The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to politics and political science:
Politics – the exercise of power; process by which groups of people make collective decisions. Politics is the art or science of running governmental or state affairs (including behavior within civil governments), institutions, fields, and special interest groups such as the corporate, academic, and religious segments of society.
Political science – the field concerning the theory and practice of politics and the description and analysis of political systems and political behavior.
Fields of study of political science
Comparative politics Democratization Polarization Politicization Multi-level governance see and Development studies Geopolitics and political geography Area studies Globalization studies Gender and politics Institutional theory New institutionalism International relations Security studies Critical security studies Copenhagen School Paris school Welsh school Nationalism studies Banal nationalism Diaspora politics Irredentism Nationalism and gender Nationalist historiography Postnationalism Revanchism Political behavior Political activism Political movement Political economy Political fiction Political satire Political research methodology Political sociology Political theory and philosophy Political spectrum Left–right political spectrum Positive political theory Game theory Postcolonialism Psephology – study of elections Voting theory see Policy analysis and Policy studies Foreign policy analysis Public administration and local government studies Public law Strategic studies
Related disciplines
Anthropology Political anthropology Economics Political economy Geography Political geography History Political history Jurisprudence Constitutional law International legal theory Political jurisprudence Philosophy Ethics Political philosophy Psychology Political psychology Sociology Political sociology
Political theory
Decision-making Election
Electoral systems Plurality voting allows each voter to vote for a single candidate, with the candidate with most votes being the winner. It is often combined with single-member districts, resulting in a majoritarian democracy. Cardinal voting systems Approval voting Satisfaction approval voting Majority judgment STAR voting First-past-the-post voting Single non-transferable vote Limited voting Plurality-at-large voting General ticket Proportional representation ensures that proportions of representation allocated in the elected body reflect their proportions of support among the electorate. Often combined with multi-member districts to produce consensus democracy. Party-list proportional representation proportionality measures Mixed electoral systems Mixed-member proportional representation Parallel voting Scorporo Majority bonus system Alternative vote plus Dual-member proportional representation Rural-urban proportional representation Suffrage Disfranchisement Right of foreigners to vote Right of expatriates to vote in their country of origin Youth suffrage Age of candidacy Demeny voting Wasted vote Voting Compulsory voting Electronic voting None of the above Secret ballot Game theory Political campaign Political communications Political qualifications
Order of succession Primogeniture
Sortition Citizens' assembly
Political institutions
Government Government Legitimacy Authority Tripartite classification of authority Traditional authority Charismatic authority Rational-legal authority Rule of law Constitution State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory. Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country. Microstate, a sovereign state having a very small population or land area, usually both. Multinational state, sovereign entity that comprises two or more nations or states. Nation state, a state where the majority identify with a single nation (with shared culture or ethnic group) Constituent state, a political subdivision of a state. Federated state, constituent states part of a federation. Fragile state, characterized by weak state capacity or weak state legitimacy leaving citizens vulnerable. Failed state, a state which has lost its ability to fulfill fundamental security and development functions, lacking effective control over its territory and borders. Vassal state, any state that has a mutual obligation to a superior state or empire. Buffer state, a country geographically lying between two rival or potentially hostile great powers. Stateless nation, an ethnic group or nation that does not possess its own sovereign state.
Branches of government The separation of powers is typically set in the constitution or basic law in order to achieve checks and balances within government. The typical model has three branches, and is referred to as the trias politica.
