organisms that grow over centuries and that depend on a sense of legitimacy that is gradually built up among their subjects.

The early development of political science was also influenced by law . The French political philosopher Jean Bodin (1530–96) articulated a theory of sovereignty that viewed the state as the ultimate source of law in a given territory. Bodin’s work, which was undertaken as the modern state was first developing, provided a justification of the legitimacy of national governments, one fiercely defended to this day. Many political scientists, especially in international relations, find Bodin’s notion of sovereignty useful for expressing the legitimacy and equality of states.

Political Science Essay Example

Get Inspired with these Amazing Political Science Essay Examples

Published on: May 8, 2023

Last updated on: Jan 30, 2024

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Many students struggle to write effective political science essays that meet the expectations of their professors. They may have difficulty organizing their thoughts, conducting research, or making persuasive arguments.

One way to improve your political science essay writing skills is to study examples of successful essays in this field.

By analyzing the structure, and content of these essays, you can learn valuable lessons that will help you write better essays.

In this blog, we provide examples of high-quality political science essays in different different areas of the field.

Whether you're a beginner or an advanced student, you'll find valuable insights to help you succeed in your coursework.

Let’s get started!

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What is a Political Science Essay? Understanding the Basics

A political science essay explores a particular topic or issue within the field of political science. It typically requires students to conduct research, analyze data, and make persuasive arguments based on their findings.

These essays can take many different forms, depending on the specific requirements of the assignment. They can be comparative essays that examine the similarities and differences between two or more political systems.

They can also be theoretical essays that explore different political theories that analyze real-world political phenomena.

Regardless of its specific type, all such essays should adhere to certain basic principles. They should have a clear thesis statement, use evidence to support their arguments, and be written in clear and concise language.

Political Science Essay Examples

Now that we have a basic understanding of these essays, let's take a closer look at some of its examples.

By analyzing these essays, you can gain valuable insights into how to write political essays.

Political Science Paper Example

Political Science Research Paper Example

Political Science Analysis Paper Example

Political Science Term Paper Examples

Political Science Essay Example for Different Fields

Political science is a diverse and dynamic field that encompasses a wide range of topics and perspectives.

To gain a comprehensive understanding, it's important to study the examples that explore different areas of research and inquiry.

Paper Due? Why Suffer? That's our Job!

The examples given below will help you understand the richness and complexity of political science research.

Political Essay About Poverty

Political Science

The Impact Of Social Movements On National Security

Characteristics Of Political Science

American Political Science

The Political Reform of Japan

The United States and Terrorism

The Role of Political Parties and Political Figures in Shaping Political Landscapes

Kosovo protests 2022

Rishi sunak's political career

Political Essay on Politics and Political Decisions

Tips To Write A Write A Compelling Political Science Essay

To write an effective essay, it is important to approach the topic with care and attention to detail. Consider the following tips for writing a political essay that stands out:

Define your Topic: Be clear about the focus of your essay and ensure that it is relevant and interesting to your readers.
Conduct Thorough Research: Gather information from credible sources, including academic journals, government reports, and news outlets, to ensure that your arguments are well-supported.
Develop A Clear Thesis Statement: Your thesis should be concise and clearly state your argument or position on the topic.
Organize Your Essay Effectively: Use clear and logical structure to ensure that your arguments are presented in a coherent and convincing manner.
Use Evidence To Support Your Arguments: Incorporate relevant data and examples to support your arguments, and ensure that they are credible and well-sourced.
Consider Opposing Viewpoints: Acknowledge and address counterarguments to your position to demonstrate a thorough understanding of the topic.
Write Clearly And Concisely : Use simple and direct language to convey your ideas, and avoid unnecessary jargon or technical terms.

Pitfalls To Avoid While Writing A Political Science Essay

To write a strong political essay, it is important to not only follow best practices, but also avoid common pitfalls.

By keeping these pitfalls in mind, you can create a thoughtful and thorough essay that engages your readers.

Oversimplification

Political science is a complex field that deals with multifaceted political issues. Avoid oversimplifying the topic or argument in your essay, and make sure to provide a nuanced and in-depth analysis.

These essays should be objective and free from personal biases. Avoid using emotionally charged language or cherry-picking evidence to support a preconceived conclusion.

Using Vague Language

Political essays should be precise and clear in their language. Avoid using vague terms or generalizations, and strive to use concrete and specific language.

Ignoring Counterarguments

To write a convincing political science essay, it is important to consider and address counterarguments. Avoid ignoring opposing viewpoints, and make sure to provide a thorough analysis of alternative perspectives.

In conclusion, writing political science essays is a great way to explore important political issues. It can also help you in learning about how power and governance work.

By looking at examples, and writing tips, you can write a strong essay that contributes to the field.

Whether you're a student, a policy analyst, or just interested in politics, political essays help you understand how decisions get made.

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Our political science essay writing service can help you write a well-organized essay that meets your needs.

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In This Article Expand or collapse the "in this article" section The Nature of the State

Introduction, general overviews.

Conceptual Foundations
Prewar Marxism
Microfoundations
Postwar Marxism
State-Centered (Statist) Approaches
Critiques of Statist Approaches
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The Nature of the State by Mike Miller LAST REVIEWED: 31 March 2016 LAST MODIFIED: 31 March 2016 DOI: 10.1093/obo/9780199756223-0151

The state is the quintessential modern political institution. What has been referred to variously as “the modern state,” “the nation-state,” “the constitutional state,” or “the bureaucratic state” has existed for no longer than five centuries and no less than two. Yet, in that time, the very nature of human society has undergone monumental transformations, and states have been at the center of each change. While the relevance of states to modern society—and to modern forms of politics—is widely recognized, the precise nature of the state and state power is the subject of perennial debate. Over the course of the 20th century, the study of politics has ebbed and flowed from state-centered explanations of political phenomena to society-centered explanations, wherein the state is seen as epiphenomenal to more-microlevel processes. Passionate debates continue over whether states are more or less coherent entities capable of autonomous, directed, state-interested action, or whether they fundamentally reflect the interests of the competing groups or classes that constitute society. Is there a universal category of political organization called the state or are particular institutions associated with the state mediated through widely varying cultural practices and institutions? More contentious still are debates over the political implications of how states are defined and constructed, through language and through law, and whether these images and discourses reproduce structures of power that consistently favor certain groups at the expense of others. Finally, as goods, capital, information, and people cross the borders of territorial states with increasing ease, some scholars question whether the notion of sovereignty has become obsolete or whether new ways of organizing social power will, if they have not already, relegate territorial states to the dustbins of history. This article is organized according to a loose chronology of the major approaches to and thematic debates about the nature of the state since the early 20th century. An additional section ( Conceptual Foundations ) reaches back further in order to introduce some of the theoretical and conceptual forebears to a political science or sociology of the state.

Several overviews provide useful introductions to theories of the state. Two classics are Dyson 2009 and Vincent 1987 . The former is a much more comprehensive intellectual history of the state as an idea in western European thought; the latter a history of normative political interpretations of the state. A more recent intellectual history is Nelson 2006 , which makes an explicit attempt to embed the Western tradition in its social context. Marinetto 2007 and Dryzek and Dunleavy 2009 are the most up-to-date overviews, each a comparison of various approaches to the state. Michael Marinetto’s emphasis is on modern approaches to the state, spending one chapter on the classical theories before moving into post-structuralism. The authors of Dryzek and Dunleavy 2009 are more interested in comparing the classical theories to modern innovations and critiques, and so they spend more time to elaborate those foundations. Hay, et al. 2006 is an edited volume with an excellent introductory chapter, followed by thematic chapters by experts. Both Barrow 1993 and Hobson 2002 are thematic overviews. The former is dedicated to parsing the history of debates within Marxist accounts of the state; the latter, within international relations (IR), a subfield of political science.

Barrow, Clyde W. Critical Theories of the State: Marxist, Neo-Marxist, Post-Marxist . Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1993.

Dated but extensive introduction to the major Marxist theories of the state.

Dryzek, John S., and Patrick Dunleavy. Theories of the Democratic State . New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2009.

Survey of theories of the liberal-democratic state. Includes chapters on classical theories of the democratic state and critiques, in particular from feminist, environmental, conservative, and postmodern/post-structuralist perspectives.

Dyson, Kenneth H. F. The State Tradition in Western Europe: A Study of an Idea and Institution . ECBR Classics. Colchester, UK: ECPR Press, 2009.

Classic intellectual history and analysis of the idea of the state in Western political thought. Great comparison of British and Continental traditions. Originally published in 1980 (Oxford: Martin Robertson).

Hay, Colin, Michael Lister, and David Marsh, eds. The State: Theories and Issues . Political Analysis. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2006.

Excellent collection of essays on historical and modern approaches to the state. Each chapter written by an expert in its respective literature. Includes a chapter on green/ecological theories of the state.

Hobson, John M. The State and International Relations . Themes in International Relations. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2002.

Introduction to theories of the state from an IR perspective. Also serves as a short but high-quality introduction to IR theory.

Marinetto, Michael. Social Theory, the State and Modern Society: The State in Contemporary Social Thought . Theorizing Society. Maidenhead, UK: McGraw-Hill International, 2007.

Well-written and relatively current tour of the state in modern social theory. It has the advantage of being written by a single author: a narrative arc.

Nelson, Brian. The Making of the Modern State: A Theoretical Evolution . New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2006.

DOI: 10.1057/9781403983282

A concise book that integrates political, sociological, and ideological context into a historical analysis of the origins of the modern state and state theory.

Vincent, Andrew. Theories of the State . New York: Basil Blackwell, 1987.

Well-written introduction to classical theories of the state from a political-philosophy perspective. Includes chapters on the absolutist state, (liberal) constitutional state, (Hegelian) ethical state, (Marxist) class state, and the pluralist state, with discussion of the English and American traditions of pluralism.

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Nature and Scope of Political Science

If a man is social by nature, he is selfish and quarrelsome too. According to some accepted rules, this aspect of man’s nature and the instinct of living together and cooperating require adjustment of behavior. These rules prescribe a course of conduct based upon men’s need for one another. The first and the most important rule of social conduct is To do unto others as you would have others do unto you.

It means that I should provide for others the same conditions of life as I wish for myself. If I wish to grow and prosper, I owe it to others that they, too, should have the same conditions of life as I wish for myself. When I allow others what I wish for myself, I recognize my obligations to others while establishing others’ claims. Realization of this fact is a Way of regulating human conduct, But all conduct in society must conform to certain rules of Common behavior.

The rules governing a society may be few or many. They can range from a few primitive traditions, handed down orally, from one generation to another, or to the whole complex set of constitutional and governmental regulations which we associate with the modem State.

A prerequisite of such a society is that it must be properly organized. An unorganized society is more a mob than society, and the mob is subject to no restraint. An organized society must also be territoriality settled. People do not develop a community of interests unless they live a settled life occupying a definite territory distinct from other communities similarly organized.

Mutual adjustment and cooperation, a life to share commonweal and woe is the sine qua non of common life on common land. Then, an organized society requires some individuals to enforce rules of universal application for uniform behavior and ensure their observance. In the absence of such an agency, there is neither cohesion nor unity of purposes for which men had Organized themselves and settled down territoriality.

Thus organized, the society is called the State, rules that determine social conduct are the laws of the State and the individuals who enforce the laws and see that all equally observe them constitute its government. The subject that deals with the man about the State and its government are called Political Science. In its simplest form, political science may be defined as the study of man in the process of governing himself.

Is man a political animal?

Therefore, an elementary starting point for all political theory is the existential fact that members of the human species live together, whatever may be the elements of instinct, habit, necessity, or Choice that induce people to form societies. If a man is a social animal, is he then necessarily a political animal? Aristotle said he is, and it has remained a generally accepted truth until recently.

But opinion now veers around the belief that man is neither instinctively nor by learning necessarily a political animal. Adherents of this point of view, who are now many, particularly in the United States of America, admit that few people ever live outside the State. They also admit that the advantages of living together far outweigh the disadvantages.

Nonetheless, though human beings must and do live in political systems and share the benefits of political life, they do not necessarily participate in political life. They are not necessarily interested in politics, nor do they always care about politics, not know much about political events, or share in making decisions. In fact, in most states, the political stratum is a minority of the adult population.

Moreover, highly interested, concerned, informed, and active are an even smaller minority within the political stratum. They argue that political systems are developed simply because human beings are social and as they cannot live together without entering into relationships of influence; consequently, Whenever these relationships become stable and repetitive, political systems exist.

But this is exactly not so. The practice of politics is necessarily as old as society itself. It is born when men began to speculate about the rules of conduct by which they should be governed and matured with the succeeding generations when they began to ask whether these rules by which their ancestors were governed ought to be accepted, or ought to have been accepted in the past, why some societies choose different rules from others, whether it is possible to discover general rules of conduct which could or should apply to all societies.

In answering these questions, they go into the basic questions of the purposes for which human societies exist and their relation to the purposes of human life itself. Obviously, it is a quest for a just and happy life for men assembled in a territoriality integrated society. As such, the best form of relationship manifested in their governance that can ensure such a life.

This quest has been incessantly going on for centuries together Without reaching agreed conclusions. Nor is there any likelihood that men will ever do so, for human civilizations are forever changing, and so do they change their values. What seems true and even self-evident for one generation or one civilization is frequently rejected by the succeeding generations. Each generation explains Dorothy Pickles, “as it becomes an adult is faced with the responsibility of deciding whether to accept the rules made or accepted by earlier generations, or whether to challenge their validity and try to replace them by others. ”

However, it does not mean that all men are equally concerned with the political life of the society to which they belong. Some peoples are indifferent to politics; others deplore them. But quite many play the game of politics. Even the ordinary citizen, making up his mind whether to vote for A or B, maybe invisibly trying to answer a sort of question which Plato and Aristotle had tried to answer over 2,000 years ago, namely, who is the best form of government?

He may not be thinking in terms of the vital issues involved in such a question. He may be simply trying to decide whether A or B is more likely to further his personal or professional interests. Even so, he is one of the thousands of his fellow citizens who is incessantly helping to formulate an answer of some kind to the question, what is the best form of government for me? And the multitude of different answers given by him and his fellow citizens go to form how the government in a particular country develops. It is the wisdom of generations that makes the political apparatus of a country and its culture.

The impact which one individual citizen makes on his own or the succeeding generations may be minimal. Still, some critics of the existing social order have so touched the minds or hearts of their fellow citizens or citizens of other times or other countries that they have helped to bring about great changes in the organization of government Plato and Aristotle still exercise profound influences on the thought of Western Europe. Rousseau and Marx are the beau ideal of millions of people beyond the frontiers of their own countries.

Locke’s teachings had a deep impact on the Americans and the French, the former seeking to justify their struggle for independence and freedom from foreign rule and the latter seeking to justify man’s right to revolt against arbitrary rule, which had plagued these countries for centuries together. Gandhi dedicated himself to uplifting man and society simultaneously.

He was out to moralize man and society. In his attempt to realize society’s better-ordering, he devised a new moral strategy, the method of regulating along with non-violent lines group life in its political, economic, and international aspects. By his twin principles of truth and non-violence, Gandhi re-revolutionized the Course of politics and the present-day world. Standing on the brink of an abysmal cataclysm does find solace in the Gandhian outlook and his peaceful technique. Gandhi’s teachings are more relevant today than they were in his lifetime, and this fact has been universally admitted.

Scope of Political Science.

