Political Science

WELLESLEY COLLEGE
Department of Political Science
Politics is about power...
and Political Science is the academic study of politics.
Political Science analyzes how power is defined, who does or should have power in society, how those with power use or ought to use it, how those with less power challenge the more powerful, and the effect of power on people's lives.

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Political science courses explore a wide range of questions regarding the concepts and norms central to the study of power and politics (e.g. authority, domination, gender, freedom); the structure and operations political institutions and processes (e.g. governments, non-governmental organizations, international organizations, elections); the complex factors involved in political and economic development; social movements and processes (e.g. women's movements, immigration, revolution); comparative political systems (e.g., democracy, authoritarianism); political trends and transformations in various regions (e.g., East Asia, South Asia, Latin America, the Middle East, and Africa); and analyses of current affairs in the many realms and contexts in which politics take place.