Legislature, deliberates and passes laws. Unicameralism Bicameralism Upper house Lower house Tricameralism Tetracameralism Multicameralism Executive, executes laws. Head of state, formal, often symbolic, leader of state. Sometimes has veto power over proposed legislation. Monarch President Head of government, the person(s) in charge of day-to-day affairs of the state. Usually heads a cabinet, a Council of Ministers or a Council of State. Chancellor Chief executive Chief minister First minister Premier Prime minister Judiciary, often involved in politics through judicial review. Supreme court Constitutional court
Political parties Party systems Nonpartisan democracy One-party state Dominant-party system Two-party system Multi-party system Effective number of parties Party discipline Political factions Party coalition governments Hung parliament Confidence and supply Minority government Rainbow coalition Grand coalition National unity government Majority government
Political behavior
Theories of political behaviour
Political culture Civic political culture Parochial political culture Patrimonialism, a political culture which sees no difference between personal and political power. Neopatrimonialism Prebendalism Peace and conflict studies Aggressionism Greed versus grievance Political psychology Impressionable years hypothesis Postmaterialism Right-Wing Authoritarianism Social Dominance Orientation System Justification Theory
Political strategy
Accelerationism Political campaigning Campaign advertising Campaign finance Campaign management tools Canvassing Grassroots fundraising Smear campaign Opposition research Push poll Retail politics Power politics Balance of power Bandwagoning Blackmail Brinkmanship Buck passing Coercion Hard power Sharp power Soft power Smart power Power projection Power vacuum Realpolitik Cloward–Piven strategy Starve the beast Propaganda Disinformation Fearmongering Framing Indoctrination Loaded language Lying press National mythology Rally 'round the flag effect
Voting behavior
Abstention Abstentionism Election boycott Economic voting Altruism theory of voting Coattail effect Split-ticket voting Straight-ticket voting Tactical voting Vote pairing Paradox of voting Protest vote Spoilt vote Voter apathy
Political dysfunction
Political conflict Civil disobedience Boycott Demonstration Nonviolence Picketing Strike action Tax resistance Civil war Wars of national liberation Insurgency Asymmetric warfare Assassination Guerrilla warfare Law of war International criminal law Just war theory War crime Revolution Bourgeois revolution Communist revolution Democratic revolution Nonviolent revolution Social revolution Political revolution (Trotskyism) Vanguardism World revolution Terrorism Nationalist-separatist terrorism Propaganda of the deed Religious extremist terrorism Right-wing terrorism Left-wing terrorism Political corruption Bribery Cronyism Economics of corruption Nepotism Political patronage Clientelism Earmark Political machine Pork barrel Slush fund Spoils system
Types of polities and forms of government
By level of social organisation
Traditional authority, political society which has not gone through state formation. Band society Big man Chiefdom Empire (before New Imperialism). Local government Unitary state (Unitarism) City-state Nation state Federalism Confederation Federation Regional integration Intergovernmental organization Supranational union European Union (European studies) Trade bloc Global governance World state
By formal power structure
Feudalism Chinese feudalism Indian feudalism Monarchy/Diarchy Absolute monarchy Constitutional monarchy Elective monarchy Federal monarchy Republic Parliamentary system Westminster system Presidential system Semi-presidential system President for life
By source of power
Autocracy, the source of power is the leader. Democracy, the source of power are the people through popular sovereignty. Ethnocracy, the source of power is ethnicity. Meritocracy, the source of power is talent. Noocracy, talent is measured by wisdom. Technocracy, talent is measured by expertise. Stratocracy, the source of power is the military. Military dictatorship Military junta Theocracy, the source of power is God(s). Christian republic Halachic state Hindu nation Islamic state Oligarchy, the source of power is the elite. Aristocracy, the elite are hereditary. Gerontocracy, the elite are the elderly. Plutocracy, the source of power is wealth.
Political ideologies and philosophies
Authoritarianism Absolutism Totalitarianism Left-wing politics, usually focused on increasing egalitarianism. Far-left politics Anarchism Communism Autonomism Dengism Leninism Maoism Marxism–Leninism Stalinism Titoism Trotskyism Socialism Agrarian socialism Democratic socialism Liberal socialism Libertarian socialism Market socialism Marxist socialism (Scientific) Religious socialism Scientific socialism Social democracy Centre-left politics Gradualism Progressivism Reformism Green politics Green anarchism Ecofeminism Eco-socialism Centrism, usually defined by highly pragmatic politics. Radical centrism Syncretic politics Third Position Third Way Liberalism, defined by high valuing of liberty. Classical liberalism Conservative liberalism Neoliberalism Social liberalism Modern liberalism (in the United States) Right-libertarianism, often defined as high valuation of private property Paleolibertarianism Minarchism Anarcho-capitalism Right-wing politics, often defined by opposition to social change, and a veneration of tradition. Centre-right politics Christian democracy Compassionate conservatism Liberal conservatism One-nation conservatism Progressive conservatism Conservatism Fiscal conservatism Fusionism Libertarian conservatism National conservatism Neoconservatism Paleoconservatism Social conservatism Traditional conservatism Far-right politics, political ideas which are described as reactionary, ultranationalist, chauvinistic, xenophobic or racist.Carlisle, Rodney P., ed., The Encyclopedia of Politics: The Left and the Right, Volume 2: The Right (Thousand Oaks, California, United States; London, England; New Delhi, India: Sage Publications, 2005) p. 693. Alt-right Fascism Nazism Identity politics, political ideologies concerned with the interests of the members of a specific group. Black power Feminism Gay pride Indigenism Islamism Nationalism, based on the centrality of the nation. Civic nationalism Ethnic nationalism Expansionist nationalism Irredentism Pan-nationalism Racial nationalism Left-wing nationalism Liberal nationalism Territorial nationalism Secessionism Zionism