There is no general agreement on the nature and scope of Political Science , “the master science,” as Aristotle described it since there is no generally accepted definition of the discipline and its organizing concept, the State. The definitions of both Political Science and the State, the latter in particular, reveal the bias of the thinkers, for example, the metaphysical (Hegel), the juridical (Austin), the sociological (MacIver), the descriptive (Garner), and many others with their own distinctive labels.

There are as many definitions as there are writers on the subject, and all these definitions give the entity the State different meanings and conflicting roles. This tendency continues even now, though in a slightly different form. “The recent definitions of politics (as a study),” writes Frank Thakurdas, “are not so much cast in the discipline of the thinker (easily detectable) but the conceptual framework that he has worked out in advance (as it were) the basic presupposition of his personal manner of interpreting the complete phenomenon of politics But also including the purpose that the studies involve in terms of the practical ends they subserve.”

Some writers restrict the scope of Political Science to the State’s study alone, for example, Bluntschli . All such writers exclude the study of government from the scope of Political Science, for the State for them obviously includes government study. Others hold that Political Science deals only with the government.

Karl W. Deutsch says, “Because Polities, the making of decisions by public means, it is primarily concerned with government, that is, with the direction and self-direction of large communities of the people.” According to Robson , “The purpose of political science is to throw light on political ideas and political action so that the government of man may be improved.” Harold Laski takes a more realistic view and emphasizes that the scope of Political Science embraces the study of both the State and government. However, he maintains that the State, in reality, means the government.

Government is the helmsman of the ship of the State. There can be no State without a government. The State is a people organized for law within a definite territory. This entity, the sovereign political unity of life, orders and compels obedience by punishing those who violate its commands. But no State acts by itself.

There must be present in every State some men or body of men competent to issue orders on its behalf and see that they are actually obeyed. That is the government. This is, however, the conventional field of functions of the government. The modem government has emerged as an active and positive agent in all communities’ direction of affairs. In the older democracies and still more in the newer developing States and in the Communist countries, the government is looked on as a major, or even the dominant, organizing power in society.

A description of the State must, therefore, include the study of the structure and functions of government, its forms and institutions, modes of representation, the interaction of political parties, interest groups, mass media of communication, relationships involving rule, authority, and power and most important of all the problems connected with the emergence of a big and active government both in the national and international fields.

The State, all the same, remains the central subject of the study of Political Science as the whole government mechanism emerges from and revolves around this entity. The need for government arises because here had been and there is a need for the State The need for the State is deeply embedded in the compelling necessities of human life and the advantages accruing from dwelling together on a defined territory and sharing the benefits of political life.

Without the State, life itself cannot be sustained. But this is not the only object of political life. As Aristotle said, the State comes into existence, “originating in the bare needs of the life of man and continuing in existence for the sake of good life.” Whether a man is a political animal or not, it remains an unchangeable fact that man cannot be what he desires to be without the State. It is premature to accept the recent system theory, domestic and international, with all its innovations.

So long as the State remains a matter of reality in practical politics, and its citizens are required to preserve its sovereignty and integrity. The unquestioned respect for the symbols of its distinctness, like the national flag and the national anthem, is instilled in them from their very childhood; it is an indispensable institution for the existence of its nationals and their development.

When the State plays such a vital role in man’s life, it becomes all the more important to know it in all its aspects what the State has been, what it is, and what it ought to be. As it is, the State refers to its existing Structure and the analysis of the principles and practices of modern governments. But what the State is can only be understood by knowing what it had been. As we have seen, how the government in a country develops is the wisdom of generations. This involves studying the origin of the State, its evolution, and the development of the mechanism, which it functions.

But knowledge of the past and the State’s present does not exhaust the scope of Political Science. We must also try to gather how far the state’s existing structure and its institutions respond to the needs of man and determine his well-being. This had been the unceasing quest of generations all through these centuries, and it continues to exist with a never-ending zeal.

This quest reinforces the need for a deep knowledge of the past and its comparison with the present. The process involved makes us wiser for the future as it sharpens our intellect to reform the existing institutions to cater to the generations’ aspirations to come adequately. It means to discover the principles that should be adhered to in operating the State’s machinery, to criticize what is bad or inefficient, and to suggest improvements so that the State may serve its purpose meaningfully. It is the dream for the ideal for the fulfillment of which all people have always yearned and striven, though what an ideal life is and how it can be achieved is controversial.

All this relates to the study of the State as it ought to be. Here, political science enters the realm of political ethics and studies humanity’s moral problems to establish the principles of collective morality. We consider and evaluate the purposes and ends of the State. The fundamental topics involved in such a study are the ethical foundations of authority, the nature and limits of political obligation, the rights and freedoms of the individuals, groups, and nations, and an examination of the entire body-politic from the point of view of the ultimate ends of human life. The approach may, be-speculative or analytical, or in the case of Plato, a combination of both.

There has been an upheaval, “intellectual revolution” as described in American political scientists’ thoughts and ideas in the last four decades or so. The innovations they have introduced have greatly influenced the nature and subject matter of our study. The approach to the traditional theory of Political Science, as they call it, is criticized on parochialism and formalism. The study’s focus in the past explained tended to be primarily on institutions and their legal norms, rules, regulations, or political ideas and ideologies rather than on performance, interaction, and behavior.

The modern political analysis, guided by sociological, anthropological, and psychological methods and theories, rests upon four basic principles:

T he search for a more comprehensive scope
T he search for realism
T he search for precision and
T he search for intellectual order

The object is to free the discipline of Political Science from the value judgments or quasi-ethical or philosophical judgments.

These modern political scientists seek to develop a kind of empirically oriented and value-free Political Science and bring it on par with natural sciences. Values are thought to be subjective preferences about which science has nothing to do. Traditionally, the study of political values-of what, for example, ought to be the political structure and what political goals ought to be sought has been political philosophers’ field. The modem political philosophers’ main concern is the study of great thinkers of the past, Plato, Aristotle, Machiavelli, Hobbes, Locke, and Rousseau.

In the process, he will analyses such value words as justice, rights, freedom. This activity is currently supplemented by the study of values as political facts. To take a specific example, while the students of Political Science remain interested in the historical formulations of the argument that we ought to obey the law because we have consented to it by participating in the choice of government, and spend time in analyzing the nature of consent in all its variety, there are now investigations to discover to what extent consent as defined, is in fact a value subscribed to in a particular society and what consequences for political behavior follow from the acceptance of the value.

There is increasing importance attached to the political setting the political values and attitudes, which together make the political culture.

Separated, rather than divorced, from the study of political values is the study of political institutions. For a long period, the study essentially centered around the legislatures, executives, and judiciaries, the three institutions for making, carrying out, and interpreting the law. As the study developed and knowledge advanced, the area extended to include political parties, bureaucracies, interest groups and other, groups engaged in politics which have a continuous existence.

At a later stage, it was further supplemented by how political communications work through press, radio, television, discussions, or meetings and how demands emerge and are formulated through interest groups and political parties: and their impact on government’s policies.

The emphasis is on procedures and institutions through which authoritative decisions are made and the outcome of such decision-making in the form of rule-making, rule-application, and rule-adjudication, to use terms broader and more meaningful than the traditional legislative, executive, and judicial functions.

The keynote is on facts. Consequently, political institutions are themselves evaluated to see to what extent theory and practice diverge the present and the past values in varying degrees.

Recently, the emphasis has been placed on the study of what is called political behavior. This approach, which is not restricted to declared behaviorists, concentrates on individuals’ and groups’ behavior within political institutions. The aim is to get behind the formal structure and study the actual political processes to uncover the “inside story” and have led to a new or revived interest in social factors’ impact on political life.

This branch of political studies owes a great deal to other social sciences, particularly sociology. “It is always the focus of interest,” says MacIver, “that distinguishes one social science from another. We should not think of the social sciences as dividing between them physically separate areas of reality. What distinguishes each from each is selective interests.” A student of Political Science must see the State’s problems and the processes involved therein against a background of general knowledge, either existing or to be acquired, as a basis for comment and assessment.

Political Science, thus, enters into various fields and touches many horizons. The process of specialization on the various aspects of the discipline, the orientation of methodology, and, importantly, behavioral and interdisciplinary explanations have brought about a radical change in the scope of the discipline. Political decisions are not made in a vacuum or due only to the personal idiosyncrasies of political actors.

Economic factors, the social structure, the class, status, and stratification systems influence both the content and mode of making political decisions. Nor can one remain oblivious of political Orientations of the members of society-how citizens the political system itself, how they react to it emotionally, how they evaluate it morally. Equally important is family churches, work-groups, etc., have influenced the political socialization process-how members’ general attitudes.

The political system is an aspect of the social system and political activity, and its study is a special category of social study and activity. Politics is, therefore, not isolated from other human activities. Students of Political Science must consider the environments in which the political system is set, particularly the social setting. Otherwise, their study is devoid of realities and consequently barren.

Despite the advances made in the recent political analysis, there is no unified theory of Political Science to present. Almond and Powell admit that the new developments are trends only and not as completed accomplishments. The most important work, both empirical and theoretical, is still to be done.

Yet, there is no denying that the analytical cum-empirical method has definitely enlarged the field of our inquiry as it has cleared up the rust in which many helpful distinctions within the framework of political studies lay obscured. It is not that the traditional boundaries have been obliterated. They may merely have been extended and given a sharpness and depth hitherto unknown.

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Nature of Political Science

Political Science has different names like ‘politics’ (Aristotle), ‘political science’ (William Godwin & Mary Wollstonecraft), ‘science of state’ (R. G. Gettel), and ‘science of politics’ (Sir. Fredrick Pollock). However, it lacks a precise terminology according to Jellinek, who argues that the field urgently needs one. Lowell also believes that the study of politics is lacking essential elements of a modern science, particularly a terminology that can be comprehended by educated individuals.

Garner argues that the unfortunate confusion resulting from varied terminologies in this field often leads to misunderstanding, unlike the literature of natural sciences that employs more precise and exact terminology (U. Sharma & S. K. Sharma, 01). The term ‘politics’ in English is derived from three Greek words: ‘polis’ (City State), ‘polity’ (Government), and ‘politeia’ (Constitution). Hence, in its original Greek interpretation, politics pertains to the examination of the city-state and its administration both practically and philosophically.

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The term ‘politics’ has been interpreted as a science and an art by lexicons and textbooks. However, the original Greek definition of ‘politics’ is no longer relevant since Hobbes associated it with ‘power’. As a result, Gilchrist suggests that while the term ‘politics’ can be used in its original Greek sense, it loses its scientific significance due to its modern usage. Distinguished writers like Jellinek, Willoughby, and Pollock have distinguished between the theoretical and practical aspects of politics.

U. Sharma and S. K. Sharma (02) categorize politics into two aspects: ‘theoretical politics’ and ‘applied or practical politics’. The former pertains to the fundamental characteristics of the state, disregarding its activities or methods for attaining objectives. Conversely, the latter concentrates on the active state, perceiving it as a dynamic institution.

Aristotle defined Politics as the science of the state. Max Webber described it as striving to share power or influence its distribution among states or groups within a state. Harold Lasswell viewed Politics as the study of influence and influential individuals who gain significant benefits. E.C. Banfield characterized politics as the activity of negotiating, arguing, discussing, applying force, persuading, etc., to address and resolve issues.

This definition encompasses a broader, non-political perspective. According to this viewpoint, politics is a social activity that is not necessarily connected to power. Bertrand de Jouvenel, Robert Dahl, and William Bluhm have also defined politics from a non-political standpoint. These definitions emphasize the inclusion of elements that are not political. As J. D. B. Miller explains, politics exists because society is divided and it is a natural response to the differences among its members. It is a permanent aspect of human society as there will always be social diversities. Politics involves expressing, advocating for, resolving, and altering disagreements. Therefore, in the new understanding of politics derived from various ideologies throughout history in Political Science field, it is freed from normative dimensions and redefined in empirical terms.

Consequently,it is not solely the study of the state and government but also examines power dynamics, its exercise,and the pursuit for its acquisition.

Michael Curtis argues that politics is concerned with the dispute and utilization of power, as well as making decisions between conflicting values, ideas, individuals, interests, and demands. The field of political science primarily aims to describe and analyze the acquisition, exercise, and regulation of power. It also investigates the objectives for which power is employed, the process of decision-making, factors influencing decisions, and the overall context in which they occur. Consequently, there has been a significant shift within Political Science from studying the state to examining power.

The expansion of inquiry has widened the scope of political analysis, making it more grounded in reality. This expansion has rescued Politics from its narrow focus on formality and institutionalism, which define the discipline as the science of the state. According to N. P. Guild and K. T. Palmer, this shift offers two primary benefits. The first advantage of the concept of power is that it directs attention towards a dynamic process rather than a legal abstraction such as the state. Consequently, Political Science becomes the study of how power is acquired, employed, and managed in contemporary society.

Consequently, political science encompasses both formal and informal processes involved in government (U. Sharma & S. K. Sharma, 04). Another advantage of focusing on power as the central concept is that it highlights the importance of individuals, particularly the political man, as a fundamental unit of analysis. According to Jellinek, political science’s task is to study the fundamental relationships of public powers, including the conditions under which they manifest, their goals, and their impact, as well as to examine the inherent nature of the state. Willoughby states that the science of politics strives for an accurate description and classification of political institutions, as well as a precise understanding of the forces that create and control them. On the other hand, the art of politics aims to determine the principles necessary for efficient operation of political institutions. Janet defines politics as a subset of social science that deals with the foundations of the state and principles of government. Gareis views political science as considering the state as an institution of power (Machtwesan), encompassing its various relationships, origin, geographic location, demographics, objectives, ethical significance, economic challenges, living conditions, financial aspects, and ultimate purpose (Gareis).According to Seely, Political Science looks into the government’s phenomena, just as political economy deals with wealth, biology with life, algebra with numbers, and geometry with space and magnitude. (U. Sharma & S. K. Sharma, 04-05)

The traditional view of political science considers it as a field of knowledge that pertains to the study of state and government. On the other hand, the modern view identifies political science with ‘politics’ and places more emphasis on the latter. The main focus of political science is the concept of ‘power’ which plays a significant role in various levels of struggles involving individuals and their groups, whether it is at a local, regional, national, or international level.

Hence, Lasswell and Kaplan define politics as the ‘study of the shaping and sharing of power.’ (XIV) To conclude, Political Science is a science of state. It is a branch of social sciences dealing with the theory, organization, government, and practice of the state. To quote Garner: “In short Political Science begins and ends with the state. In a general way, its fundamental include, first, an investigation of the origin and nature of the state; second, an inquiry into the nature, history, and forms political institutions; third, a deduction therefrom, so far possible, of the laws of Political growth and development.”

Works Cited Sharma Urmila and Sharma S. K. Principles And Theory In Political Science. New Delhi: Atlantic Publishers, 2007. Gilchrist R. N. Principles of Political Science. Bombay: Longmans, Green and Co., 1975. Miller J. D. B. The Nature of Politics. London: Gerald Duckworth & Co. Ltd., 1965. Lasswell H. D. and Kaplan A. Power and Society. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1952.

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Theories on the Nature of State | Essay | Theories | Political Science

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Here is a compilation of essays on the ‘Nature of State’ for class 11 and 12. Find paragraphs, long and short essays on the ‘Nature of State’ especially written for school and college students.

Theories on the Nature of State

Essay Contents:

Essay on the Marxician Theory

Essay # 1. The Organic Theory:

The nature of the state is to be gleaned from the organic theory which compares the state to a biological organism. The state is likened with a living being. The relation between the state and the individuals is one of the biological organism and its different cells.

