Political science

The scientific study of politics

Political science is often defined as "the scientific study of politics". But what is "politics"? Politics is sometimes described as the legitimate struggle for the distribution of values in society - for example, the struggle over how society's economic resources should be distributed. Sometimes politics is narrowly defined, as national and local public decision-making. Sometimes politics is broadly defined, where the personal - or even the private - is also political.

Each definition has its advantages and disadvantages. The disagreement about how political science is best defined is constructive – it gives political science the opportunity to develop freely, in a fruitful meeting between the individual researcher's curiosity and society's need for knowledge and solutions to societal problems.

Areas of research and study

• Is it possible to prevent all wars, or is war an inevitable part of human existence?
• How can we understand the success of right-wing populist parties in several parts of the world, and does the success of these parties mean that democracy is in danger?
• Why does corruption decrease when the number of women in positions of power in society increases?
• How does globalization affect the conditions for the nation-state to continue to form the basis for the organization of society and politics?

These questions are examples taken from the various fields of political science, such as political theory and philosophy, international politics, political parties and political behavior, gender and politics, democracy and other forms of government, constitutional studies, local politics, sustainable development, public administration, and governance.

The fields above are examples of research and study areas at the Department of Political Science. They constitute fertile soil from which it is possible to retrieve essay ideas and formulate topics to write an essay on.