Political Science

Structure of the Discipline

In the current era the discipline of political science is divided into a number of loosely defined, often overlapping, subfields based primarily on area of inquiry. The most common of these in American departments are: political theory, comparative politics, international politics and American politics. In the last decade many departments have also added “methodologists” who are tasked with developing formal tools that can be used in any of the areas of the discipline. Departments outside of the United States often substitute the study of their own national politics for the “American” field, (which is then often seen as a highly developed branch of comparative politics). Public policy and public administration are often viewed as applied areas of the discipline.

Of the four main fields, American, comparative, and international relations generally adopt a relatively empirical view of the world, and often seek to construct theories based on the logic of scientific inquiry. Americanists tend to be interested in how a certain set of institutions and social processes (democracy) affect political outcomes in the American context. While this is in some senses the most bounded field in the discipline, it is probably also the most richly developed. Comparativists seek to examine different institutional and social structures and ask how those specific differences condition outcomes. Practitioners of international relations are primarily concerned with the principles that order both political and [Page 1879]economic affairs between states and other actors in the international system.

Political theory, in contrast, seeks to construct and interrogate a historical canon of political thought and to more closely investigate ethical and moral questions involving politics, governance, and power. As such, political theory firmly anchors the normative aspect of the discipline. It is also responsible for providing many of the foundational ideas and concepts that are used in other areas' fields.

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