The state is not a composition of its people but an organism having parts and organs which are related to one another as the different organs of an animal arc related to one another.

The earliest political thinker who propounded the theory compared the state to “A” and the individuals to “a” and he called the state as an individual magnified. According to Plato, the rulers stood for wisdom, warriors represented courage, and the working class symbolised appetite.

The other Greek philosopher who believed in this organic theory was Aristotle who drew an analogy between the state and the human body. Among the Roman thinkers was Cicero who shared the view of organism as a nature of the state. He found a parallelism between the head of the state and the spirit that rules the body.

The English thinker Thomas Hobbes compared the state to a huge monster called the Leviathan. This artificial being was of great strength and stature. Hobbes went to the extent of asserting that like human beings suffering from plague, fever and injury, the Leviathanis also subject to similar ailments.

The French philosopher Rousseau drew a comparison between the body-politic and human body. As the state has got legislative power, the human body has “will”. The German thinker J. K. Bluntschli considered the state as a live mechanism.

The state has both life and spirit. The state is not a mere building to have only bricks and mortars. It is something more. Similarly, the state has its own identity which is independent of the individuals comprising it.

Criticism of the Organic Theory:

The comparison of the state to a living organism is erroneous and open to serious objections.

The Organic Theory as a nature of the state is attacked on the following grounds:

First, the theory gives rise to the assumption that the individuals who comprise the state are completely subordinated to the state in the same way as the cells of the body for their existence solely depend on the organism as if the individuals if separated from the state will have no existence. But the individuals in the state are independent of it and may survive even by separation from the state. So this theory is a misleading one.

Secondly, by giving no importance to the individuals as independent or self-conscious units this theory runs counter to democracy and liberty.

Thirdly, the theory erroneously gives the impression that the state is a biological unit. In reality the unity in the state is social and psychological.

Fourthly, the theory – by considering the state as one of biological nature – demolishes the social contract theory, according to which the state is a human institution. Thus the organic theory has completely wiped away the human aspect of the state.

We may safely conclude with the words of J. W. Garner:

“The Organismic Theory of the state is neither a satisfactory explanation of the nature of the state nor a trustworthy guide to state activity.”

Value of the Organic Theory:

According to R. G. Gettell, the summum bonum of this theory is that it is the antidote to the eighteenth century social contract theory which considers the state as an artificial creation of man.

Essay # 2. Sir Herbert Spencer’s Theory:

We have just analysed the concept of the organic theory as handed down to us from the different political scientists, right from Plato to J. K. Bluntschli. But none gave a detailed analysis of the affinity between the state and the living organism. This was done for the first time by Sir Herbert Spencer.

He is the most important political thinker as the exponent of the organic theory of the state. He drew close similarities between the state and animal organism. This merits a detailed study:

I. The process of growth of the state is like that of an organism. Both start from simplicity to complexity. A foetus in the womb of the mother is just a lump of flesh. It develops into a baby with all organs of human being. It’s inside story comes to an end when the mother gives birth to the baby.

Same is the case with the state. In the beginning, the state was a primitive and crude institution which gradually grew into the modern complex organisation. Both the state and the human body have internal and external growth by adjustment and cooperation from outside.

II. Like an organism, the state has also three main systems, namely a sustaining system, a distributor system and a regulating system. Like the sustaining system of an organism – which is in actuality the digestive system by which the body sustains its continuity by the process of digestion of food – the state has also its sustaining system by the process of agriculture and industries. Like the circulating system – by which blood is circulated throughout the body – there is a corresponding circulating system in the state by the process of transport and communication.

If the nerves and brains are the regulating system of the animal-body, the government and the army and the police are the regulating system of the state. Thus there is a close affinity between the organism and the state.

III. While the organism is composed of cells, the state is composed of the individuals. In both cases the whole depends upon the component units.

IV. The well-being of the organism depends on the condition of the cells composing the body. So also the health of the state depends on the health of the different cells. If the cells are diseased, the body is bound to be diseased. Similarly, if the citizens are not well-disciplined, intelligent and law-abiding, the state cannot progress.

V. Like the cells of any organism are subject to the process of decay and death, so also the individuals in the state attain old age and die. When a cell dies, a new cell comes in its place. The same is the case in the case of the old and dead individuals, after which new individuals are born to take their place.

It is not that the organism and the state are similar or alike in all respects. There are some points of difference between the two.

Even Herbert Spencer admits of these dissimilarities as mentioned below:

(i) While organism is concrete, the state is discrete. By drawing an analogy between organism and the state one is led to believe that – like the cells are closely interconnected with the organism – the individuals are also so with regard to the state. It is common knowledge that the individuals in the state are independent of each other and they are never cobbled together to form a single whole.

(ii) In, the organism it is the brain and nerve that singularly control all the parts. But there is no central brain or nerve to control the affairs of the state. In the state every individual has his own independent consciousness and thinking.

(iii) While the organism has its birth, growth, decay and death, this is not the case with the state. A state is permanent and knows no death.

(iv) The organism and its cells are inter-dependent. A cell will die without the organ. The individuals, on the other hand, will not die if they leave the state. They can live in some other state.

(v) For its growth the organism need not exert its own will. It grows as a law of nature. But the state cannot grow without its own volition. Since the state is a human institution it can grow only by human will and action.

(vi) The controlling power of the organism over its cells goes on increasing with the growth of the organism. But the controlling power goes on the reverse gear with the growth of the state. It ceases more and more controlling power as the state grows from stage to stage.

(vii) The origin of an organism is by union of male and female beings. This is never the case with the state.

Criticism of the Theory:

Lastly, by making the state all-in-all and by relegating the individuals to insignificance, this theory indirectly makes the state rather totalitarian and leads to the idea of the establishment of a totalitarian state like Fascism in Italy and Nazism in Germany. So the theory is a dangerous one. Thus we have to discard the organic theory as totally unacceptable. We may safely conclude with the words of J. W. Garner: “The Organismic Theory of the state is neither a satisfactory explanation of the nature of the state nor a trustworthy guide to state activity.”

Value of the Theory:

Even the darkest cloud has its silver lining. So we find some utility of the organic theory. It underlines the importance of the unity of the state and at the same time insists on the interdependence of its individuals. Again, it emphasises the evolutionary nature of the state by stressing upon the growth and changes in the state. According to R. G. Gettell, the summum bonum of this theory is that it is the antidote to the eighteenth century social contract theory which considers the state as an artificial creation of man.

Essay # 3. The Idealist Theory:

Origin of the idealist theory:.

The Idealist Theory came into prominence through the writings of the German philosophers Friedrich Hegel and Immanuel Kant.

The English philosophers like Thomas Hill Green and Bernard Bosanquet developed this theory which is also known as the Absolute Theory, Philosophical Theory, Metaphysical Theory and Mystical Theory.

But the most common nomenclature of this theory is the Idealist Theory because its central theme is to idealize and glorify the state. It is called the absolute theory since it encourages an omnipotent or totalitarian state where the individual has no voice.

The philosophical nature of the theory is responsible to call it the philosophical theory. The naming metaphysical and mystical theory is due to the profusion of abstract and unrealistic approach.

Genesis of the Idealist Theory:

The idealist theory proceeds with the assumption that the state is a moral institution or an ethical organism which has a will and personality of its own. The state is the embodiment of God on earth and the state progresses from strength to strength as if it is the march of God in history.

Since the laws emanate from the state, these should be taken as moral perfection of the state. So the laws are to be considered as “true moral consciousness” . Obedience to the state will be the obedience of the best self of man.

The moral personality of man will grow in external actions by unqualified support to the state. Man’s right and liberty can exist only if there is the state. In a word, for the fullest expression of the personality of the individual the most indispensable thing is the state. The state alone can provide his “station” and “duty” in the state.

According to the idealists, an individual cannot have rights, he will have only duties, because he will have no place outside the society which is personified by the state. So it is by unflinching obedience of the laws of the state that the individual can attain his moral perfection. The state is the end and the individual is only a means. The state stands for “social morality” of all its individuals.

Thus the state is an institution having a social and moral organism. It is for the state to decide what is moral and what is immoral and as such the state alone is competent to tie the individuals to the chariot-wheels of its own moral code of conduct. The state is absolute, infallible and the symbol of the national will.

The state is omnipotent and omnicompetent and has the authority which is divine in character. The state is equal to God. So the God-state cannot do any wrong. The state is the embodiment of the society, social consciousness and God.

Chief Exponents of the Idealist Theory:

As the nature of the state, the idealist theory is more important than the organic theory. Tins theory was in vogue all over the ages. It is as old as the days of ancient Greece of the time of Plato. According to Plato, the state stood for the society and through the state alone an individual is capable of realising the highest ideal.

Aristotle too glorified the state which, being a self-sufficient institution, was capable of providing highest good to the individual. The state is a perpetual organisation and it continues for the sake of good life. For Aristotle, the state is not a more political and economic institution but a moral association where man strives for a moral life. Man cannot live only by food, cloth’s and shelter.

He seeks also a life of reason and goodness through the state. In modern age, the theory found staunch supporters in Germany and England. Immanuel Kant, Friedrich Hegel, Neitzsche, Bernhardt and Treitschke of Germany and Thomas Green, Bernard Bosanquet and Francis Herbert Bradley of England were the chief exponents of the idealist theory.

According to Kant, who got his inspirations from C. Montesquieue and Jean-Jacques Rousseau, the state is infallible and omnipotent. The individual has no option but to obey the will of the state. Liberty of the individuals must be equated to the obedience of the laws of the state.

The other German thinker Hegel glorified and deified the state which stood for the collective will of all. Liberty of the individual lay in the obedience of all the laws of the slate which has a personality of its own with an independent frame of mind.

It will be a moral sin to disobey the state. Hegel was the champion of the establishment of totalitarian state which alone was capable of tightening its utmost control over the individuals. The other political thinkers who are associated with the idealist theory are Neitzsche, John Bernhardt and Treitschke who elevated the state to an extreme height.

They tightened the screw upon the individuals with the words- “The state is power, fall down and worship it”.

The pith and substance of the idealist theory are Neitzsche, John Bernhardt and Treitschke who elevated the state to an extreme height.

The pith and substance of the idealist theory is best couched in the words of Hegel- “The state is an entity over and above the people who compose it with a real will and personality of its own.”

In England the most shining advocates of this theory were Thomas Hill Green and Bernard Bosanquet. The English idealists differed from their German counterparts by slackening the rigour of their German school. The extreme idealism of Kant and Hegel were subdued in the hands of Green and Bosanquet by putting certain limitation on the authority of the state.

They did not admit that the state is omnipotent and absolute transcending and including the personalities of the individuals. Bradley was the other English idealist who did not accept the extreme form of idealism as propounded by the German philosophers.

Criticisms of the Idealist Theory:

The idealist theory as the nature of the state cannot be accepted.

The following are the jarring criticisms, to which the theory is subjected:

First, the theory is devoid of reality and is purely an abstract and metaphysical one. This notion, which has no nexus to the realities of life is simply to be ignored.

According to William James, it is “a rationalistic philosophy that indeed may call itself religious, but that keeps out all definite touch with concrete facts, joys and sorrows” .

Secondly, idealising the state is a tactic of conservatism. The theorist of this doctrine idealised the stark realities. So we find Aristotle idealising slavery, Kant and Hegel glorifying war and brute force and Green idealising private property and so on.

Thirdly, the idealist theory obliterates the distinction between the state and the government by confusing the functions of the government with those of the state. The stat and the government might be the same in ancient Greek city-states which were very small. But modern states are very wide and the government is a microscopic unit of it. In modern states the government does not include the population.

Fourthly, the theory wrongly considers the state as a person. No doubt, the state consists of a vast number of persons. It does not mean that the state itself is a person. It is the same mistake as confusing the college with the students or confusing the footpath with the pedestrians.

Fifthly, the theory makes the mistake of considering the individuals existing for the well-being of the state, while the correct position is that the state exists for the well-being of the individuals.

Sixthly, the theory is opposed to democracy and liberty and contains the portent of totalitarianism. The total subjugation of the individuals’ independent personality and will and by exceedingly raising the status of the state as infallible, and all-pervasive there is the danger of making the state as dictatorial and totalitarian as the Fascist regime in Italy and the Nazi regime in Germany.

Value of the Idealist Theory:

The following are some of the cardinal plus points of the idealist theory:

In the first place, the theory is a happy blending of politics and ethics. The institution of the state stands on moral legs. It corrects the defects inherent in the Machiavellian conception of the state, according to which the state has nothing to do with morality and it must be as clever as the fox.

It is common knowledge that Machiavellianism is a discarded theory. On the other hand, there is a greater advantage in making the state based on or at least consistent with morality. The idealistic theory goes to support Mahatma Gandhi’s saying- “Politics divorced from ethics is a farce.”

In the second place, the theory is good because it emphasises the need of cohesion between different individuals and also different associations as if they are members of the same whole under the supervision of the state. It brings the lesson of obedience and encourages the individuals to cultivate the habit of “live and let others live” which is essential in a state.

In the third place, the theory underlines the fact that the state is the source of all laws and its violation will compel the state to take to a tougher line like using force against the law-breakers. So this theory is disciplinary in nature.

Lastly, the theory keeps before it some ideal which may not exist in reality but must be the path-finders for all states. All ideas are dynamic and need not be static. What is important is that without some ideal we may not attain the fruits of civilisation.

Essay # 4. Marxician Theory:

The Marxists give us a quite different picture about the nature of the state. The Marxists think that the state has been created to protect the interest of the most dominant class that controls over the means of production. It has not been created for maintaining law and order in the society as it is the common belief about the nature of the state.

It is created with the class’ struggle and it will vanish away with the class struggle.

To say in the words of Fredrich Engels:

“The state is, as a rule, the state of the most powerful, economically dominant class which, through the medium of the state, becomes also the politically dominant class and thus acquires new means of holding down and exploiting the oppressed class. Thus the state of antiquity was above all the state of slave-owners for the purpose of holding down the slaves, as the feudal state was the organ of the nobility for holding down the peasants, serfs and bondsmen, and the modern representative state is the instrument of exploitation of wage labour by capital.”

Thus the state is an organisation of the possessing class to protect itself from the non-possessing class.

So V. G. Afanasyev wrote in his book Marxist Philosophy- “ The state is a product of class society. It arose with the appearance of classes and it will vanish, wither away, with the disappearance of the classes.” Thus the state is a condition of class exploitation.

Unlike the conventional nature of the state, the Marxician theory is that the state is an instrument of a particular class and it exists for the benefit of only a section of the society.

The second nature of the state is that it is not natural but a creation of man, i.e., a human institution.

The third nature of the state is that force is the basis of the state.

The fourth character of the state is that it is a part of the superstructure that grows upon the productive forces.

The fifth habit of the state is that the laws of the state are the wills of the dominant class in the society to protect their own interest against the oppressed ones.

Last but not the least, the institutions of the state function like a machine to crush and repress the exploited lot.

In his book The Marxist Theory of the Slate, H. M. Chang considers the following as the basic elements in the nature of the state:

(i) The state makes a division of its members by way of territories;

(ii) Force is the essence of the state;

(iii) The state has a right of imposing taxes and sign contracts for public debt;

(iv) The officialdom of the state consists of an elite privileged class.

The Communist Manifesto give, out the following as the nature of the state:

(i) The state is the executive of the bourgeois class;

(ii) The state is the instrument of oppression and exploitation by the dominant class over the other class, the dominant class being one which controls the means of production;

(iv) The state is a superstructure created by the possessing class;

(v) The state is transitory. It is born with the class and it will die with the class.

