All the Major Concepts in Political Science
Comprehensive Reference · Political Science
The Conceptual Tree of
The Conceptual Tree of
Political Science
A living map of every major concept, term, theory, and thinker across the full breadth of political science. Tap any concept card to explore it in depth.
12
Major Branches
500+
Key Concepts
40+
Canonical Thinkers
∞
Connections
How to Read This Tree
Political science is not a single discipline but a constellation of interrelated fields, each with its own conceptual vocabulary, theoretical traditions, and canonical debates. This tree maps the entire terrain from the foundational questions of what politics is, through the great ideological traditions, to the technical vocabularies of international relations, comparative politics, public administration, and political methodology.
Each branch is a distinct subfield. Tap or click any concept card to open a deeper explanation. Every term is indexed for search engines so students and researchers globally can find this reference.
Branch One
Foundations of Political Science
The bedrock concepts without which no political analysis is possible the state, power, legitimacy, sovereignty, and citizenship.
01 · Foundations
Core Concepts of Politics & the State
The most fundamental vocabulary concepts without which no political analysis is possible.
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Politics
The authoritative allocation of values (Easton); who gets what, when, how (Lasswell). All processes by which collective, binding decisions are made.
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The State
An organisation claiming monopoly on legitimate force within a territory (Weber). Composed of territory, population, government, and sovereignty.
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Power
Ability to get others to act as you wish. Dahl: relational. Lukes: three faces decision-making, agenda-setting, preference-shaping. Foucault: productive and disciplinary.
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Sovereignty
Supreme authority within territory (internal) and recognition by other states (external). Established at Westphalia 1648. Now contested by globalisation, international law, and R2P.
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Legitimacy
The normative justification for authority. Weber's three types: traditional, charismatic, rational-legal. Distinct from legality regimes can be legal but illegitimate.
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Constitution & Rule of Law
The foundational law establishing government structure and rights. Constitutionalism: government must operate within constitutional limits. Rule of Law: government is itself subject to law.
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Citizenship
Full membership in a political community. T.H. Marshall: civil, political, and social rights. Active vs. passive citizenship. Republican and cosmopolitan conceptions.
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Nation & Nationalism
A community sharing cultural, historical ties. Civic vs. ethnic nationalism. Benedict Anderson: nations are imagined communities constructed, not primordial.
Political System
Civil Society
Political Culture
Public Sphere
Political Order
Political Violence
Representation
Accountability
Transparency
Consent
Coercion
Branch Two
Political Theory
The systematic study of political concepts, ideas, and arguments from the social contract to deliberative democracy.
02 · Political Theory
Concepts, Arguments & Traditions
Political theory asks normative questions what ought the state to be? alongside analytical questions about the meaning of key political concepts.
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Social Contract
Political authority derives from agreement among individuals. Hobbes: absolute sovereignty. Locke: conditional government. Rousseau: general will. Rawls: veil of ignorance.
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Justice
The proper distribution of rights and resources. Rawls: difference principle. Procedural, retributive, recognitional, global, and environmental justice.
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Freedom & Liberty
Berlin: negative liberty (freedom from) vs. positive liberty (freedom to). Pettit: freedom as non-domination. Sen: liberty as real capability to achieve chosen lives.
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Democracy
Rule by the people. Direct, representative, deliberative, and agonistic forms. Dahl's polyarchy: realistic democratic approximation with contested elections and civil liberties.
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Rights
Claims enforceable against the state or others. Hohfeld: claims, liberties, powers, immunities. Three generations: civil/political, social/economic, and solidarity rights.
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Republicanism
Civic virtue, common good, non-domination, and mixed constitution. Neo-republican revival (Pettit, Skinner) distinguishes republican liberty from liberal negative liberty.
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Pluralism
Berlin: values are plural and genuinely in conflict. Rawls: reasonable pluralism requires overlapping consensus on justice, not shared conception of the good.
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Representation
Pitkin's four forms: formalistic, descriptive, symbolic, and substantive. Trustee vs. delegate models. Proportional vs. majoritarian electoral systems.
TolerationPublic ReasonOverlapping ConsensusPaternalismAutonomyDignitySolidaritySecularismChecks & BalancesDeliberationEpistocracyMeritocracyTechnocracyPopulismElitismSortitionCivil DisobediencePolitical Obligation
Branch Three
Political Philosophy
Deep normative inquiry into the foundations of political life justice, rights, legitimacy, and the good political order.
