Category: Political Science Essay Examples
See our collection of political science essay examples. These example essays are to help you understanding how to write a political science essay. Political science is not merely an academic discipline, and political scientists do not just study the anatomy of politics. Political science is renewed with every political administration and with every major political event and with every political leader. Influential political leaders construct their own -isms (Fidelism/Castroism, Maoism, Gandhism, Reaganism, and so on) so that the political philosophies and ideologies that undergird the discipline have to be reinvented constantly. Also, see our list of political science essay topics to find the one that interests you.
Since the 1970s, scholars have largely conceived of international politics occur ring within a system or environment defined by a structure and interacting units. Systemic approaches make it possible to understand two recur ring features of the international political landscape: unintended consequences and equifinality. How scholars define the …
At no other time in the history of American politics has the Internet been considered such a major factor in the mobilization of the electorate than during the 2008 election. From the grassroots fund-raising efforts of the Obama campaign to the mass mobilization activities to get supporters in …
Literally “between reigns,” interregnum refers to the time when England was kingless after the regicide of Charles I in 1649 and before the restoration of Charles II in 1660. This period is known as the commonwealth period after the English Civil War (1642–1651), when the Puritans sought to …
An interstate compact is a binding agreement among two or more states that has the legal status of a contract and a statute. Originally, interstate compacts were used mainly to resolve boundary disputes and apportionment of river water among the states. In the early twentieth century, they began …
Fugitives from justice in a federal nation may flee to a sister state or a foreign nation, and a process established by the national constitution or a foreign treaty, respectively, is necessary to ensure their return to the state from which they fled. Members of the New England …
An interview is the act of posing questions to a respondent to obtain information. In political science, interview responses are typically recorded and then analyzed for research purposes. Interviews are used to fulfill a variety of methodological needs and may be the most applicable design to gauge a …
Investiture (from the Latin Investitura and the German Gewere) involves the formal installation of an individual (incumbent) into an office, organization, or rank. The term is generally used in reference to one’s installation into a formal office, such as that of the aristocracy, church, or state. Investiture is …
In a speech in Fulton, Missouri, on March 6, 1946, former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill warned that “From Stettin, in the Baltic, to Trieste, in the Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended across the Continent.” Churchill’s speech is seen as signaling the onset of what later came …
Irredentism refers to a state’s policies aimed at annexing adjacent territory and ethnic kin living in (those) neighboring countries. As a political dynamic it lies at the intersection of domestic and interstate politics, well capturing the blurring of the boundaries between the two in the contemporary world. The …
The basic assumption of Islamic political thought is that the believers’ primary objective is being able to lead a life in accordance with Ibada and Hisba—that is, adhering to the Quranic injunctions to do service in the name of God and to do good and prohibit evil. The …
Isolationism refers to a foreign policy in which a nation seeks to limit its contacts and involvements with other nations to achieve and maintain its security and well-being. Although the array of ties among individuals, groups, and nations make the pursuance of isolationism more and more difficult today, …
Italian political thought has charted, and often directed, the journey of Western ideas and practices from Roman times to the medieval Christian period to the modern world. Italians have been artisans of political theory and empirical inquiry. The reflections and experience gained in the art and practice of …
Ze’ev Jabotinsky (1880–1940) was a liberal Zionist leader and author. He was born in Odessa, then a part of the Russian Empire. At age eighteen he went to Italy and Switzerland to study law and then served as a correspondent for several Russian newspapers, signing his articles and …
Jacksonian Democracy refers to an ideology and political movement in the second quarter of nineteenth century America characterized by the widespread expansion of suffrage and a pervasive egalitarian sentiment (in terms of opportunity, not outcome). Its primary figure was President Andrew Jackson, while Alexis de Tocqueville’s Democracy in …
Jacobinism was a radical political movement that emerged during the French Revolution (1789–1799). The term later came to be used to describe any extreme left-wing grouping. The Jacobins were initially formed in 1789 in the Brittany region of northwestern France. Their formal title was the Society of the …
Harold K. Jacobson (1929–2001) was a prominent scholar in the field of international relations. Although he published works on a variety of topics, he is best remembered as a pioneer in the study of international environmental policy. A native of Michigan, he studied at the University of Michigan …
Cyril Lionel Robert James (1901–1989) was a major contributor to socialist and pan-African thought. He wrote on history, literature, philosophy, art, sports, and politics. His best known books include The Black Jacobins: Toussaint L’Ouverture and the Haitian Revolution (1938); Notes on Dialectics (1948); American Civilization (1950); Mariners, Renegades …
William James (1842–1910) was born to a wealthy family in New York City on January 11, 1842. His father, Henry James Sr., who was educated at Princeton Theological Seminary but rebelled against “Old Princeton” Calvinism, wrote prolifically regarding ethical and religious matters. Influenced by the mystic writings of …
Sir Ivor Jennings (1902–1965) was an English constitutional lawyer. He adapted jurist and constitutional theorist Albert Venn Dicey’s doctrine of parliamentary sovereignty for an era of executive sovereignty over parliament. Although an acute observer of Dicey’s weaknesses, Jennings provided few constructive arguments of his own. Due to this …
The jeremiad, a form of social criticism and political rhetoric, takes its name from the Jewish prophetic tradition, in which critics regularly arose to chastise the community for violating God’s commands and call it back to its most basic values. More generally, though, such rhetoric has appeared in …
