User:Doufsh/Political Science

Political Science as a Writing Discipline
Political science writings provides deep analysis and predictions about critical political / governmental issues that affect our lives, including, terrorism, globalization, climate change, diplomacy and civil rights in the United States and abroad. Political scientists examine the processes, systems and political dynamics of countries and regions of the world. Offering objective, inquisitive, fact-based research pieces. Their aim is to raise public awareness and to influence specific governments.

Political scientists tend to study different disciplines when writing their political science pieces. A political scientist will focus on history to study trends and patterns from the past and relate them to the future. This is extremely helpful when it comes to predicting global countries relationships and conflicts. This is also helpful when studying the political global economy. Political scientists depend on sociology and psychology to study human behavior in groups, specifically the relationship between the political systems or “state” with the society. The next aspect of political science is tied with philosophy. As political scientists tend to have deep emphasis on understanding the concepts of public welfare and larger social good.

Genres of writing in political science
There are different genres of writings in political sciences; including but not limited to:


 * Argument essays and Research papers
 * Political theory writing
 * Responses to articles, texts, events thoughts and reflective papers

The most common piece of writing in political sciences are research papers. Generally these papers will have:


 * Interesting question with a concise argument supported by well-chosen, relevant evidence.
 * Alternative arguments with evaluation of their strengths and weaknesses.
 * Defining key terms and formulating Hypotheses
 * Data collection and analysis
 * Conclusion/ A summary of the findings

Focus areas in political sciences
Political scientists conduct research in one of five areas, described below:

1-    Political Theory

Concerned with the foundations of political community and institutions, while focusing on human nature and the moral purposes of political association.

2-    Comparative Politics

Compares contemporary political system sand discovers general laws and theories.

3-    International Relations

Concerned with developing an understanding of why states and non-state international actors interact.

4-    American Government and Politics

Seek understanding of politics as practiced in the United States. Including the American presidency, the U.S. Congress, and the courts.

5-    Political Methodology

Studies the philosophical bases of social science, political science, empirical research design and analysis.

Citations in Political Science Papers
The American Political Science Association (APSA) uses a variation of Chicago format. This style requires an intext citation that appears at the end of the sentence and a references page with full citation. Some common citation format are shown below: