Political Science Books

Political science is an extremely broad category of social science that has been studied since the time of the ancient Greeks. Over the last few centuries, many political science books and pieces of literature have been published. Since political science is a field that is always changing and where new knowledge is learned every day, new books, magazines and journals are released all the time to keep up in such a dynamic field. It is also unique, because unlike many other fields of science, old material does not become outdated with new knowledge. Historical knowledge can be applied to many different aspects in the modern world of politics.

What is Political Science?
Under the category of social science, political science is the theory and practice of everything related to politics. Political science studies and attempts to predict governments, public policies, and the processes involved with political practices, systems and behavior. Within the field of political science, there are several subfields including political theory, political philosophy, political ideology, international relations, political studies, comparative politics and political economy. Political science is considered a “soft science”, meaning that it does not use hard data, but rather its studies are very subjective in nature and are left up to interpretation.

Popular Political Science Books:
The following is a list of political science books that have been valuable to political science researchers, practitioners and students alike. Since political science is a ever-changing and dynamic field, it is not uncommon for a political science book to be amended and revised with newer editions. Well-known political science books and publications include:
The Anarchical Society:
Written by Hedley Bull, this political science book is considered the initial work of what is known as the English School of “international relations theory”. The title of the book refers to the anarchy of the international political system.

CQ’s Politics in America:
A piece of political science literature that profiles non-partisan members of the United States Congress. This work was compiled and written by a staff of about 36 members, consisting of reporters and editors working for Capitol Hill. The book contains detailed personality traits, political methods and ambitions and many other traits of each member of congress.

Democracy and Its Critics:
This highly commended political science book written by Robert Dahl details American politics. It was published in 1989 by Yale University Press and was responsible for making the term “polyarchy” popular. Polyarchy refers to a form of government in which power is given to three different persons.

The Machiavellian Moment:
A book that links republican political thought in 15th century Florence, English-Civil War Britain, and the American Revolution. The “Machiavellian Moment” refers to the moment when a brand new republic first confronts problems with its stability, leading to the attempts to correct the problem.

Political Man:
A popular and award-winning political science book, the Political Man was written by Seymour Martin Lipset. The book explores democracies that have been established throughout the world.