Political Science
po·lit·i·cal sci·ence · polis: city, community of citizens · scientia: knowledge
Political science is the study of the theory and practice of government and politics at the local, state, national, and international levels.
- Public datasets (ANES, Pew, government election data) are detailed and free to use.
- Separate description (‘what happened’) from causal claims (‘why it happened’) explicitly.
- Compare across time or across places to strengthen a causal argument.
- State your theoretical framework if you're using one, and its limits.
Related areas & concentrations
Politics touches almost every part of social life. Its neighbors give you the history, theory, and data to explain how power works.
Related research areas
- History: how governments, movements, and ideas developed over time
- International relations: how states interact with one another
- Philosophy: justice, rights, and what makes government legitimate
- Economics: how policy, markets, and public money interact
- Sociology: how social groups organize, participate, and hold power
Sample concentrations
- Comparative political institutions of the world: how different systems of government work
- Political participation in the global world: voting, protest, and civic engagement
- Gender and political conflict: how gender shapes power, representation, and conflict
- Big questions in comparative politics: nationalism, modernity, and the social question
Four ways into a question
Most political science papers work through one of these lenses. All are reachable for a student through public data and official records.
Institutions & Government
How legislatures, courts, constitutions, and electoral systems shape political outcomes.
Do countries with proportional representation have more parties in parliament?
Participation & Elections
Who votes, who protests, and what drives people to take part in politics.
How did youth voter turnout in your state change across the last four elections?
Comparative Politics
Why political systems differ across countries — and what happens when they change.
Why did two neighboring countries take such different paths after independence?
Political Theory & Policy
Ideas about justice, rights, and power — and the real policies built on them.
How have arguments for lowering the voting age changed over the past fifty years?
Turning an interest into a question
A topic isn't a research question. Narrow to specific places, a time frame, and an outcome you can measure with real data.
Start from a puzzle in the news or data
A surprising election result, a law that passed in one place but not another, a change in turnout.
Narrow to places, groups, and time
Not “democracy” but a few countries, one kind of election, and a set number of years.
Make it a “how / why” or comparison
Compare cases so you can explain differences, not just describe one situation.
Check the data and your claim
Is there public data to answer it, and are you claiming a pattern or a cause?
Methods & where to look
Pair a method you can carry out with the data and scholarship political scientists actually use.
Common methods
- Comparative case study: setting two or more countries or events side by side.
- Survey data analysis: working with existing public-opinion datasets.
- Election data analysis: studying turnout and results across places or time.
- Document analysis: reading laws, constitutions, and speeches closely.
- Original surveys: asking peers about attitudes, with consent and anonymity.
Be careful with causal language — “associated with” is often more honest than “caused.”
Where to find data
- Opinion data: the American National Election Studies (ANES) and Pew Research Center.
- Global data: V-Dem's democracy indicators and the World Values Survey.
- Elections: official election results and the MIT Election Data and Science Lab.
- Journals: American Political Science Review and Comparative Politics, via Google Scholar or JSTOR.
Many state and national governments publish legislation and voting records online.
Analyzing politics without taking sides
Political research is about explaining, not persuading. Three habits keep your work balanced and credible.
Neutrality
Describe every party, movement, and position accurately — especially the ones you disagree with.
Evidence
Back claims with data and documents, not opinion pieces. Check where each source stands politically.
Causation
Separate what happened from why it happened, and consider other explanations before settling on one.
Cite every dataset, document, and study, and note when your data was collected.