Criticism of the Marxician Theory of the Nature of State:

It is not possible to accept the theory that state represents the oppression of the most dominant class that holds control of the means of production. As a matter of fact, the state is a symbol of the welfare of the entire people.

It is a harsh proposal that the state is concerned with the protection of the interest of the dominant class, far less that it will die with the death of the dominant class. The state is permanent, the context between the classes, if any, must be very temporary. Thus the Marxists have painted a narrow and shallow image of the state. This view is unreasonable and so unacceptable.

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Review Article
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Published: 22 August 2024

Geopolitics and energy security: a comprehensive exploration of evolution, collaborations, and future directions

Qiang Wang ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-8751-8093 1 , 2 ,
Fen Ren 2 &
Rongrong Li 1 , 2

Humanities and Social Sciences Communications volume 11 , Article number: 1071 ( 2024 ) Cite this article

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Development studies
Environmental studies
Politics and international relations

The intersection of geopolitics and energy security is a critical area of study that has garnered increasing interest from scholars around the globe. This paper employs bibliometric theory and methodologies to explore the research trajectory concerning the influence of geopolitical dynamics on energy security. Our findings, derived from both quantitative and qualitative analysis of relevant literature, reveal several key insights. Firstly, there is a notable upward trend in publications on this topic, reflecting a widespread recognition of the intricate link between geopolitics and energy security. This growing body of research aligns with the exponential growth law observed in scientific literature, showcasing a novel pattern of geographical distribution centered around energy issues. Secondly, an examination of collaboration networks at the national, institutional, and individual levels identifies China as the leading country in terms of research partnerships, positioning Chinese institutions and scholars at the forefront of this field. Lastly, our analysis delineates the research evolution within this domain through three distinct phases—pre-, mid-, and post-development stages. It highlights the shifting focus of global researchers towards the energy transition process, energy policy formulation, the stability of energy markets, and the environmental impacts of energy production and consumption. This study not only maps the current landscape of research on geopolitics and energy security but also signals the critical areas of interest and collaboration that shape this vital field of inquiry.

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Introduction.

Energy, as a productive resource, is essential to ensuring the productive lives of the country’s citizens, it is also a strategic and politically attributed resource and plays an important role in ensuring national security and socio-economic stability (Yang et al., 2022 ). As the world’s industrialization process accelerates, technological advances and industrial expansion continue to drive social development, the extensive demand for energy resources has triggered global concerns about energy security. The concept of energy security is initially concerned with ensuring an uninterrupted and reliable supply of energy to meet a country’s or region’s production needs. However, despite the importance of this issue, there is still no consensus among academics on a definition of energy security. This is because the concept depends on the contextual background and the different national settings (Kruyt et al., 2009 ). The scope of energy security is not limited to energy supply but also encompasses the stability of energy markets, the connectivity of global energy supply chains, and the sustainability of energy resources. Energy security is of paramount importance to the economic stability and growth of countries and regions. A stable energy supply is the foundation for sustaining industrial production, transportation, and daily life. Any disruption in energy supply or sharp price fluctuations will result in higher production costs and increased inflation, thereby affecting economic growth and social stability. In addition, energy security is an important component of national security. Disruptions or shortfalls in energy supplies can lead to social unrest and affect national security (Sivaram and Saha, 2018 ). Therefore, energy security is the key to sustaining economic growth, ensuring political stability, and promoting social well-being (Lee et al., 2022 ). The factors affecting energy security are multifaceted, among which the impact of geopolitical risks on energy security cannot be ignored. Geopolitics is defined as the risks associated with war, terrorism, and inter-State tensions that affects the normalization of international relations and the peace process (Lee and Wang, 2021 ). First of all, the political stability of energy-supplying countries has a direct impact on the reliability of their energy exports. Factors such as political instability, civil unrest, and war can lead to disruptions in energy production and transportation, thus threatening the stability of the global energy supply chain. For instance, instances of political unrest and conflict in the Middle East frequently resulted in disruptions to the oil supply, which in turn gave rise to pronounced fluctuations in the price of oil on the international market (Ben Cheikh and Ben Zaied, 2023 ). The ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine has also resulted in significant fluctuations in the prices of oil and gas (Zhao et al., 2023 ). Secondly, the establishment and maintenance of diplomatic relations between countries also have a significant impact on energy security. International sanctions, trade disputes, and diplomatic conflicts may restrict energy imports or exports, thereby exposing countries that are dependent on imported energy to the risk of supply shortages and price increases (Zhang et al., 2024 ). The relationship between Russia and the West served as an illustrative example of the manner in which geopolitical tensions can give rise to increased uncertainty regarding the supply of gas, which in turn affected Europe’s energy security (Slakaityte et al., 2023 ). In addition, geopolitical risks include the security of energy transportation corridors, such as security threats to maritime transportation routes (Desogus et al., 2023 ). A significant disruption to the global energy market would result from the threat or actual blocking of important transportation corridors, such as the Strait of Hormuz or the Strait of Malacca (Meza et al., 2022 ). Furthermore, in the global transition to renewable energy, the deployment of renewable energy is also influenced by geopolitical risks. Countries experiencing geopolitical turmoil exhibited lower levels of domestic consumption and reduced government investment in renewable energy-related infrastructure and technology (Alsagr and van Hemmen, 2021 ). Despite research suggesting that geopolitics contributes to the deployment of renewable energy competition for fossil energy sources, such as oil, leads countries to seek out alternative energy sources (Ben Cheikh and Ben Zaied, 2023 ). The intrinsic link between geopolitics and energy security needs to be urgently addressed as countries grapple with the complexities of conserving energy resources in an environment of uncertainty.

Researches on geopolitical risk and energy security in global studies are multifaceted, and most studies used different empirical methods to shed light on the complex relationship between them. Using panel GMM and VAR models, Bin Zhang et al. empirically analyzed the impact of geopolitical risk on China’s energy security from 1994 to 2021. Their findings explained the dynamic relationship between geopolitical risk and energy security, geopolitical risk didn’t necessarily harm energy security and confirmed the existence of a bidirectional causal relationship between the two. In this context, the establishment of stable and fluid international relations was essential for the maintenance of national energy security (Zhang et al., 2023a ). Similarly, in a recent study, Chien-Chiang Lee et al. also identified a two-way impact of geopolitical risk on energy security (Lee et al., 2024 ). Khalid Khan et al. investigated the causal relationship between geopolitical risk and energy security using a full-sample analysis of time series. They assessed the interaction between the two in the time dimension in conjunction with graphs of changes in geopolitical risk indicators, demonstrating that geopolitical risk was inextricably linked to energy security (Khan et al., 2023 ). Geotao Hu et al. used the natural discontinuity grading method to classify 102 countries around the world into energy security levels and studied the game relationship between energy security and geopolitical risk, and their study revealed the focus of the game between them (Hu et al., 2022 ). Indra Overland et al. addressed the geopolitical impacts that countries around the globe were likely to experience as a result of their energy transitions, proposing indicators to measure the geopolitical gains or losses of countries after the transition, and predicting the geopolitical impacts of countries after they have realized their energy transitions (Overland et al., 2019 ). Since the emergence of the topic of energy security and geopolitics, a considerable number of research studies have been conducted, and the number of literature reviews synthesizing the research findings has gradually increased. Early in the publication, Benjamin K. Sovacool et al. discussed definitions and metrics for energy security (Sovacool and Mukherjee, 2011 ). And definitions, dimensions, and metrics of energy security were examined by B.W. Ang et al. Their study identified 83 definitions of energy security that have emerged from previous literature as well as seven major themes in the field of energy security, which need to be further constructed to provide an in-depth measure of energy security (Ang et al., 2015 ), similarly, Abdelrahman Azzuni and colleagues conducted a comprehensive review of the literature on the definition and dimensions of energy security. Their analysis identified and categorized 15 distinct dimensions and related parameters of energy security (Azzuni and Breyer, 2018 ). C.J. Axon and colleagues approached the subject from the standpoint of sustainability versus risk in their examination of the role of risk in energy security assessments (Axon and Darton, 2021 ), Mathieu Blondeel et al. attempted to consider the energy system transition through a “whole-system” perspective, encompassing both the “high-carbon energy transition” and the “low-carbon energy transition”. They also addressed geopolitical considerations pertinent to the energy system transition (Blondeel et al., 2021 ). The findings of research on the two subjects failed to yield consistent results. The current research lacks a structural understanding of the overall research topic. The research sub-directions are diverse and dynamic, and it is not possible to grasp the future direction of research and the emerging trends. Therefore, it is crucial to grasp the main lines of this research direction among the many studies and to reveal the focus between the different studies, this requires a systematic review of published scholarly work using a comprehensive study. The bibliometric approach is based precisely on the cross-citation relationships between literature, through emergence detection, spectral clustering, and other techniques, the conceptual trends, thematic evolution, and future development trends of the research field can be further analyzed and the pioneering achievements and key research groups in the research field can be objectively identified. Academic papers are scarce in the subject area that use bibliometric methods to explore hotspot preambles, Wei Zhou et al. conducted a bibliometric analysis of publications on energy security from 2000 to 2017, and their findings revealed the composition of research at the time, identified early features of research in the field, and suggested future research directions (Zhou et al., 2018 ). In a recent study, Yuyan Jiang and colleagues employed data from 2005 to 2023 to ascertain the present state and projected trajectory of recent research in the field of energy security (Jiang and Liu, 2023 ). Their study critically examined the content structure of scholarly publications on energy security over the timeframe of their research, and although energy security often appeared alongside geopolitical risk, their study didn’t explicitly include geopolitical risk in the framework of their research, but evaluating scholarly movements following the linkage between the two. Therefore, our research employed a systematic methodological paradigm aimed at comprehensively integrating and analyzing scientific publications related to energy security and geopolitics. It was not limited to traditional bibliometric analysis, but the systematic integration and analysis of a large amount of literature through data retrieval and deep text mining techniques. Specifically, the innovations and contributions of this study are as follows. Firstly, we collected and organized scientific publications on energy security and geopolitics globally, establishing a sample literature database closely related to the research topic. Based on this sample database, we conducted a compositional analysis of the research content in this field, deeply exploring the level of scientific contributions of different research subjects (such as academic institutions, countries, research teams, etc.). This analysis revealed the research focus and academic influence of each subject in this field. Secondly, we conducted a detailed analysis of topic flows and citation networks in the literature through the use of advanced text mining and topic modeling techniques. This analysis revealed important knowledge sources and core literature within the field of energy security and geopolitics, as well as demonstrating the process of knowledge iteration. By analyzing current research trends and the dynamic changes in the citation network, it is possible to scientifically foresee the new research directions and hot issues that may emerge in the field, which provides a reference for academics and policymakers and helps to guide future research and policy development.

The remaining parts of this study are organized as follows. Section “Research method” and section “Research design” provide the research methodology and research framework of the study, which focuse on the theories used in the study along with the important steps of the study. Section “Results” analyzes the results of the study, and Section “Conclusions, implications, and limitations” summarizes the full text, pointing out the shortcomings of the study and making suggestions for future research.

Research method

Bibliometrics.

Bibliometrics is a comprehensive analytical technique that combines various disciplines such as statistics, informatics, and mathematics (Andrade-Valbuena et al., 2019 ), and it has been widely used to assess the social and intellectual roots of disciplines (Wang et al., 2021 ). It has been argued that, if used properly, bibliometrics can determine research funding allocations, set research priorities, map scientific developments, and reward performance. Lotka’s Law, Bradford’s Law, Zipf’s Law, Price’s Law, the law of literature aging, and the law of literature citation laid the theoretical foundations for the bibliometric development (Venable et al., 2014 ). This study mainly applied the six basic laws of Price’s Law, Lotka’s Law, and Bradford’s Law to explore trends in literature growth, core author productivity, and core journals in the field.

Performance analysis

Performance analysis in bibliometric research examines the important contribution of research components to the field of study (Donthu et al., 2021 ). Performance evaluation of individuals, institutions, and countries by counting the number of publications owned by different subjects. The number of publications measures scientific productivity, and a high number of publications maps to high scientific productivity (Caputo et al., 2021 ). Furthermore, to assess the quality of publications, the total number of citations received by a publication is employed as a measurement indicator. Publications with a high number of citations are deemed to be widely recognized within the industry and to exert a considerable influence. This study first summarized the publication production patterns of geopolitical studies on energy security by calculating the annual distribution of publication levels and predicting the growth trajectory of future publications, then followed by computational analysis of trends in the geographical distribution of national publications, institutional publications and authors’ publications, evaluating the research contributions to the field from macro, meso, and micro perspectives.

Collaborative network analysis

Collaborative research is an important form of scientific research, a behavioral activity undertaken by researchers to achieve the goal of producing new scientific knowledge, it facilitates cross-fertilization of different disciplines and promotes the generation and development of new knowledge (Lee and Bozeman, 2016 ). Collaborative research is usually presented in the form of co-authored papers, where researchers affiliates with different countries and institutions work together to produce knowledge (He et al., 2021 ). Scientific collaboration enhances the quality of research outputs, as evidenced by studies indicating that collaborative publications are cited more often than those created alone, especially for highly internationalized research papers (Adams et al., 2018 ; Gorraiz et al., 2012 ). In other words, a research paper will be more widely recognized in the field if it is co-authored by multiple countries and multiple authors. This study examined the structure of research based on the static attributes of the research scholars, which reflected the identity attributes of the researchers within the academic field, including the researchers’ institutions and countries (Liu et al., 2024 ). Consequently, both national and institutional collaboration are founded upon the basis of author collaboration, which represents the most fundamental unit of collaboration. The visualization of collaboration between research scholars, research institutions, or countries is presented through the collaboration network. Collaborative network is an undirected network used to describe inter-subjective collaborative relationships and patterns based on collaboration conducted by different researchers, nodes in a network represent research individuals, such as nodes in a country collaboration network represent country attributes. Node size represents the number of publications, and the connecting lines of the nodes usually indicate the collaboration between different subjects, and the thickness of the connecting lines correspondingly indicates the intensity of collaboration, if the collaboration between two subjects is more frequent, then it is represented as a thicker connecting line (Jin et al., 2020 ). The process by which scientific research collaboration is formed is illustrated in Fig. 1 .

This figure shows the process of collaboration formation: on the far left is the number of authors in the article, followed by the authors’ affiliations, then followed by a collaboration matrix based on the authors’ collaborations in the article, and on the far right is the collaboration network based on the matrix.

This study mapped country collaborative networks, institutional collaborative networks, and author collaborative networks to explore whether differences in geographic location played a role in international collaborative behavior, as well as to reveal the number and characteristics of institutional and author collaborative groups in the area.

Keywords analysis

In bibliometric studies, article keywords are often used to identify the main research and hot topics, for keywords are important textual elements that summarize the main research content of a scholarly publication (Li et al., 2016 ), the frequency of occurrence of a keyword reflects the importance of the word in the text, high-frequency keywords often represent important topics. The distance between keywords reflects the relevance of different keywords, with higher-relevance keywords clustered closer to each other and forming keyword clusters (Huang et al., 2019 ). Different clusters of keywords map different topics in the research field. Therefore, to identify the distribution of core themes in the study of geopolitical impacts on energy security and their evolutionary paths, we used the keyword co-occurrence method to analyze the co-occurrence of keywords from all the collected literature and explored the resulting keyword clusters in depth to identify future research directions and research focus in the field.

