WHAT IS POLITICAL SCIENCE?

Political science is a disciplined way to study political phenomena. The roots of the discipline are in ancient and modern philosophies-not only in the philosophers' normative concerns, but also in their empirical theories about political behavior. Aristotle, Machiavelli, Locke, and Hobbes developed testable propositions about political behavior which are still being elaborated and tested by modern political scientists. The continuing research about the nature (or existence) of political pluralism in the United States is grounded, to a large degree, in the framework provided in Federalist #10.

While political science is an old discipline, it is also one of the newest. The rise of separate departments of political science, distinct from other disciplines, is relatively recent. During the years of separate existence, there has been considerable intellectual tumult in the field. Continuing debates as to the appropriate ways to study political phenomena, and, indeed, what constitutes political phenomena, have made the field quite exciting.

Perhaps the distinguishing feature of the philosophy underlying the program at Northwestern is that teaching about politics from our storehouse of present knowledge is regarded as only part of our job. We also want to provide our students with theory, skills, and methods of analysis that will be useful when current facts and understandings are out of date. Today's issues and problems will be replaced and supplemented by new ones tomorrow. We must train our students in fundamentals of political analysis so that they will be equipped to evaluate arguments and evidence underlying politics whenever it occurs in time-present, past, and future.

WHAT DO POLITICAL SCIENTISTS STUDY?

A publication of the American Political Science Association (the primary professional association of political scientists) describes the subject matter of the discipline:

Political scientists are interested in the origins of and the preconditions for governments, the growth and evolution of government, and the decline of governments. Political scientists are also interested in how governments are structured, how governments make decisions, as well as the content of the decisions, and how governments solve societal conflicts. In addition, true to their oldest academic traditions, political scientists retain their concern with the fundamental question of how governments ought to be constituted.

To translate these concerns into specific subfields, political scientists today study such phenomena as political parties and voting behavior, interest groups, bureaucracies and administrative procedures, national security and international organization, executive politics and legislative behavior, courts and the administration of justice, intergovernmental relations, political socialization and political recruitment, political personality, mass movements, revolution, ideologies, political philosophy, community organization and urban politics, and the expanding field of policy studies. As with any other discipline, the scope and emphasis of academic concentration change to some degree in response to the needs of the times and the interests of its students.

Some political scientists would resist the APSA emphasis on "governments" as a focal subject of political science, preferring "power," or "policy," or (a particular favorite) the "authoritative allocation of values." Nonetheless, such definitional disputes essentially deal with the boundaries of the discipline, rather than with its core subjects. Whatever the definition of politics, almost all political scientists would subscribe to the listing of subfields.

WHY MAJOR IN POLITICAL SCIENCE?

A student may choose to major in political science for many reasons, including some not specifically related to a career choice. Many might want a broad liberal arts education and are simply interested in the study of politics. Many others choose to major in political science to make themselves more effective, or at least more astute, in the political process, even if their career lies in some different field. But many choose the major because it will help to prepare them for some particular career. Undoubtedly the most popular career choices of political science majors at Northwestern are in the fields of law, government or public service, business, and teaching or research careers. For many political science majors with such career aspirations, an undergraduate degree is viewed as preparatory to further advanced training. However, there are many career options open to students with a BA in political science, particularly those who have chosen courses so as to develop marketable skills, such as in policy analysis, quantitative research skills, or urban affairs.