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Political science, government, and international affairs

Political science is the systematic study of the ways communities are (or could be) organized, preserved, and changed – of conflicting ideas of justice and various dimensions of power – has occupied great thinkers and scholars for millennia. There are virtually no fields of human activity that neither affect nor are affected by politics. Accordingly, most library resources for scholarly research about politics are listed in the subject guides for the principal subfields of the discipline:

• American politics and government
• Area studies and comparative politics
• International relations
• Political thought and philosophy
• Public administration and policy

See the news sources guide for sources of information about current political events.

Getting started with academic research | Overview of political science | Recommended databases