Science mapping analysis

Data visualization can intuitively express important node information such as group structure in a network, and is an important characterization method for processing large amounts of data. VOSviewer provides visualization of the similarity of node distances, allows users to create networks of countries, institutions, and author collaborations, and provides three network graph representations: clustering view, time view, and density view (van Eck and Waltman, 2010 ), and it can handle large amounts of literature data (Van Eck and Waltman, 2007 ). In this study, we used VOSviewer to map collaborative network, literature citation network, and keyword co-occurrence network, during the threshold setting process, we chose the full-count method, in which a paper co-authored by two subjects is attributed to each author in the paper, and the smallest unit in the network was also set to be 1, which can fully demonstrate the structure of knowledge collaboration and actors in the research field of this topic, and then clustering view and temporal view of collaborative network were formed. Gephi was used to map the performance networks of institutions and journals, it offers several layout methods to display network graphs according to their weights (Bastian et al., 2009 ). In addition, we used a bibliometric package in the Rstudio programming (Aria and Cuccurullo, 2017 ) to obtain accurate information on the distribution of literature. Also, the statistical analysis of this study was calculated by Microsoft Excel.

Research design

Data sources and processing.

In this study, the basic bibliographic information was obtained from the core collection of the Web of Science (WOS), Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Social Science Citation Index (SSCI), Arts and Humanities Citation Index (AHCI), Conference Proceedings Citation Index (CPCI-S), and Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI) are included in the core collection, which is widely used in bibliometric studies. The definition of energy security is of great importance in identifying search terms, as it delineates the crucial aspects of energy security and its scope. However, the definition of energy security is context-dependent and subject-dependent and has not yet resulted in a concept that is uniformly used in the industry (Kruyt et al., 2009 ). The historical definitions of energy security have initially focused on the stability of access to fossil fuels, particularly oil (Strojny et al., 2023 ). The increased use of natural gas and other fuels, such as coal, has also expanded the scope of energy security. The distribution of fossil fuels has led to the gradual inclusion of economic attributes in the attributes of energy security, as oil has become a globally traded commodity (Jenny, 2007 ; Wang et al., 2022 ). Energy prices, energy trade, and the stability of energy markets all play a crucial role in energy security. Secondly, the energy trading process is susceptible to the risk of supply chain disruptions due to the inherent vulnerability of energy supply chains to transportation risks, particularly given the considerable distances over which energy is transported (Scheepers et al., 2006 ; Spanjer, 2007 ). Security of energy supply has also become an important part of energy security concerns. Finally, in the process of energy transition, the transition from fossil energy to clean energy requires ensuring the stability and continuity of clean energy supply. At the same time, based on geopolitical considerations of energy security, energy cooperation may be effective in minimizing geopolitical conflicts due to the competition for energy resources and in ensuring the security of energy supply. Accordingly, the selection of keywords in this section was comprehensive and aligned with the fundamental elements of the conceptual framework of energy security, including “energy security”, “energy risks”, “energy supply risks”, “energy cooperation”, “energy transition”, “energy transportation”, “energy markets”, “energy price”, “energy trade” as search keywords. Subsequently, we broke down the term “energy” in “energy security” according to the nature of the energy source, subdividing it into “coal”, “oil”, “natural gas”, “electricity”, “wind”, “nuclear”, “water energy”, while adding “renewable energy” and “clean energy” on this basis. The combination of these two subsections of keywords constituted a searchable formula for the retrieval of academic results that were closely related to the topic of “energy security”. The second section concerned subject words related to geopolitical risk, as investigated by Jiangli Yu and Ahmet Faruk Aysan et al. (Aysan et al., 2023 ; Yu et al., 2023 ), the keywords of geopolitical risk were set as “geopolitical risk”, “geopolitics”, “international conflict”, “international geopolitics”, and “geopolitics”. To retrieve data, the search field designated as “Topic” was utilized, which means a topic search is conducted within the article’s title, abstract, keywords, and keywords plus. Data was accessed on January 7, 2024, and the period was set to all years. To obtain a high-quality data source, we first restricted the publication types, conference papers, editorial materials, letters, notes, book chapters, and book review types of articles were excluded, and only articles and review articles were included in the study, followed by restricting the language to English. Then we analyzed the titles and abstracts of the retrieved papers, and in some cases, even the entire contents of some papers, to determine whether each paper focused on the topic. It’s worth mentioning that even though we tried to find the most relevant papers through the search strategy described above, there were still some irrelevant papers because different authors have their own styles to highlight their articles. Ultimately, we obtained 429 papers for the bibliometric analysis.

Research framework

The occurrence of geopolitical events has had a significant impact on global energy activities, economic trade, and cooperative exchanges. This study utilized data from literature titles included in the Web of Science core collection to examine the impact of geopolitical risk on energy security. Breaking away from the traditional method of organizing a literature review, this study provided an in-depth analysis of the impact of the presence of geopolitical risks on the research field of energy security in terms of the historical development of publications, the geographical distribution, the scientific collaboration, the evolution of the knowledge base and research hotspots in this research field.

The traditional literature review is a method of summarizing and evaluating the existing literature in a particular field of study. This is typically conducted by a researcher who selects, reads, and summarizes relevant literature based on their research experience and expertise (Cronin, 2011 ). Its purpose is to provide background information on a research topic, demonstrate the progress of research in the field, and identify major research findings, theoretical perspectives, and problems, thereby providing references and insights for further study (Li and Wang, 2018 ; Rozas and Klein, 2010 ). The absence of strict procedural constraints in a systematic and standardized process may result in the researcher’s subjective bias influencing the selection and evaluation of literature, thereby reducing the reliability and comprehensiveness of the results of the review. In contrast, the bibliometric method is founded upon the external characteristics and internal connections of the literature. It is based on a series of rigorous procedures for the inclusion and exclusion of literature, as well as general research steps, which are employed to study the temporal distribution, quantitative characteristics, and patterns of change of a given topic. It incorporates a greater quantity of literature, employing mathematical and statistical methods to analyze the research profile of a given topic at a macro level (Kirby, 2023 ). Furthermore, bibliometric offers a significant advantage in the analysis of citation relationships among literature, which is not feasible within a limited timeframe with a traditional literature review. The bibliometric builds citation-coupling networks, co-citation networks, collaborative networks, and co-occurrence networks in the literature, which can predict future research directions in the forward direction, analyze the knowledge base underlying the subject area in the backward direction, and dynamically present the thematic evolution of the research field, as well as identify outstanding contributors and important literature in a particular field (McBurney and Novak, 2002 ; Ninkov et al., 2022 ). In conclusion, the traditional literature review is concerned with the analysis of the research content and findings presented in the literature, to summarize and analyze previous research and identify future research directions. Instead, bibliometric is more concerned with the analysis of the distribution and change of research results in a given field. The research results in a certain field can be assessed regarding the number of research and citation relationships. This allows for the impact of academic research to be evaluated, the academic frontiers and hotspots to be discovered, and research management and decision-making to be facilitated. Therefore, this paper referred to the methodology of F. De Felice et al. using hierarchical analysis for the analysis and discussion of the bibliometric study (De Felice et al., 2018 ), specifically, structured modeling was carried out according to the following four steps:

First, identify the research objectives and the research questions to be addressed. During this stage, the research perspective was further focused on the field of energy security through extensive reading on the impact of geopolitical risks on global economic trade, energy activities, education, and scientific research cooperation.

Second, select the research methodology. By breaking down the research questions and research objectives, the appropriate research methodology was selected, along with the time and scope of the study.

Third, identify keywords and construct a search formula. In this stage, by discussing with experts and scholars and reading the basic research about the field, we extracted the representative key phrases of the research field, constructed the search formula, searched in the database, and de-weighted and cleaned the data.

Fourth, data visualization and analysis. After data collection and data cleaning, the data were calculated, and through various data visualization tools, the collected literature data were visually characterized and analyzed to visualize and understand the development trend, distribution range, and research status of the research field. The roadmap of the research conducted in this study is shown in Fig. 2 .

This figure depicts the research roadmap of this paper. The right side of the figure illustrates the research content of this paper while the left side depicts the research process corresponding to the research content of this paper.

Descriptive statistics of literature information

The basic information about the literature data used in this study is given in Table 1 . The study period runs from 2003 to 2023 and involves a total of 429 publications from 135 journals, with an average half-life of publications of 4.04 years, 19,847 references are cited in these publications. In addition, the author’s keywords and keywords plus used to conduct topic exploration are identified 1136 and 732 respectively, through which the article analyzed the main research trends in this research area. In publications studying the impact of geopolitics on energy security, 1001 authors are involved in the process of knowledge creation, of which 73 authors conducte their research independently.

Publication trend

Thomas Kuhn in The nature of scientific revolutions proposed that the process of scientific development is a “primitive science” to “conventional science” transformation, as well as the transition from one “conventional science” to another “conventional science” process. It was divided into several stages: the scientific development of the pre-scientific, conventional science, scientific crises, scientific revolutions and the new conventional science. The formation of a discipline has undergone a theoretical accumulation of the formation of the paradigm to the paradigm of paradigm change, and then produce a new paradigm of the process of the entire process of scientific development under the impetus of scientific revolutions, the entire scientific development process of the continuous cycle of development (Kuhn, 1970 ). Price’s proposed literature growth curve is consistent with Thomas Kuhn’s theory of scientific development, he believed that the growth of the literature shows a logical growth trend of the “S” curve, but the growth of the literature is not endless and will eventually stop at a certain K (Price, 1963 ). The mathematical expression for the theoretical model of the literature growth by the logistic curve is shown below:

where $F\left(t\right)$ is the literature accumulation for the year, $t$ is the time, $k$ is the literature accumulation when the time tends to infinity, and is the maximum value of the literature accumulation, and $a,{b}$ are the conditional parameters.

To examine trends and forecast future developments in the growth of publications related to geopolitics and energy security, and to test whether the growth of the literature in this area conforms to a logistic growth curve, we fit a logistic to the annual cumulative publications. The trend in annual cumulative publication growth was first fitted using Excel, and it was found that the cumulative literature was optimally fitted according to the exponential, which got ${R}^{2}=0.9873$ . Subsequently, according to the curve trend to take k = 90,000, to determine $a=1.9$ when the most consistent with the cumulative curve, at this time to get $b=0.2576$ , and ultimately got the logistic growth curve as shown in Fig. 3 , the cumulative annual growth in the number of publications in the field of research in line with $y=1.9{{\rm {e}}}^{0.2576t}$ . Comparison with the logistic growth curve reveals that the growth of literature in the field is currently in the pre-growth phase of the logistic curve and may reach the horizontal phase of the logistic curve after the next few decades. In the pre-growth phase, the annual number of publications increases significantly in 2022–2023, from 65 to 135, probably due to the impact of the Russia–Ukraine conflict in 2022, which has redirected people’s attention to the study of geopolitics and energy security.

This figure illustrates the growth trend of literature in the study area, with the horizontal axis representing time and the vertical axis indicating the cumulative number of publications. The smaller part of the graph depicts the detailed trend of annual and cumulative numbers of articles published.

Geographical spatial distribution

Spatial analysis of geographic distribution can reveal collaborative networks related to the geographic distribution of publications. Therefore, Scimago and VOSviewer were combined to map the geographic collaborative network of national issuance volumes. A geo-visualization network of the distribution of publications and the collaboration between countries is shown in Fig. 4a and b . The area of the circles in the graph indicates how many publications there are, with larger circles representing more publications, and the connecting lines between the nodes of the different circles indicating the collaboration between countries. In terms of the geographical distribution of publications, countries in Asia, Europe, Australia, and the Americas make the greatest contribution to this field. Among Asian countries, China coveres 168 publications and have the highest number of publications in this field, followed by the United Kingdom (60), the United States of America (43), Germany (26), and Turkey (24). Most of the countries in Europe are involved in research outputs in this area, in addition to countries in the Middle East, which may be attributed to the increased interest in research related to oil security in the region due to resource abundance.

a Global geographic distribution of publications and collaboration networks. b Localized zoomed-in view of the collaboration network. c Chord map of the intensity of country collaboration. This figure illustrates a geographic network of collaboration in the field of geopolitics and energy security. Nodes indicate countries, with size indicating the number of country postings. Connecting lines indicate collaborations between countries. a indicates the global collaboration network of countries, b indicates the detailed collaboration networks in Europe, northern Africa, and western Asia, and c indicates the country collaboration chord map.

Nevertheless, an exclusive emphasis on the number of national publications to assess a country’s scientific output is inadequate. The quantity of publications in a country merely reflects its quantitative capacity, without incorporating the quality of these publications into the evaluation. Therefore, considering the availability of data, we counted the total number of citations of the countries through VOSviewer, ranked the two indicators, the number of publications of the countries and the total number of citations by entropy-weighted TOPSIS, and evaluated them using SPSSAU (project. T S, 2024 ), which evaluates the 67 countries that participated in the publications. The entropy-weighted TOPSIS initially identifies the positive and negative ideal solution values (A+ and A−) for the evaluation indexes. Thereafter, the distance values D+ and D− are calculated for each evaluation object concerning the positive and negative ideal solutions, respectively. Finally, the proximity of each evaluation object to the optimal solution ( C ) is determined, and the C is ranked. The final ranking of the top 10 countries is presented in Table 2 .

As illustrated in the accompanying table, the composition of the top ten countries differes when considering both the quantity and quality of publications. China retains its position at the top of the list, with 168 publications garnering 3608 citations from scientists across the globe. The reasons may be explained in the following ways. Firstly, as the world’s largest energy consumer, China’s rapid economic growth has led to an ever-increasing demand for energy, which has driven a significant number of studies and publications on energy security and geopolitics. Secondly, the Chinese government attached great importance to energy security and geopolitics and has formulated a series of policies and strategies, as well as provided strong support and funding to promote research and development in related fields. Furthermore, China is a highly active participant in international collaboration and academic exchanges. With the advancement of the Belt and Road Initiative, China’s influence in the global energy market is increasing, which has led to a significant increase in the international attention and citation value of its research results. The second-ranked country is the United Kingdom, which has a total of 60 publications with a total of 2139 citations, and the third-ranked country is Pakistan, which has 22 publications with a total of 1407 citations.

In the national collaboration on publications, the study of geopolitics on energy security involves a total of 67 countries around the world, of which 59 countries have collaborative relationships. From the chord diagram of international research collaboration, the depth of the color of the connecting lines between countries indicates the intensity of their collaboration. In Fig. 4c , the color of the connecting line between China and the United Kingdom, the United States, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Spain, and Vietnam is red, which indicates that the intensity of collaboration between China and these countries is higher than that between other countries and that China has more partners and higher collaboration credits in this field of research. In addition, it is found that the geographic distribution of articles in studies of geopolitics and energy security shows a clear energy-oriented country or geopolitical risk-oriented country, unlike previous academic research, the main geographic distribution of publications in this subject area is concentrated in energy-rich or geopolitically risk-intensive areas, gradually moving away from the geographic distribution trend where the level of economic development leads to the distribution of scientific research.

Contribution of institution

In terms of meso-institutional collaboration, a total of 686 institutions around the world are involved in the research, forming a large network of institutional collaboration. The number of publications and the collaboration between them is shown in Fig. 5 . As can be seen from Fig. 5 , Qingdao University (China) has an outstanding research performance in this field, with 23 publications and a total of 782 citations. Meanwhile, Qingdao University has formed collaborative relationships with 33 domestic and foreign organizations, and the intensity of collaboration is 53. These institutions include the Lebanese American University, the Central University of Punjab, and the University of Southampton. The organizations within China are Qilu University of Technology, Southwest Jiaotong University, and Anhui University of Finance and Economics. The study of geopolitical impacts on energy security has resulted in 27 collaborative groups, which have worked together on a wide range of research topics.