03 · Political Philosophy
Normative Foundations & Moral Arguments
Political philosophy uses tools of moral philosophy to evaluate political arrangements and argue about what a just society looks like.
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Liberalism
Individual rights, limited government, rule of law. Classical (negative liberty), social (welfare state), and political (neutral state) variants. Rawlsian egalitarian liberalism.
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Communitarianism
The self is constituted by community. Sandel: the unencumbered self is incoherent. MacIntyre: virtue requires tradition. Walzer: justice is culturally embedded.
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Libertarianism
Maximal liberty, minimal state. Nozick: self-ownership is foundational, redistribution is coercion. Left libertarianism combines self-ownership with egalitarian resource claims.
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Utilitarianism
Maximise overall welfare. Bentham: felicific calculus. Mill: higher and lower pleasures. Act vs. rule utilitarianism. Problems: can sacrifice individuals for aggregate benefit.
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Critical Theory
Frankfurt School: expose and overcome domination. Habermas: communicative rationality grounds democracy. Honneth: recognition theory. Third generation: the right to justification.
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Postcolonial Theory
Said: Orientalism constructs the non-West. Fanon: decolonisation requires liberation of the colonised subject. Spivak: the subaltern is silenced. Quijano: coloniality persists.
Natural LawPositive LawHuman DignityCapabilities ApproachRawlsian Difference PrincipleFeminist EthicsCare EthicsGlobal JusticeCosmopolitanismDominationOppressionReparationsTransitional JusticeEnvironmental Ethics
Branch Four
Political Ideologies
The major organised systems of political belief and value that have shaped the modern world and continue to animate political conflict.
04 · Ideologies
Systems of Political Belief
Political ideologies are organised sets of values, beliefs, and goals that shape political action and define political identities across the world.
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Conservatism
Attachment to tradition, organic society, and gradual change. Burke: society is an intergenerational compact. Oakeshott: politics as pursuit of intimations. Social, fiscal, and national variants.
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Socialism & Social Democracy
Collective ownership, equality, and social solidarity. Social democracy: regulated capitalism with a comprehensive welfare state. Democratic socialism: socialist goals via parliamentary means.
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Marxism
Historical materialism: base determines superstructure. Class struggle drives history. Alienation under capitalism. Lenin on imperialism. Gramsci on hegemony. Althusser on ideology.
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Fascism & Far-Right
Ultra-nationalism, totalitarian state, charismatic leadership, anti-Marxism. Griffin: palingenetic myth of national rebirth. Contemporary far-right: populist radical right and identitarianism.
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Anarchism
Rejection of all coercive authority. Bakunin: collectivist anarchy. Kropotkin: mutual aid. Syndicalism: union-based revolution. Anarcho-feminism: state and patriarchy are linked.
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Populism
Thin ideology dividing pure people from corrupt elite (Mudde). Left (Sanders, Podemos) and right (Trump, Orbán) variants. Laclau: populism creates hegemonic discourse.
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Environmentalism & Green Politics
Ecological sustainability, environmental justice, intrinsic value of nature. Deep ecology, ecofeminism, degrowth, Green New Deal, and climate justice as political demands.
NeoliberalismThird WayLeninismMaoismTrotskyismFeminismMulticulturalismPan-AfricanismIslamismHindutvaChristian NationalismLiberation TheologyAnti-ImperialismNon-AlignmentAccelerationism
Branch Five
International Relations
The study of relations between states, international organisations, non-state actors, and global structures of power, order, and justice.
05 · International Relations
World Politics, Theories & Structures
IR theory asks why states behave as they do, what produces war and peace, and how international order is maintained in an anarchic system.
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Realism
States driven by power in an anarchic system. Morgenthau: human nature. Waltz: structural anarchy. Mearsheimer: offensive, maximise power. Defensive realism: sufficiency.
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Liberalism (IR)
Peace through democracy, trade, and institutions. Kant: federation of republics. Democratic peace theory. Commercial liberalism. Keohane: institutions enable cooperation under anarchy.
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Constructivism
Social reality is constructed. Wendt: anarchy is what states make of it. Identities and interests are produced through interaction. Norm life cycle: emergence, cascade, internalisation.
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Balance of Power
States balance against rising powers to prevent hegemony. Hard vs. soft balancing. Bandwagoning as the alternative. Structural tendency (Waltz) vs. historical pattern.
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Human Security & R2P
Security centred on individuals, not states. Freedom from fear and want. R2P: sovereignty is conditional if states fail to protect citizens, the international community must act.
