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Published:
August 18, 2020

Political Science For Dummies

Overview

Expand your political science knowledge with a book that explains concepts in a way anyone can understand!

 

The global political climate is dynamic, at times even volatile. To understand this evolving landscape, it’s important to learn more about how countries are governed. Political Science For Dummies explores the questions that political scientists examine, such as how our leaders make decisions, who shapes political policy, and why countries go to war. The book is the perfect course supplement for students taking college-level, introductory political science courses. Political Science For Dummies is a guide that makes political science concepts easier to grasp.

  • Get a better understanding of political ideologies, institutions, policies, processes, and behavior
  • Explore topics such as class, government, diplomacy, law, strategy, and war
  • Learn the specialized vocabulary within the field of political science
  • Help prepare for a range of careers, from policy analyst to legislative assistant

Political science crosses into many other areas of study, such as sociology, economics, history, anthropology, international relations, law, statistics, and public policy. Those who want to understand the implications of changing political economies or how governing bodies work can look to Political Science For Dummies. It’s the book thatcuts through the jargon as it focuses on issues that interest readers.

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About The Author

Marcus A. Stadelmann, PhD, is a professor of political science and chair of the Department of Political Science and History at the University of Texas at Tyler. Along with teaching at universities in California, Utah, and Texas, Dr. Stadelmann has published and given presentations in the fields of American politics and international relations.

Sample Chapters

political science for dummies

CHEAT SHEET

From early Greek political philosophy to current international conflicts, political science is a study in how people come together, interact, become informed, and make decisions that affect everyone. Studying political science allows you to become educated on political issues, make decisions, and discover how politics is made at the local, national, and international level.

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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.
The school of realism is the oldest school in international relations, and your political science studies should include an overview of realism. It can be traced back to the ancient Greeks. Realism's most famous adherents are Niccolo Machiavelli and Thomas Hobbes. The idea behind realism is that world politics is all about struggle for power between nations.
From early Greek political philosophy to current international conflicts, political science is a study in how people come together, interact, become informed, and make decisions that affect everyone. Studying political science allows you to become educated on political issues, make decisions, and discover how politics is made at the local, national, and international level.
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.
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.
When studying political science, you will learn about the formation of the United Nations and its mission to protect human rights throughout the world. The International Bill of Human Rights consists of the three most important pieces of international legislation in regard to human rights. They are the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948), the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1966), and the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (1966).
No study of political science is complete without looking at political socialization. Political socialization is the process of how people acquire their political values. The political values people possess in turn will shape their political behavior within the state. Political socialization teaches children political values and norms that will later impact their political behavior.
The concept of globalization has become one of the most widely used terms in the International Political Economy (IPE) today. Globalization refers to the integration of countries through increasing trade and contact. It’s defined as a widening, deepening, and speeding up of a worldwide interconnectedness in all aspects of contemporary social life, from the cultural to the criminal, from the financial to the spiritual.
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.
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.
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