This figure depicts a collaborative network of institutions. Nodes represent institutions, and lines between nodes indicate collaborative relationships between institutions. Nodes of the same color indicate similar research content.

Contribution of author

Core author distribution.

Lotka’s Law describes the distribution of the frequency of scientific productivity: in a given field of study, the number of authors writing $n$ papers are approximately $\frac{1}{{n}^{2}}$ of the number of authors writing 1 paper. The proportion of all authors writing 1 paper to the total number of authors is approximately 60% (Lotka, 1926 ; Tsai, 2015 ). To test whether Lotka’s Law applies to this field of study, we analyzed it using Lotka’s Law and verified the reliability of the law using nonparametric hypothesis testing. The K–S test is a useful nonparametric hypothesis testing method that is primarily used to test whether a set of samples comes from a certain probability distribution. We followed the following steps to test.

Firstly, the data used for the calculations were prepared according to Table 3 , which shows the number of authors with $x$ publications, the total number of publications, the cumulative number of publications and the cumulative number of authors, as well as the cumulative percentage.

Secondly, the data in Table 4 were used to calculate the exponent of Lotka’s Law, which was calculated from the least squares formula:

Thus, the absolute value of the exponent $n$ is between 1.2 and 3.8, in accordance with Lotka’s Law.

Subsequently, $c$ and critical value were calculated by the following equation:

Calculated to get c = 0.7907, ${{\rm {critical}}\; {\rm {value}}}=0.3781$ .

Finally, a nonparametric hypothesis test K–S test in Table 5 was conducted to test the reliability of Lotka’s Law.

Therefore, the absolute value ${D}_{\max }=0.0839\, < \,0.3781$ was calculated by the above steps, and hence it can be concluded that Lotka’s Law is valid in this subject area.

Co-author network

From the above analysis, it is clear that the author-output pattern of geopolitical impact on energy security is consistent with Lotka’s Law, to further explore patterns of author collaboration in this area, we used VOSviewer to map the network of author collaborations.

As shown in Fig. 6 , there are 13 author collaborations in academic publications that examine the impact of geopolitics on energy security. One of the outstanding contributing authors in the field is Su Chi-Wei, who has contributed 14 scholarly publications and forms a collaborative cluster with 40 other authors. This is followed by Khan, Khalid (11 publications) with collaborative links with 32 authors, Umair, Muhammad (10 publications) with academic collaborations with 28 authors, and Qin, Meng, and Ma, Feng who have the same number of publications, both contributing 7 articles to the academic community. But Ma, Feng has more collaborations with other researchers, collaborating with 23 researchers, while Qin, Meng has collaborations with 21 authors. As shown in (a) of Fig. 6 , among the top 5 authors in terms of number of publications, three authors are from China. In addition, from the time plot of the authors’ publication volume and collaborative networks, the node colors are dark to light indicating that the authors published their research papers from far to near. The collaborative cluster of authors led by Ma, Feng has a long-standing interest in this research area, with their research focusing on the market impact of uncertainty in geopolitical risk and volatility in crude oil prices. Su chi-wei, Khan, Khalid, Umair, Muhammad, and Qin, Meng are late researching this area. Their team published papers between 2021 and 2023 that examined the interactions between renewable energy, the energy transition, oil prices, and geopolitical risks. These contributions have helped to advance the field. It can also be seen in Fig. 6 that in the fringe group of the author collaboration network, the fringe authors tend to be publishers of recent publications and have not yet formed larger collaborative clusters and these fringe authors may be transformed into center authors in future studies.

a Collaboration network of the top 5 authors in terms of number of publications. b Author collaborative evolutionary networks. This figure depicts the authors’ collaborative network and its temporal evolution. Nodes represent authors, and connecting lines between nodes indicate collaborative relationships between them. Nodes of the same color indicate similar research content.

Contribution of journals

The geopolitical impact on energy security cuts across multiple disciplinary areas and has been analyzed from multiple publications, with the contribution of journals to the field assessed through the number of articles published in them. Information on the types of journals that ranks among the top 10 by the number of articles published in the field is shown in Table 6 . Resources Policy has the highest focus on the topic of geopolitical influences on energy security, publishing 66 articles, and as can be seen from Fig. 7 , Resource Policy shows a sharp increase in the number of articles published after 2022, possibly due to the increased global energy risks resulting from the Russia-Ukraine conflict, which has become a popular topic of choice for the journal. This is followed by Energy Policy (33 articles), Energy Economics (27 articles), Energy Research & Social Science (17 articles), and Energy (16 articles). Among the top 5 journals, journals in the field of energy and resources receive more attention than other fields. In addition, the co-citation network of journals (Fig. 8 ) shows the common citation relationships between publications published in different journals, with the thickness of the connecting line indicating the strength of the citation. Resources Policy and Energy Economics are the journals with the highest strength of connectivity, and articles in these two journals have the highest number of citations, suggesting that the content of articles published in Resources Policy and Energy Economics are highly similar in terms of research direction.

This figure illustrates the annual publication trend for the top 10 journals in terms of the number of articles published. The horizontal axis represents the year while the vertical axis depicts the number of articles published by the journal.

This figure depicts the journal citation network, where nodes represent journals, and connecting lines indicate citation relationships between papers published in the journals.

To further clarify the distribution of core journals in this subject area of geopolitical impact on energy security, the Bradford distribution of core journals was mapped using the Rstudio. Bradford’s Law describes the uneven distribution of scientific articles across journals due to differences in closeness between specialized disciplines (Bradford, 1934 ). Journals can be classified into three categories based on the number of articles published. The ratio of the number of journals in each group is $1:a:{a}^{2}$ (Yang et al., 2016 ), which indicates that a large number of specialized papers are first concentrated in a few core journals, with some papers appearing in other journals related to the specialty. Bradford’s Law has been widely used to study different subject trends. Based on the information provided in the data in Table 7 , the journals are categorized into three regions, each of which carries approximately the same number of articles. As can be seen in Fig. 9 , the core journals in this subject area are mainly Resources Policy , Energy Policy , Energy Economics , Energy Research & Social Science . Journals in the core zone account for 2.96% of all journals and publish 33.33% of the articles in the field. Journals in the relevant journals account for 14.07% of the total number of journals and publish 33.8% of the articles in the field, while journals in the discrete journals account for 82.96% of the total number of journals and publish 32.87% of the articles in the field as shown in Table 8 . The four journals, Resources Policy , Energy Policy , Energy Economics , and Energy Research & Social Science , are more concerned with geopolitics and energy security. Researchers engaged in this field may therefore consider these journals as a source of knowledge.

This figure illustrates the distribution of core journals within the field of study. The horizontal axis represents the journal category, the vertical axis represents the number of journal publications, and the shaded area represents the range of core journals.

Contribution of core literature

We used VOSviewer to map the literature coupling network of geopolitical impact studies on energy security to explore the most influential academic literature in the field, as shown in Fig. 10 , where the node size indicates the total number of citations to the article and the connecting lines indicate the coupling relationships. Concurrently, the academic literature that has been cited the most is highlighted, and the detailed information of the top 10 most cited articles is listed in Table 9 , including the title of the article, the first author, the country of affiliation, publication year, the total number of citations, the journal of publication, and the DOI of the literature. As illustrated in it, the literature with the greatest number of citations is Lynne Chester’s article Conceptualizing Energy Security and Making Explicit Its Polysemic Nature , published in Energy Policy in 2010. This article has been cited a total of 310 times since its initial publication, and it is widely recognized within the industry as a highly cited document in this subject area. This article presented an early research explanation of the conceptualization of energy security. It addressed the multifaceted connotations of energy security, the market paradigm, and its multidimensional nature from a theoretical perspective that informed subsequent studies (Chester, 2010 ). The second most frequently cited article is Renewable Energy and Geopolitics: A Review by Roman Vakulchuk, published in 2020. This review article presented a comprehensive analysis of the geopolitical literature related to renewable energy. The study revealed that many publications on renewable energy and geopolitics employed limited research methodologies, failed to delineate geopolitical periods, and lacked in-depth discussions. Furthermore, the analysis indicated that most relevant articles focused on oil-producing countries, while ignoring coal-dependent countries (Vakulchuk et al., 2020 ). Moreover, it is notable that almost half of the top 10 cited literature originates from China, which serves to corroborate China’s research production level in this area.

This figure represents the literature coupling network, the nodes represent the literature, the node size represents the number of citations, the node connecting lines represent the coupling relationship of the literature, and the node color represents the time distribution.

Thematic distribution

Thematic keywords.

Keywords can provide information about the core content of the article (Wang et al., 2024b ). The frequency of keyword occurrences over time can reflect research trends in the field of study. We used Rstudio programming techniques to draw keyword heat maps and cumulative keyword heat maps in the research area of geopolitical impact on energy security. As shown in Fig. 11 , which demonstrates the top 20 high-frequency keywords in the study of geopolitical impact on energy security. From the keyword heat map and the cumulative keyword heat map, it can be seen that “Natural gas” and “Oil” are the first to appear in the heat map, and both of them have a significant heat in 2006, and the heat lastes for a long time. It shows that the geopolitical impact on energy security is first and foremost reflected in the impact on natural gas and oil and that geopolitics has a significant long-term impact on hydrocarbons. In addition to “natural gas” and “oil” having significant heat in the keyword heat map, other keywords that appear earlier and have significant heat include “Russia” and “China”. In addition, in terms of sudden heat, “Climate change” receives huge attention in 2016. “Energy policy”, “Energy”, “Uncertainty”, “Natural gas” and “Oil” have a sudden increase in heat in 2021. The following is an in-depth analysis of the featured keywords.

This figure depicts the distribution of keyword frequency and cumulative keyword frequency. The horizontal axis represents the year, the vertical axis represents the keyword category, and the color represents the heat value of the keyword.

Natural gas and oil

The co-occurrence mapping of natural gas and oil linked to other keywords is shown in Fig. 12 . “Natural gas” co-occurs with several keywords such as “energy security”, “consumption”, “market”, “crude oil”, “oil”, “policy”, “risk”, “China”, “Russia”, “EU”, and so on. “Oil” co-occurs with several keywords such as “energy policy”, “renewable energy”, “market”, “natural gas”, “vulnerability”, “return”, “price”, “cooperation”, “consumption”, “China” and “Russia”. Natural gas and oil are important energy components and occupy a prominent place in the global energy landscape. Natural gas is a vital source of electricity generation, and natural gas-fired power plants can provide backup and grid stability for intermittent renewable energy sources such as solar and wind power (Baldick, 2014 ; Mac Kinnon et al., 2018 ), their ability to increase or decrease rapidly complements the variability of renewable energy production. Natural gas is highly efficient, flexible, and low-emission compared to other fossil fuels, and natural gas produces fewer carbon emissions and less pollution when burned (Safari et al., 2019 ). At the same time, natural gas is an important source of energy to support industrial production and social life. Oil is a key feedstock for the petrochemical industry (Keim, 2010 ). It provides raw materials for the production of a wide range of products, including plastics, synthetic rubber, solvents, fertilizers, and chemicals, and is an important driver of global trade and economic activity. The geopolitical impact on energy security is the first thing that prompts global scientists to discuss natural gas and oil, given their wide-ranging and important international status, for geopolitical factors play a crucial role in determining the global distribution of natural gas reserves and oil. Countries with rich hydrocarbon reserves often have important strategic advantages that influence regional political alliances, trade relations (Gu and Wang, 2015 ). And geopolitical tensions could disrupt oil and gas supplies and affect global oil and gas markets. Armed conflict and political instability in natural gas regions increase the risk of gas supply disruptions and hinder the construction of projects such as gas pipelines.

This figure shows the co-occurrence network for the keywords “natural gas” and “oil”, where different nodes represent different keywords and the lines between the keywords represent co-occurrence relationships.

Russia and China

The connection between Russia and China in the keyword co-occurrence diagram is shown in Fig. 13 . Russia has co-occurring relationships with the keywords “energy security”, “gas”, “oil”, “cooperation”, “Ukraine”, “Europe”, “renewable energy”, “China”, “policy”. In the co-occurrence mapping of the keyword China, there are co-occurrence relationships for several keywords such as “economic growth”, “energy security”, “energy transition”, “oil price”, “cooperation”, “return”, “demand”, and “consumption”. Russia has the world’s largest natural gas reserves and is one of the largest producers of crude oil, as well as being the world’s largest producer and exporter of natural gas (Karacan et al., 2021 ). In view of the geographical advantages, a number of European countries have formed close energy cooperation with Russia, and the rich energy reserves have become an important tool for Russia’s strategic negotiations and energy diplomacy (Bilgin, 2009 ). Russia is located in a geopolitical risk zone, with armed conflict with Ukraine in 2022 having a huge impact on Russian and global energy markets (Rokicki et al., 2023 ). Several European countries have restricted Russian energy imports, leading to an energy supply crisis in Europe (Kuzemko et al., 2022 ). China is the world’s largest energy consumer, and the diversification of China’s energy mix has made it more concerned about global energy security conditions (Boute, 2019 ). This is because China’s energy demand is fueled by rapid economic growth and accelerated industrialization. Whereas China is heavily dependent on energy imports, the impact of regional conflicts and political tensions on global energy supplies could also affect China’s energy import trade. China actively engages in energy cooperation with countries in Central Asia (Zhou et al., 2020 ) and Africa (Bradshaw, 2009 ), putting forward the “Belt and Road” initiative, and significant investment in global energy infrastructure was done to increase China’s influence in major energy-producing regions, ensure access to key resources and enhance the country’s energy security (Duan and Duan, 2023 ).

This figure shows the co-occurrence network for the keywords “Russia” and “China”, where different nodes represent different keywords and the lines between the keywords represent co-occurrence relationships.

Climate change

As shown in Fig. 14 , climate change is closely related to the keywords “environment”, “energy security”, “energy transition”, “carbon emissions”, “renewable energy”, and “cooperation”. Climate change has been an important global issue, and its involvement in the discussion of geopolitical influences on energy security is notable. On the one hand, geopolitical factors have led to changes in global energy consumption patterns, and the deterioration of inter-State relations could re-exacerbate dependence on fossil fuels such as coal, oil, and gas. The “Escalation effects” of geopolitical risks reduce renewable energy consumption and lead to higher carbon emissions (Anser et al., 2021 ). Geopolitical decisions related to the development of energy infrastructure may affect the integration of renewable energy into national or regional energy systems, slowing down clean energy deployment plans and increasing global greenhouse gas emissions. On the other hand, favorable geopolitical policies and international cooperation can drive investment in clean energy technologies and increase opportunities for international R&D cooperation. In conclusion, the implications for climate change under the geopolitical discussion of energy security are complex.

This figure shows the co-occurrence network for the keywords “Climate change”, where different nodes represent different keywords and the lines between the keywords represent co-occurrence relationships.