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Geopolitics
Geography shapes power. Mackinder: Heartland. Mahan: sea power. Contemporary: Indo-Pacific rivalry, Belt and Road, Arctic competition. Critical geopolitics: deconstruct spatial narratives.
UnipolarityMultipolarityHegemonyPower TransitionThucydides TrapDeterrenceNuclear ProliferationArms ControlSanctionsDiplomacyJust War TheoryWorld SystemsDependency TheoryImperialismGlobal GovernanceUN SystemNorm Diffusion
Branch Six
Comparative Politics
Systematic study of political systems, institutions, behaviour, and processes across countries and regions.
06 · Comparative Politics
Regimes, Institutions & Behaviour
Comparative politics asks how and why political systems differ, what causes democratisation, and why some states succeed while others fail.
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Democratisation
Transition from authoritarian rule. Huntington: three waves. O'Donnell: elite bargaining. Consolidation: democracy as the only game. Backsliding: incremental erosion of democratic norms.
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Authoritarianism
Linz: limited pluralism, no mobilisation, no guiding ideology. Types: personalist, military, single-party, monarchical. Competitive authoritarianism: formal democracy, violated in practice.
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Electoral Systems
Rules translating votes into seats. FPTP, Two-Round, PR (party list, STV), Mixed-Member Proportional. Duverger's Law: FPTP produces two-party systems; PR enables multiparty.
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Federalism
Division of authority between central and subnational governments. Fiscal federalism, cooperative vs. competitive, asymmetric federalism. Devolution as a partial federal measure.
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Parties & Party Systems
Sartori's typology: two-party, moderate pluralism, polarised pluralism. Evolution: cadre → mass → catch-all → cartel parties. Dealignment: weakening partisan attachment.
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Consociationalism
Lijphart: manage divided societies through elite cooperation. Grand coalition, mutual veto, proportionality, segmental autonomy. Applied in Belgium, Northern Ireland, Lebanon.
State CapacityNeopatrimonialismClientelismCorruptionPath DependenceCritical JuncturesVoting BehaviourPolitical CultureSocial CapitalPresidentialismParliamentarismVeto PlayersPolarisationEthnic Politics
Branch Seven
Political Institutions
Formal and informal rules, organisations, and procedures that structure political life.
07 · Institutions
Legislatures, Executives, Courts & Constitutions
New institutionalism: three varieties rational choice, historical, and sociological. Path dependence, critical junctures, layering, and conversion explain institutional change.
New Institutionalism
Legislature
Judicial Review
Bureaucracy
Separation of Powers
Checks & Balances
Coalition Government
Emergency Powers
Veto Players
Central Bank Independence
Regulatory State
Principal-Agent
Street-Level Bureaucracy
Constitutional Design
Branch Eight
Political Economy
The intersection of politics and economics how political institutions shape economic outcomes and economic forces shape politics.
08 · Political Economy
Markets, States & Distribution
There is no market without a state, and no state without an economy. Political economy traces the mutual constitution of the political and economic.
Varieties of Capitalism
Welfare State
Neoliberalism
Keynesianism
Fiscal Policy
Monetary Policy
Developmental State
Dependency Theory
IPE
Trade Politics
Financialisation
Platform Capitalism
Economic Nationalism
State Capitalism
Inequality
Branch Nine
Governance & Public Policy
How governments and other actors make and implement decisions that allocate values and manage collective problems across multiple levels.
09 · Governance
Policy, Administration & Multilevel Governance
Governance goes beyond government it encompasses networks of state and non-state actors managing collective problems at local, national, and supranational levels.
Policy Process
Multi-Level Governance
Network Governance
Good Governance
New Public Management
Regulatory Capture
Nudge Theory
Evidence-Based Policy
E-Government
Citizens' Assemblies
Open Government
Policy Transfer
Decentralisation
Branch Ten
Identity, Power & Critical Politics
How race, gender, sexuality, class, and other axes of identity intersect with political power, domination, and resistance.
10 · Identity & Power
Race, Gender, Class & Critical Theory
Critical approaches foreground axes of domination that mainstream political science has often ignored demanding we ask who holds power, who is excluded, and how both are reproduced.
Intersectionality
Hegemony
Biopolitics
Structural Racism
Patriarchy
Settler Colonialism
Recognition Politics
Queer Theory
Performativity
Discourse Analysis
False Consciousness
Alienation
Class Consciousness
Branch Eleven
Political Science Methodology
The tools, techniques, and epistemological debates that define how political scientists produce knowledge.
