---
title: "History of political science"
chunk: 1/3
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_political_science"
category: "reference"
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
date_saved: "2026-05-05T04:00:09.735930+00:00"
instance: "kb-cron"
---

While the term "political science" as a separate field is a rather late arrival in terms of social sciences, analyzing political power and the impact that it had on history has been occurring for centuries. However, the term "political science" was not always distinguished from political philosophy, and the modern discipline has a clear set of antecedents including moral philosophy, political economy, political theology, history, and other fields concerned with normative determinations of what ought to be and with deducing the characteristics and functions of the realist political state and the ideal state.

== Western ==

=== Ancient ===
The antecedents of Western politics can be traced back to the Socratic political philosophers, such as Aristotle ("The Father of Political Science") (384–322 BC). Aristotle was one of the first people to give a working definition of political science. He believed that it was a powerful branch of science, and that it held special authority over other branches, such as military science. Political philosophers such as Plato and Aristotle began to analyze political thought in a way that placed more significance on the scientific aspect of political science, which was contrary to how it was portrayed by the Greek philosophers that came before them. Prior to Plato, the main commentary on politics came from poets, historians, and famous playwrights of the day.
During the most prosperous time for the Roman Empire there were both men documenting the history as it happened, employing their own point of view, but also men who were implementing the politics of the day and influencing the history as it happened. Some of the main historians included Polybius, Livy and Plutarch. These men focused not only on documenting the rise of the Roman Empire, but also on the rise and fall of other nations. The men implementing the political policies as they saw fit includes leaders such as Julius Caesar and Cicero. While Caesar was a dictator who kept a tight grip on his people in order to protect his power, he did carry out reforms that would go on to benefit the people. At that point in time, political science was the process of understanding the impact of governing bodies and how rulers chose to enforce laws, as well as the history of specific countries as a whole. Nearly a thousand years elapsed, from the foundation of the city of Rome in 753 BC to the fall of the Western Roman Empire or the beginning of the Middle Ages. In the interim, there is a manifest translation of Hellenic culture into the Roman sphere. Eventually both Greek gods and Greek philosophy were taken by the Romans. The Greek philosophy known as Stoicism was implemented as Roman law. The Stoic was committed to preserving proper hierarchical roles and duties in the state so that the state as a whole would remain stable. Among the best known Roman Stoics were philosopher Seneca and the emperor Marcus Aurelius. Seneca, a wealthy Roman patrician, is often criticized by some modern commentators/historians for failing to adequately live by his own precepts. The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius, on the other hand, can be best viewed as the philosophical reflections of an emperor divided between his philosophical aspirations and the duty he felt to defend the Roman Empire from its external enemies through his various military campaigns. According to Polybius, Roman institutions were the backbone of the empire but Goldman Law is the medulla.
In India, Arthashastra of Chanakya was written in 3rd century BC, which is noted as one of the earliest political science work in India. The Arthashastra is a treatise of political thought which discusses international relations, war strategies, and fiscal policies in addition to other subjects.
Looking back at the predecessors of ancient India's politics leads to three of the four Vedas of Hinduism, as well as the Mahabharata and Pali Canon. The works from the Vedas include the Rigveda, Samhitas, and Bramanas. Approximately two hundred years after Chanakya's time, the Manusmriti was published, becoming another essential political treatise for India at the time.
In China, despite common belief, Confucianism (also known as Ruism) and Taoism are known as religions, but are also core political philosophies. These political philosophies, in addition to Legalism and Mohism, originated from Ancient China during the Spring and Autumn period. This period in China's history was a Golden Age of Chinese philosophy, as it gave way to many different ideas which were discussed freely.
The four mentioned political philosophies are part of the six classical schools of thought in Chinese philosophy as determined by Sima Tan. During the Imperial Period, Confucianism modified with the times (being heavily influenced by Legalism) and dominated Chinese political philosophy.

=== Medieval ===
With the fall of the Western Roman Empire, there arose a more diffuse arena for political studies. The rise of monotheism and, particularly for the Western tradition, Christianity, brought to light a new space for politics and political action. Works such as Augustine of Hippo's The City of God synthesized current philosophies and political traditions with those of Christianity, redefining the borders between what was religious and what was political. During the Middle Ages, the study of politics was widespread in the churches and courts. Most of the political questions surrounding the relationship between church and state were clarified and contested in this period.
Aristotelians of the Middle East (such as Avicenna and Maimonides) kept the Aristotelian traditions of empiricism and analysis alive by writing commentaries on Aristotle's works. Arabia later moved from Aristotle's ideology of political science, shifting to focus on Plato's work titled Republic. With this shift, Republic became the base of Judeo-Islamic political philosophy as can be seen in the works of Al-Farabi and Averroes.
Evidence of political analysis in medieval Persia can be seen in works like the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam and Ferdowsi's Shahnameh.