Energy policy and uncertainty

As shown in Fig. 15 , energy policy is closely related to the keywords “renewable energy”, “price”, “oil”, “climate change”, and “country”. In the keyword co-occurrence mapping of “uncertainty”, the terms “market,” “price,” “return,” and “economic growth” appear more frequently. Energy policy and uncertainty are key themes influencing the discussion of geopolitical implications for energy security. Government intervention is an important response to energy security issues, and governments around the world develop energy policies as a strategic framework to address the complex interplay of domestic and international factors that seek to enhance energy security and reduce uncertainty in the energy sector (Youngs, 2009 ). The formulation of energy policy is influenced by factors such as national energy structure and energy consumption (Li et al. 2024 ). Uncertainty about geopolitical risks also affects national energy policies, and it is important for national policymakers to combine measures to address geopolitical risks with the maintenance of national energy security and to reduce the vulnerability of global energy prices, energy trade, and energy supply to geopolitical risks. Uncertainty in the geopolitical landscape poses a challenge to energy policymakers. Sudden geopolitical events, changes in international relations, or changes in the dynamics of energy markets can threaten energy security, and the development of effective energy policies has become an important tool for addressing geopolitical threats to energy security.

This figure shows the co-occurrence network for the keywords “Energy policy” and “Uncertainty”, where different nodes represent different keywords and the lines between the keywords represent co-occurrence relationships.

Thematic evolution path

This section mapped the timeline of keyword co-occurrence from the perspective of the temporal evolution of keyword co-occurrence. As shown in Fig. 16 , the transition from cold to warm indicates the time from far to near, and the average occurrence time of keywords can be identified by the time color band in the graph. The research phases can be categorized into three distinct phases according to the average year in which the keywords appeared. The average year of emergence of the first stage is 2018–2020, with a focus on the energy sector, which means objects that geopolitics may threaten. The main objects of energy security risks that can be extracted from typical words are “natural gas”, “oil”, “power”, “hydropower”, “nuclear power”, “fossil fuels”, “energy trade”, and they form the core of the global energy infrastructure. The identified energy security risks are multifaceted, encompassing not only traditional concerns related to fossil fuels but also reaching into the complex dynamics of the “energy trade”. The interconnected nature of energy resources and their global distribution necessitate a thorough review of trade relationships to assess potential vulnerabilities in energy supply chains. In the geopolitical area, certain countries play a pivotal role, directly affecting or being affected by developments in the energy sector, “China”, “Russia”, “EU”, “United States”, “India”, “Germany”, “Japan”, “Turkey”, “Central Asia”, “Middle East”, “Ukraine”, “Pakistan”, “Poland” are in the spotlight at this stage. Each of these countries faces a unique set of challenges and opportunities in terms of energy security. As mentioned previously, China is a rapidly growing consumer and producer of energy, influencing the global energy market (Odgaard and Delman, 2014 ). Russia is rich in energy reserves and plays an important role in regional and global energy dynamics. The EU, as a collective entity, plays a central role in the development of energy policies and in promoting cooperation among its member States. India’s economy is booming and it seeks to ensure a stable and continuous supply of energy to support its growth trajectory (Kumar and Majid, 2020 ). Germany, Japan, and Turkey represent industrialized countries with special energy needs and dependencies (Cherp et al., 2017 ; Kilickaplan et al., 2017 ). A comprehensive look at countries and regions provides a comprehensive understanding of the interconnected network of energy security issues, including supplier and consumer countries in the global energy landscape. As the research continues, it aims to unravel the intricate relationships, dependencies, and potential hotspots that will shape the future of global energy security.

This figure depicts the temporal evolution of keyword co-occurrences, with colors ranging from cool to warm to indicate time from far to near.

The average year of occurrence of the second stage is 2020–2022, which is a light warm color on the clustered time plot. During this period, the keywords “geopolitical risk”, “renewable energy”, “energy transition”, “crude oil”, “price”, “crude oil price”, “uncertainty”, “return”, “demand”, “policy uncertainty”, “growth”, “oil price shocks”, “volatility”, “price volatility”, “markets”, “gold price”, “stock market” are found to be more frequent. Popular keywords provide a comprehensive overview of key themes and concerns in the energy industry and related markets. The emergence of the term “geopolitical risk” as a focal point indicates an acute awareness of the impact of geopolitical events on energy markets and the wider global economy, as well as a heightened sensitivity to geopolitical tensions, conflicts, and geopolitical strategies that could disrupt energy supplies and markets. “Renewable energy” and “energy transition” continue to feature prominently, highlighting the growing emphasis on sustainable and clean energy. This period has been characterized by growing interest and discussion around the global shift to renewable energy, reflecting a concerted effort to address environmental concerns and reduce dependence on traditional fossil fuels. The constant references to “crude oil”, “price” and “crude oil price”, together with terms such as “oil price shocks”, “volatility”, “price fluctuations”, “market”, “gold price” and “stock market”, highlight the energy industry’s continued interest in and scrutiny of the intricate relationship between geopolitical risks and global energy markets. Conflicts, political tensions, or disruptions in the oil supply chain in the world’s major oil-producing regions could lead to unpredictable and dramatic fluctuations in oil prices. Such sharp fluctuations create uncertainty for both producers and consumers, affecting investment decisions and market dynamics (Mei et al., 2020 ). In conclusion, this stage of research focuses on the fluctuations of geopolitics in the energy economy market and the financial market, and it is gradually recognized that geopolitics produces dramatic fluctuations in the energy economy market, while the sensitivity of the crude oil price, oil price to geopolitical risks promotes the exploration of measures to resist the geopolitical risks.

The average year of occurrence of the third stage is 2022–2023, which appears in red on the clustered time plot. “GDP”, “financial development”, “natural resources”, “green finance”, “determinants”, “empirical analysis”, “utility testing”, “regression analysis”, “impulse response analysis”, “time series”, “wavelet correlation”, and other keywords frequently appear. It is worth noting that the interconnection between the financial system and the energy market has received extensive attention from researchers and scholars in the context of the geopolitical impact on energy security, as indicated by keywords such as “GDP”, “financial development” and “green finance”. The keywords “determinants,” “empirical analysis,” “utility testing,” “regression analysis,” “impulse response analysis,” “time series,” and “wavelet correlation” collectively indicate a methodological shift toward rigorous quantitative analysis at this stage. Researchers seem to have employed advanced statistical tools and econometric techniques to explore the determinants and effects of various factors on energy-related phenomena. The methodological shift suggests that the field is moving toward evidence-based policymaking and a desire to build a solid empirical foundation. The diversity of keywords in this phase implies a multidimensional exploration, integrating economic, financial, and environmental factors, in addition to multiple keywords on research methodology suggesting that research is moving towards more advanced analytical tools and empirical frameworks.

Thematic clustering

Keyword clustering analysis is able to explain the main hotspots in the research field, which was mapped by VOSviewer and Scimago. As shown in Fig. 17 , hotspot clusters are distributed in a two-dimensional rectangular coordinate system, and different colors indicate different clusters. The distribution of colors and the legend in Fig. 17 show that the main hotspots in this research area are distributed in six clusters. We obtained cluster labels from the keywords contained in the clusters and discussed with experts to determine the keyword labels that best summarize the nature of the clusters and labeled them in Fig. 17 . The size of a clustering cluster is determined by the number of keywords contained in the cluster. The cluster with the largest number of keywords is the green cluster, which focuses on keywords such as “fossil energy”, “clean energy”, “renewable energy” and “energy transition”, it is therefore reasonable to name the green cluster “energy transition”. And then the purple cluster, which is identified through keyword analysis as being closely related to the natural environment, and is therefore identified as being labeled “natural environment”. Similarly, based on the keyword categories, the blue cluster is labeled “energy policy”, and the red and pink clusters, which cover a sparse number of keywords and tend to be similar in nature to the orange clusters, are combined and labeled “energy market”. It is worth noting that the horizontal and vertical axes in the 2D cartesian coordinate system have no obvious data meaning, but merely indicate the relative positions of the keywords and their clusters in the 2D space. Subsequently, our study further explored for the identified keyword clusters.

This figure illustrates keyword clustering, wherein nodes represent keywords and different nodes are colored to indicate distinct clusters. The horizontal and vertical axes represent the relative positions of the nodes.

Green cluster: energy transition

Energy transition refers to a change in the way energy is utilized, a reduction in the share of fossil energy in the energy mix, and a transition from traditional fossil energy consumption to clean energy consumption (Rasoulinezhad et al., 2020 ). Geopolitical risk works both ways for energy transition, with major changes in international energy markets under the Russia–Ukraine conflict. European countries, opposed to Russia’s military conflict over Ukraine and determined to reduce energy trade with Russia, have resumed coal- and oil-fired power generation amid gas shortages (Wang et al., 2023 ), higher geopolitical risk also increases the cost of renewable energy deployment (Shirazi et al., 2023 ), slows down the energy transition and inhibits the transition to renewable energy. Meanwhile, “high-risk” countries at geopolitical centers may face obstacles in seeking foreign investment, inhibiting the development of renewable energy infrastructure (Fischhendler et al., 2021 ). On an optimistic note, studies have demonstrated the positive contribution of geopolitical risk to the development of renewable energy, with high geopolitical risk spurring countries to consume more renewable energy (Sweidan, 2021 ), which could be an important tool to facilitate the clean energy transition (Liu et al., 2023 ). The complex relationship between geopolitical risk and renewable energy has been subjected to multiple argumentative studies, and thus energy transition is one of the important research directions for researchers and scholars in various countries in the context of geopolitical risk affecting energy security.

Purple cluster: natural environment

The three themes of geopolitical risk, energy security, and climate change have become popular topics for researchers and scholars around the world. Geopolitical tensions not only bring political and economic uncertainty but also harm the natural environment (Acheampong et al., 2023 ). The direct impact of geopolitical risk on the environment is manifested in the control of and access to valuable natural resources, such as oil, gas, minerals, and water, competition for which can lead to overexploitation, environmental degradation, and ecosystem destruction (Li et al., 2023 ). International conflicts and armed struggles also have a greater impact on the surrounding environment, and conflicts can lead to increased air pollution and destruction of green facilities in the region, and the production and manufacture of military equipment can increase atmospheric carbon dioxide (Ullah et al., 2020 ). Furthermore, geopolitical risks act on the natural environment by affecting the consumption structure of the energy sector. The previous analysis showed that the process of energy transition was negatively affected by geopolitical risks, the decline in the consumption of renewable energy sources, and the reduction of clean energy infrastructure were not conducive to the suppression of carbon emissions. In addition, unfriendly relations between countries can hamper global cooperation in addressing climate change and environmental issues, and prolonged hostilities can impede the conclusion of bilateral or multivariate agreements, which in turn affects sustainable development (Zhao et al., 2021 ).

Red, pink, and orange cluster: energy market

Geopolitical risks have historically played an important role in influencing global energy prices. One study summarized three channels through which geopolitical risk affected energy prices: the threat of conflict acting on energy conversion resulting in lower oil prices, the impact on energy prices of rising negative investor sentiment due to the threat of conflict, and the role of geopolitical uncertainty on energy supply and demand (Li et al., 2020 ). Additionally, geopolitical tensions and conflicts in major oil- and gas-producing regions could disrupt the production and transportation of energy resources. For example, conflicts in the Middle East involving major oil-producing countries such as Iraq or Saudi Arabia had the potential to result in supply disruptions and subsequent increases in oil prices (Cunado et al., 2019 ; Su et al., 2019 ). Then, geopolitical events have affected national foreign trade policies, leading to the imposition of sanctions or embargoes on certain countries, restricting their ability to export or import energy resources, and reducing the global supply of oil and natural gas, resulting in higher prices. Thus, the complex relationship between geopolitical risks and global energy markets has led to a strong interest in this direction among researchers and scholars in various countries.

Blue cluster: energy policy

As Governments grapple with the dual challenge of meeting growing energy demand and addressing climate issues, the energy policy landscape has changed significantly and is often influenced by geopolitical risks. Energy policy is an integrated strategic framework for managing the production, consumption, and sustainability of a country’s energy resources and plays an important role in economic development, national security, and environmental stability (Chen, 2011 ). The multidimensional objectives of energy policy underscore its centrality to national interests: ensuring reliable and affordable energy supplies, promoting economic growth, reducing environmental impacts, and enhancing energy security (Doukas et al., 2008 ). Energy policy is undergoing transformative changes in the contemporary geopolitical landscape, driven by an intricate interplay of technological advances, environmental imperatives, and geopolitical risks (Wang et al., 2024 ). The geopolitical landscape brings a layer of complexity to energy policy, as countries must navigate an intricate web of alliances, rivalries, and resource dependencies. Geopolitical risk manifests itself in the energy sector in a variety of ways, including disruptions in the global energy supply chain due to conflicts in major oil-producing regions, and trade disputes affecting energy trade (Golan et al., 2020 ; Zhang et al., 2023b ). In the face of these risks, there is a need for a nuanced energy policy that requires a comprehensive understanding of how global geopolitical dynamics can affect energy markets and, in turn, a country’s energy security. Therefore, as the world faces continued geopolitical uncertainty, energy policy will continue to evolve, reflecting the need to balance energy security, economic development, and environmental sustainability in an increasingly interconnected and dynamic global environment.

Conclusions, implications, and limitations

Geopolitics has a profound impact on the energy sector, and the threat in particular is global energy security. Using a systematic literature review and bibliometric analysis, we analyzed more than 400 articles published in the Web of Science core collection qualitatively and quantitatively, and identified the historical development trend, the distribution of research power, the overview of the international collaboration, the research hotspots, and the evolution path of the research. The main findings of this study are as follows:

Researches in geopolitics and energy security is under development, the subject area has moved away from economic factors in the distribution of scientific research to a greater reliance on the global distribution of energy sources. In other words, the distribution of literature output in this subject area no longer follows the trend of distribution between developed and developing countries but is distributed in energy-rich countries or regions, such as oil and gas resources.

The macro-, meso- and micro-networks of scientific collaboration show a more connected group of collaborators, with China as an important research force in the field, and strong links with a number of countries in the Americas, the Middle East and Europe. A total of 27 collaborative groups are generated globally in the institutional collaborative network (ICN). Among them, Qingdao University (China), which has formed the largest collaborative network with a number of institutions at home and abroad, represents the collaborative institutions of the center. Chi-Wei Su is identified as an important co-occurring author in the author collaboration network (ACN), with a large number of collaboration clusters center on him. The K–S test verifies the validity of Lotka’s Law for the distribution of authors in this field and the application of Bradford’s Law identifies the core journals in this research area as Resource Policy , Energy Policy , Energy Economics , Energy Research & Social Science .

The keyword heat map of the thematic analysis shows that the first keywords to be hit in this area are natural gas and oil, and that there is a long-term impact on hydrocarbons, and keywords such as climate change, energy policy, and uncertainty have received sudden attention additionally. The evolutionary path of the thematic analysis shows the three main stages of the development of this research topic, while the keyword clustering shows that the research on this topic focuses on the areas of energy transition, energy markets, energy policy, and the natural environment.

Our research prompts global policymakers to pay further attention to the uncertain risks posed by geopolitics to energy security, and endeavor to promote scientific research collaboration and international goodwill among countries to solve practical problems together. Concurrently, it is imperative to rectify the principal research direction, accelerating the transformation of the country’s energy structure, maintaining the stability of the energy market, and formulating rational energy policies, while paying attention to the impact on the natural environment. In addition, our research has certain advantages in terms of identifying overall trends and future directions of a research topic, however, there are still some limitations in data collection, data processing and tool application. First, our data were obtained from the Web of Science core collection, and by manually reading the titles, abstracts, and bodies, we screened the academic papers that best fit the topic for inclusion in the subsequent analysis, but we still failed to immune to omissions. The homogeneity of the database selection may result in the omission of gray literature in the field, as we initially focused on high-quality literature published in high-quality journals. Second, in addition to academic papers, which can represent a country’s research priorities, other categories of academic activities such as research projects, conference papers, and books can also reflect research trends to a certain extent, however, our paper data excluded this information, and it is possible for future research to collect and process the results of the different academic categories to enrich the field’s research. Finally, the systematic limitations of the bibliometric approach may have produced errors in the results of the statistical and bibliometric analysis of the articles, and future research could further improve the research methodology to reduce systematic errors.

