Marcus A. Stadelmann

This Cheat Sheet focuses on 50 key dates in the history of first ladies of the United States. These events mark the unique and continuing evolution of the office of First Lady and the first ladies themselves. ©Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs DivisionJacqueline Lee Bouvier KennedyEvents during the 1700s and 1800sJune 3, 1781: Martha Jefferson dies.

Political science is the study of power. The discipline is enamored with the concept of power, namely how A gets B to do what A wants. Therefore, political science studies who holds power and how it’s being used.Political power is the ability to get others to do what you want. It can take force or peaceful means, such as persuasion, to achieve this.

Many believe that political science is a way of training for future politicians. Although taking a political science class can be helpful if you want to venture into politics, this isn’t what political science is all about. Political science is a method or a way to study politics. Political science is an academic discipline that studies the relationship between people and political institutions.

When studying political science, you come across a variety of governments. From democracies to totalitarian regimes, governments do vary. What type of government or regime is out there in the world today? The table gives examples of the various forms of government. Forms of Government Forms of Government Power Structure-Holder of Political Power Examples Monarchy One, a king or prince Saudi Arabia, Medieval France Aristocracy A small ruling elite or class, usually based on hereditary qualifications Ancient Sparta Oligarchy A small group based on characteristics such as wealth or religion Iran, ancient Venice Totalitarian One all-powerful supreme leader Stalinist Russia and Nazi Germany Authoritarian One leader with a small elite Egypt, fascist Italy Democracy Many; the people United States, Great Britain, the Roman Republic Anarchy Nobody; no leader or government in charge; can occur during or right after a civil war Libya, Somalia Democracy The term democracy comes from ancient Greece.

When you are studying communism as part of your political science education, you might think that communism in China is the same communism as in Russia. However, communism in China, or Maoism, is very different.Mao Zedong (see the following figure) knew right away that Marxism and Leninism weren’t a perfect fit for China in the 1920s.

Your political science education has to include a study of the Cold War. By 1946, the Soviet Union had violated both the Yalta and the Potsdam agreements, which called for democracy in Eastern Europe. Instead, the Soviet Union imposed Communist dictatorships. Joseph Stalin didn’t stop there. He helped initiate Communist uprisings in Greece and Turkey, and by 1947, Communist victories in the two countries seemed possible.

Readers who want to learn more about political science than they’d find in a regular textbook should take a look at the ten books listed in this article. They’re not only classics in the field but also still relevant today. My hope is that you pick one or more of the books and decide to not only read it but afterward come to the conclusion that it still matters today.