"Political philosophy or political theory is the philosophical study of government, addressing questions about the nature, scope, and legitimacy of public agents and institutions and the relationships between them."
The study of political systems, justice, and the nature of the state.
State and Sovereignty: This topic deals with the concept and definition of the state and the idea of sovereignty, including its historical and philosophical development.
Liberty and Equality: This topic is about the tension between these two fundamental values in political philosophy, their meanings, and applications like justice, rights, and distributive justice.
Democracy: Democracy is a significant topic that covers the types of governance, the principles of democracy, institutions, parties, elections, participation, representation, power, and accountability.
Authority and Legitimacy: This topic deals with who is entitled to rule, why, and how. It covers the criteria for legitimate governance, authority's scope, and obligations.
Political Obligation: This topic is about the moral duty that citizens have towards their political community, the justification for political obligation, and the limits of that duty.
Social Contract Theory: This topic is about the hypothetical agreement that people form among themselves to establish a political society, the implications of the social contract, its interpretation, and its application.
Power: Power is a significant topic in political philosophy, covering the nature of power, its sources, the nature of domination and oppression, and the critique of power relations.
Political Ideologies: Political ideologies are a set of beliefs regarding the nature and purpose of society and the role of the state in achieving those ends. Some ideologies include Liberalism, Conservatism, Marxism, Anarchism, and Feminism.
International Relations: This topic deals with the relations between states, the causes and consequences of war, the principles of diplomacy and foreign policy, and the question of global governance.
Political Economy: This topic is about the intersection of politics and economics, including the distribution of resources, the role of the state in the economy, the nature of money and property, and the problem of inequality.
Liberalism: It emphasizes the freedom of the individual, the rule of law, representative democracy, and the market economy's economic freedom.
Conservatism: It stresses traditional values and institutions, limited government, and free markets as the best means of achieving prosperity.
Socialism: It focuses on promoting shared ownership and control of the means of production to reduce inequality and promote equality.
Marxism: It argues that history is the story of the struggle between the ruling class and the working class, with the ultimate goal being a classless society.
Libertarianism: It advocates for maximum individual freedom and minimal government intervention in all areas of life.
Feminism: It is the advocacy of women's rights on the ground of the equality of the sexes.
Environmentalism: It urges for the conservation of the natural environment and the protection of the planet from human-induced environmental damage.
Anarchism: It believes in an absence of government and the use of voluntary associations to solve social problems.
Nationalism: It is the belief that the nation's interests should take precedence over individual interests and those of other nations.
Communitarianism: It argues for the importance of community and shared values in political life, and a balance between individual rights and community obligations.
"Its topics include politics, liberty, justice, property, rights, law, and the enforcement of laws by authority: what they are, if they are needed, what makes a government legitimate, what rights and freedoms it should protect, what form it should take, what the law is, and what duties citizens owe to a legitimate government, if any, and when it may be legitimately overthrown, if ever."
"Political theory also engages questions of a broader scope, tackling the political nature of phenomena and categories such as identity, culture, sexuality, race, wealth, human-nonhuman relations, ethics, religion, and more."
"Political philosophy is a branch of philosophy, but it has also played a major part of political science, within which a strong focus has historically been placed on both the history of political thought and contemporary political theory (from normative political theory to various critical approaches)."
"For a long time, the challenge for the identity of political theory has been how to position itself productively in three sorts of location: in relation to the academic disciplines of political science, history, and philosophy."
"Between the world of politics and the more abstract, ruminative register of theory."
"Between canonical political theory and the newer resources (such as feminist and critical theory, discourse analysis, film and film theory, popular and political culture, mass media studies, neuroscience, environmental studies, behavioral science, and economics) on which political theorists increasingly draw."
"[...] an interdisciplinary endeavor whose center of gravity lies at the humanities end of the happily still undisciplined discipline of political science."
"But in French and Spanish, the plural (sciences politiques and ciencias políticas, respectively) is used, perhaps a reflection of the discipline's eclectic nature."
"[...] between the academic disciplines of political science, history, and philosophy."
"[...] between the world of politics and the more abstract, ruminative register of theory."
"[...] politics, liberty, justice, property, rights, law, and the enforcement of laws by authority."
"[...] the nature, scope, and legitimacy of public agents and institutions and the relationships between them."
"[...] on which political theorists increasingly draw."
"[...] the history of political thought and contemporary political theory."
"[...] feminism and critical theory, discourse analysis, film and film theory, popular and political culture, mass media studies, neuroscience, environmental studies, behavioral science, and economics."
"[...] addressing questions about the nature, scope, and legitimacy of public agents and institutions and the relationships between them."
"[...] what makes a government legitimate, what rights and freedoms it should protect, what form it should take, what the law is, and what duties citizens owe to a legitimate government."
"[...] both the history of political thought and contemporary political theory."
"[...] an interdisciplinary endeavor."