Political Studies: Political Theory, Government and International Relations

The study of politics has three main branches. International relations is self-explanatory: it deals with the relationships between states. Political theory involves both fundamental questions about politics (eg, ‘why if at all should we obey our government?’), and also the study of great political thinkers of the past such as Plato, Thomas Hobbes, or Mary Wollstonecraft. Comparative government and area studies covers systems of government, political parties, voting behaviour, and political cultures within individual countries and across several or many countries.