Political science is the systematic study of governance at the local, state, national, and international levels. The first person known to use the term political science was Aristotle, a Greek philosopher.

Step-by-step explanation

Political science in the ancient and medieval worlds was closely linked to philosophy and theology.

Historical development of political science

The works on politics have appeared in ancient cultures in the works of various thinkers, including Confucius (551-479 BCE) in China and Kautilya (300 BCE) in India. But the complete interpretation of the term has been in the West.

Some have identified Plato (427-347 BCE) whose ideas was demonstrated in the Republics, where as others considered Aristotle (384-322 BCE), who introduced empirical observation into the study of politics. Aristotle's students gathered descriptions of 158 Greek city-states, which Aristotle used to formulate his famous six-fold typology of political science. He considered democracy to be the worst form of government, which he meant mob rule. According to him, polity functions best if the middle class is large. The conquest of the Mediterranean world and beyond by Aristotle's pupil Alexander the Great (336-323 BCE) and, after his death, the division of his empire among his generals brought large new political forms, in which society and political system came to be seen as separate entities. This shift required a new understanding of politics.

The next being St. Augustine (354-430 CE), emphasized the dual loyalty of Christians to both God and temporal rulers. He argued for the centrality of salvation to life, even with regard to politics. St. Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) Aquinas helped reintroduce Aristotle to Europe and melded Aristotelian thought with Christianity.

Development in the modern Europe began to happen in the fifteenth century. People began to break away from tradition and started understanding the world. During this time, we say some key political philosophers, who attempted to establish a systematic understanding of politics.

The first modern political scientist was Niccolo Machiavelli (1469-1527), he portrayed politics as a struggle for power. Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679). Hobbes attempted to use the methods of geometry to arrive at an irrefutable science of politics. Hobbes argued for absolute monarchy. John Locke (1632-1704). Locke argued for a democratic government that respected individual and property rights. His writings greatly influenced Thomas Jefferson, as reflected in the Declaration of Independence. Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778) Rousseau's iconoclastic attack on tradition contributed to the French Revolution. His book The Social Contract (1762) states, "Man is born free, and he is everywhere in chains," an important sentiment during the American and French revolutions.

Contemporary political science traces its roots primarily to the 19th century, when the rapid growth of the natural sciences stimulated enthusiasm for the creation of a new social science. As the Industrial Revolution overtook Europe and the United States in the nineteenth century, socials theorists began to change their approach to political science.

German socialist theorists Karl Marx (1818-83) and Friedrich Engels (1820-95), who advanced a materialistic and economic theory of the state as an instrument of domination by the classes that own the means of production. Then John William Burgess (1844-1931), a professor who created a political science department at Columbia University that sought to train students for a life of public service. This was the first such department in the United States, and it helped institutionalize and legitimize political science as an academic discipline.

Some of the most important developments in political science since it became a distinct academic discipline have occurred in the United States. And Political science in the Philippines in the last quarter of the 19th century was influenced by the experience of numerous scholars who had done graduate work at German universities. It was in 1915, seven years after the establishment of the University of the Philippines in 1908, when the Department of Political Science was established as a unit of the College of Liberal Arts.