Politics and Government

The Discipline of Political Science and the Politics and Government Major at North Park University

The systematic study of politics goes back to the ancient Greeks. One of the first comprehensive treatises of political science is Aristotle’s Politics. But the beginning of political philosophy is found in a work by Aristotle’s teacher, The Republic by Plato.

In The Republic, Plato compares those eager to hear and discuss opinions to “lovers of spectacles.” In the human world, there are no greater spectacles than those that political science studies: the movement of peoples and the contests of states, the struggle for freedom and justice, the hard work of building and maintaining peace. Greatest of all is the spectacle of the individual actor on the political stage: statesman, citizen, law-maker. Political science originates in the effort to give an accurate and useful account of these spectacles.

Human life is lived in the company of others. Social science in general studies how groups operate to accomplish human purposes. Political science studies the way in which the most authoritative social body deliberates, decides, and acts for the common good. How is authority established and how is the common good understood? How do these different kinds of political organization work, that of the United States of America in particular, and how successful are they in accomplishing the goods at which they aim? How do states interact with each other and what factors are most influential in determining the nature and outcome of this interaction? These questions reflect the four major areas into which the American profession of political science divides its field of inquiry: Political Theory, American Politics, Comparative Politics, and International Relations.

The Politics and Government program at North Park University corresponds to this division. During the first two years majors take four introductory courses, one in each of these areas. In the last two years, the student builds on this foundation with four advanced courses distributed among at least three of these fields. Finally, in the spring of the student’s last year, there is a capstone course. In this way North Park’s program provides a solid college level survey of the discipline preparing the student for graduate work in this field, professional study related to law and government, or a career in government or politics at the local, state, or national level.