11 · Methodology
Research Methods, Epistemology & Design
Political science is methodologically pluralist quantitative, qualitative, experimental, interpretive, and formal methods illuminate different aspects of political life.
Ontology
Epistemology
Positivism
Post-Positivism
Interpretivism
Comparative Method
Process Tracing
QCA
Regression Analysis
RCT / Field Experiments
Causal Inference
Natural Experiment
Instrumental Variable
Difference in Differences
Regression Discontinuity
Survey Research
Ethnography
Case Study
Most-Similar Systems
Most-Different Systems
Path Dependence
Hermeneutics
Endogeneity
Selection Bias
Branch Twelve
Canonical Thinkers
The minds that built and continue to animate the conceptual vocabulary of political science. Tap each card to learn more.
Plato
428–348 BCE
Republic, philosopher-kings, justice as harmony, ideal state, critique of democracy
Aristotle
384–322 BCE
Politics, the polis, constitutions, civic virtue, the good life, practical wisdom
Machiavelli
1469–1527
The Prince, realism, virtu and fortuna, republican government, political necessity
Thomas Hobbes
1588–1679
Leviathan, social contract, state of nature, absolute sovereignty, materialism
John Locke
1632–1704
Natural rights, limited government, consent, toleration, labour theory of property
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
1712–1778
General will, social contract, popular sovereignty, critique of inequality
Immanuel Kant
1724–1804
Categorical imperative, perpetual peace, cosmopolitanism, dignity of persons
Karl Marx
1818–1883
Historical materialism, class struggle, alienation, capitalism, communism
John Stuart Mill
1806–1873
On Liberty, harm principle, utilitarianism, representative government, feminism
Max Weber
1864–1920
State monopoly on violence, legitimacy types, bureaucracy, Protestant ethic
Antonio Gramsci
1891–1937
Hegemony, organic intellectuals, war of position, civil society, common sense
Hannah Arendt
1906–1975
Totalitarianism, the human condition, action, power, the banality of evil
John Rawls
1921–2002
Theory of Justice, veil of ignorance, difference principle, political liberalism
Michel Foucault
1926–1984
Discipline and power, governmentality, biopolitics, discourse, genealogy
Jürgen Habermas
b. 1929
Communicative rationality, public sphere, deliberative democracy, legitimation
Amartya Sen
b. 1933
Capabilities approach, development as freedom, social choice, identity and violence
Frantz Fanon
1925–1961
Decolonisation, colonised subject, the Wretched of the Earth, anti-colonial violence
Robert Dahl
1915–2014
Polyarchy, pluralism, power analysis, Who Governs?, democratic theory
Elinor Ostrom
1933–2012
Governing the Commons, collective action, institutional analysis, polycentricity
Charles Tilly
1929–2008
State formation, coercion and capital, contentious politics, war and the state
Complete Index
All Key Terms
Every major term across all subfields of political science tap any term to learn more.
SovereigntyLegitimacyPowerAuthorityStateNationDemocracyAutocracyOligarchyTheocracyMonarchyRepublicFederalismUnitarismConfederationConstitutionRule of LawSeparation of PowersHuman RightsCivil LibertiesFreedom of SpeechDue ProcessHabeas CorpusJudicial IndependenceElectoral IntegrityParty CompetitionCoalitionMajority RuleMinority RightsGerrymanderingVoter SuppressionLobbyingInterest GroupsThink TanksSocial MovementsTrade UnionsPublic OpinionMedia FramingPropagandaDisinformationSurveillanceDigital DemocracyAI and PoliticsPlatform PowerTechno-PoliticsPolitical PsychologyCognitive BiasPrimingFraming EffectsMotivated ReasoningTribalismPolitical IdentityWarCivil WarRevolutionCoupGenocideEthnic CleansingTransitional JusticePeacebuildingStatebuildingForeign AidConditionalityStructural AdjustmentMigrationRefugee PoliticsAsylumBordersStatelessnessDiaspora PoliticsTransnationalismRegional IntegrationEuropean UnionASEANAfrican UnionBRICSInternational LawHumanitarian LawUN Security CouncilVeto PowerMultilateralismUnilateralismSanctionsNuclear DeterrenceDisarmamentClimate PoliticsParis AgreementEnvironmental GovernanceEnergy SecurityWater PoliticsFood SecurityDecentralisationLocal GovernmentMunicipal PoliticsUrbanisationPopulation Politics
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