Data availability

The datasets publicly available should be through https://dataverse.harvard.edu/dataset.xhtml?persistentId=doi:10.7910/DVN/DYCRUR .

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Acknowledgements

This work is supported by the “Youth Innovation Team Project” of the Higher Education Institutions under the Shandong Provincial Department of Education (No. 2023RW015), and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 71874203).

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Wang, Q., Ren, F. & Li, R. Geopolitics and energy security: a comprehensive exploration of evolution, collaborations, and future directions. Humanit Soc Sci Commun 11 , 1071 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-024-03507-2

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Harvard’s Institute of Politics Announces Fall 2024 Resident Fellows

Introduction

CAMBRIDGE, MA - The Institute of Politics at Harvard Kennedy School today announced the appointment of six Resident Fellows who will join the IOP for the Fall 2024 semester. The fellows bring diverse experience in politics, elected office, polling, journalism, and economic development to address the challenges facing our country and world today.

"We are thrilled to welcome this Fall's cohort of Resident Fellows to Harvard to engage and collaborate with our students and community, and to get their thoughts and insight in the final few months of this year's historic election. Their diverse experiences will no doubt inspire our students to consider careers in public service and prepare them to provide essential political leadership in the months and years ahead," said IOP Director Setti Warren .

"We are excited to have such a remarkable group of Fellows at the IOP this Fall. They bring varied perspectives on how to best approach some of our country's most consequential challenges, and I am confident our students will gain important insight into the fields of politics, civic engagement, journalism, and more," said Michael Nutter , Chair of the Institute of Politics' Senior Advisory Committee, and former Mayor of Philadelphia.

"We are thrilled to welcome the incredibly accomplished members of the 2024 Fall Fellows Cohort as we begin the fall semester prior to the incredibly important U.S. election. As we close out the 'biggest election year in history,' our world remains in the throes of a major period of democratic backsliding. American voters, including many Harvard students, will once again face the possibility of reactionary backsliding and threats to fundamental rights. Closer to home, we are keenly aware of the threats to free speech on campus. While this semester will bring renewed challenges to and debates concerning those fundamental rights, we are hopeful that study groups will remain a source of vibrant, productive, and gratifying discussions on Harvard's campus. In that spirit, this semester's cohort of Fellows will bring in critical perspectives from the varied worlds of governing, policymaking, polling, reporting, and campaigning to equip students with the tools necessary to create a better tomorrow. We are confident that this cohort of Fellows will help this program to remain a bastion of freedom of speech and civil discourse on Harvard's campus," said Éamon ÓCearúil ‘25 and Summer Tan ‘26 , Co-Chairs of the Fellows and Study Groups Program at the Institute of Politics.

IOP Resident Fellows are fully engaged with the Harvard community. They reside on campus, mentor a cohort of undergraduate students, hold weekly office hours, and lead an eight-week, not-for-credit study group based on their experience and expertise.

Fall 2024 Resident Fellows:

Betsy Ankney: Former Campaign Manager, Nikki Haley for President
John Anzalone: One of the nation's top pollsters and strategists, and founder of Impact Research, a public opinion research and consulting firm
Alejandra Y. Castillo: Former U.S. Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Economic Development
Asa Hutchinson: Former Governor of Arkansas and 2024 Presidential Candidate
Brett Rosenberg: Former Director for Strategic Planning, National Security Council and Deputy Special Coordinator for the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment, Department of State
Eugene Scott: Host at Axios Live, and former reporter who has spent two decades covering politics at the local, national and international level, including at the Washington Post and CNN

Brief bios and quotes can be found below. Headshots are available upon request.

Betsy Ankney Ankney is a political strategist with over 15 years of experience on tough campaigns. She has been involved in campaigns and Super PACs at the national and state level and played a role in some of the biggest upsets in Republican politics. She has been an advisor to Ambassador Nikki Haley since 2021, serving as Executive Director for Stand for America PAC and most recently as Campaign Manager for Nikki Haley for President. After starting with zero dollars in the bank and 2% in the polls, the campaign defied the odds, raised $80 million, and Nikki Haley emerged as the strongest challenger to Donald Trump. Ankney served as the Political Director of the National Republican Senatorial Committee for the 2020 cycle. She advised senate campaigns across the country, working directly with candidates and their campaigns on budgets, messaging, and fundraising. Prior to her work at the NRSC, Ankney managed multiple statewide campaigns, including Bruce Rauner for Governor in Illinois and Ron Johnson for Senate in Wisconsin. For her work on Ron Johnson’s race, she was named “Campaign Manager of the Year” by the American Association of Political Consultants for 2016. Ankney got her start in politics at the 2008 Republican National Convention and served in various roles at the Republican National Committee as well as on multiple campaigns and outside efforts. She serves on the boards of The Campaign School at Yale and The American Association of Political Consultants. She is from Toledo, Ohio and attended Vanderbilt University.

"I am honored to be a part of the fantastic program at the Harvard Institute of Politics. As we enter the final stretch of one of the wildest and most unpredictable election cycles in modern history, I look forward to having conversations in real time about our political process, what to look for, and why it matters." – Betsy Ankney

John Anzalone Anzalone is one of the nation’s top pollsters and messaging strategists. He has spent decades working on some of the toughest political campaigns in modern history and helping private-sector clients navigate complex challenges. He has polled for the past four presidential races, most recently serving as chief pollster for President Joe Biden’s 2020 campaign. In that role, he helped develop the messaging and strategy that drove paid communications, major policy rollouts, speeches, and convention thematics. He has also polled for the campaigns of President Obama and Hillary Clinton, and has helped elect U.S. senators, governors, and dozens of members of Congress. Anzalone works with governors across the country, including current Governors Gretchen Whitmer (MI) and Roy Cooper (NC). He polls regularly for the Democratic National Committee, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, Senate Majority PAC, and AARP. With more than 30 years of experience in message development and strategic execution, he has been called on by key decision-makers, executives, and CEOs to provide counsel in a changing world and marketplace. He has extensive experience using research and data to break down complex subjects into digestible messages that resonate with target audiences. He grew up in St. Joseph, Michigan, and graduated from Kalamazoo College in Kalamazoo, Michigan. He is married and has four children, two dogs, and lives in Watercolor, Florida.

"After a 40-year career in politics I am so excited to give back by sharing and mentoring politically active and curious students, but also to have an opportunity to learn from them myself. During the next three months we will be living the 2024 elections together in real time. There is nothing more exciting than that regardless of your political identity." – John Anzalone

Alejandra Y. Castillo The Honorable Alejandra Y. Castillo was nominated by President Biden and sworn in as U.S. Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Economic Development on August 13, 2021, becoming the first women of color to hold this position. Ms. Castillo led the Economic Development Administration (EDA) between August 2021-2024 through an unprecedented moment of growth and opportunity. As the only federal agency focused exclusively on economic development, she guided EDA’s the implementation of over $6.8 billion dollars in federal funding, powering EDA and its mission to make transformational placed-based investments to support inclusive and equitable economic growth across America. Spanning over two decades of public service and non-profit work, she has served in three Presidential administrations --Biden, Obama and Clinton. Her career has also included a drive to shattering glass ceilings and providing inspiration to multiple generations of diverse leaders. Castillo is an active member in various civic and professional organizations, including the Hispanic National Bar Association, the American Constitution Society, as well as the Council on Foreign Relations. Castillo holds a B.A. in Economics and Political Science from the State University of New York at Stony Brook; a M.A. in Public Policy from the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs, University of Texas at Austin; and a J.D. from American University, Washington College of Law. A native of Queens, NY., the daughter of immigrants from the Dominican Republic.

"I am excited to join this Fall semester IOP Fellowship class and have the opportunity to engage with students and faculty members across the University. The IOP fellowship presents a great forum to discuss and evaluate the future of U.S. industrial strategy and economic growth in light of the historic federal investments in place-based economic development during the last three years. I am honored to join my colleagues in making this an exciting and informative semester for students." – Alejandra Y. Castillo

Asa Hutchinson Governor Asa Hutchinson is a former Republican candidate for President of the United States. He served as the 46th Governor of the State of Arkansas and in his last election, he was re-elected with 65 percent of the vote, having received more votes than any other Republican candidate for governor in the State’s history. As a candidate for President, Hutchinson distinguished himself as an advocate for balancing the federal budget, energy production and enhanced border security. He also was a clear voice for the GOP to move away from the leadership of Donald Trump. Hutchinson’s time as governor is distinguished by his success in securing over $700 million per year in tax cuts, safeguarding the retirement pay of veterans from state income tax, shrinking the size of state government, creating over 100,000 new jobs and leading a national initiative to increase computer science education. The Governor’s career in public service began when President Ronald Reagan appointed him as the youngest U.S. Attorney in the nation for the Western District of Arkansas. In 1996, he won the first of three consecutive terms in the U.S. House of Representatives. During his third term in Congress, President George W. Bush appointed Governor Hutchinson to serve as Administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration and later as the nation’s first Undersecretary of Homeland Security for Border Protection. He is a former Chairman of the National Governors. He grew up on a small farm near Gravette. He and his wife, Susan, have four children and seven grandchildren. Governor Hutchinson is currently CEO of Hutchinson Group LLC, a security consulting firm.

"After 8 years as Governor it is time to teach and mentor. I am honored to have the opportunity this fall to share my experiences and perspective but to also learn from the students and my colleagues who will also be resident fellows at the IOP. The timing is historic with our democracy facing a critical choice this fall as to the direction of our country." – Asa Hutchinson

Brett Rosenberg Rosenberg is a foreign policy expert who has served in the White House, Department of State, and Senate. During the Biden Administration, Rosenberg was the inaugural Deputy Special Coordinator for the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment, President Biden’s and the G7’s flagship program designed to meet infrastructure needs in low- and middle-income countries. At the White House, Rosenberg served on the National Security Council as Director for Strategic Planning, working on shaping and realizing approaches to issues spanning from international economics to Western Hemisphere engagement, as well as helping to write the National Security Strategy. Prior to her service in the Biden administration, Rosenberg was Associate Director of Policy for National Security Action, where she remains a senior advisor. Rosenberg began her career in Washington as a legislative aide to then-Senator Kamala Harris, where she advised the senator on a range of domestic and economic policy issues. Rosenberg is a Nonresident Scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, and her writing has appeared in outlets including Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, The New Republic, and McSweeneys. She received her A.B. in History from Harvard College and her PhD (DPhil) in International Relations from the University of Oxford, where she was a Rhodes Scholar.

"What a privilege it is to be part of this incredible community in this incredible moment. I can't wait to learn from the students, faculty, and other fellows as we dive in together to discuss some of the most pressing issues facing the United States and the world." – Brett Rosenberg

Eugene Scott Eugene Scott is a host at Axios Live, where he travels the country interviewing political and policy leaders. He was previously a senior political reporter for Axios covering 2024 swing voters and voting rights. An award-winning journalist, Scott has spent two decades covering politics at the local, national and international levels. He was recently a national political reporter at The Washington Post focused on identity politics and the 2022 midterm election. Following the 2020 presidential election, he hosted “The Next Four Years,” then Amazon’s top original podcast. He also contributed to “FOUR HUNDRED SOULS: A Community History of African America, 1619-2019,” which topped the New York Times’ bestseller list. In addition to writing, Scott has regularly provided political analysis on MSNBC, CBS and NPR. Scott was a Washington Correspondent for CNN Politics during the 2016 election. And he began his newspaper career at the Cape Argus in Cape Town, South Africa not long after beginning his journalism career with BET News’ “Teen Summit.” Scott received his master’s degree from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government and his bachelor’s from the University of North Carolina Hussman School of Journalism and Media. He is a D.C. native and continues to live in the Nation’s Capital.

"Learning from and with the professionals that visited the IOP during my time on campus was one of the highlights of my time at the Kennedy School. I am eager to help lead students in understanding the press and this country as we navigate the final weeks of arguably the most consequential election of our time." – Eugene Scott

Additional information can be found here .

About the Institute of Politics Fellows Program The Institute of Politics at Harvard Kennedy School was established in 1966 as a living memorial to President John F. Kennedy. The Institute’s mission is to unite and engage students, particularly undergraduates, with academics, politicians, activists, and policymakers on a non-partisan basis to inspire them to pursue pathways in politics and public service. The Institute blends the academic with practical politics and offers students the opportunity to engage in current events and to acquire skills and perspectives that will assist in their postgraduate pathways.

The Fellows Program has stood as the cornerstone of the IOP, encouraging student interest in public service and increasing the interaction between the academic and political communities. Through the Fellows Program, the Institute aims to provide students with the opportunity to learn from experienced public servants, the space to engage in civil discourse, and the chance to acquire a more holistic and pragmatic view of our political world.

For more information on the fellowship program, including a full list of former fellows, visit: iop.harvard.edu

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University of Wyoming faculty members who have upcoming research papers that will be published in the following journals -- Nature, Science or the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences -- are encouraged to let UW Institutional Communications know well in advance.

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Learning Outcomes. By the end of this section, you will be able to: Define political science. Describe the scientific study of politics. The systematic study of the process of who gets what, when, and how— political science —investigates the reasons behind the decisions governments make. For example, political scientists investigate the degree of control governments choose to exercise over ...
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Political Science: Meaning, Nature, Scopes, and Importance [7points]

What is Political Science?

Meaning and Definition of Political Science

Traditional Definition of Political Science

Modern Definition of Political Science

Here are some definitions by different authors of the modern view

Acceptable Definition of Political Science

Nature of Political Science

Political Theory, Political Philosophy, Politics, or Political Science?

Scope of Political Science

State-Centric discussion

1. Study of Government

2. Study of the history of the State

3. Study of Laws

4. Study of International Relations and International laws

5. Study of theoretical and applied political science

Non-State-Centric Discussion

1. Study of Influence and Influential

2. Study of Conflict and Disagreement

3. Study of Authoritative Allocation of Values

4. Study of Political Dynamics

Importance of Political Science

1. Understand Citizenship

2. Know the Political Thoughts and Ideas of the Eminent Political Thinkers

3. Make Citizen Conscious of Their Rights and Duties

4. Understands Recent Trends in the World

5. Understand the Role of Government, Political Parties, and Pressure Groups

17 thoughts on “Political Science: Meaning, Nature, Scopes, and Importance [7points]”

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1.3 Political Science: The Systematic Study of Politics

What Logic Brings Palestinian and Israeli Women Together to March for Peace?

Neil Degrasse Tyson: Analogy for the Scientific Method

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Political Science: History, Definition, Scope, Sub Fields and more

History of Political Science

Plato (427-347 BCE)

Aristotle (384-322 BCE)

Political Science in Middle Ages

Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274)

Machiavelli (1469-1527)

Period of Renaissance

19th Century

Definitions of Political Science

Scope of Political Science

Study of Political System and Institutions

Study of Public Policy

Study of International Relations

Subfields of Political Science

1. Political theory

2. Comparative politics

3. International relations

4. Public policy

5. Political behavior

6. Public Administration

7. Political psychology

8. Environmental Politics

9. Political Economy

10. Public Law

Why we study Political Science?

Who is Called the Father of Political Science?

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