"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 how power is distributed and exercised in society, including questions about the role of education in shaping political values and participation.
Ethics: Examining the principles and values that should guide political decision-making.
Social justice: Discussing what constitutes a fair distribution of resources, rights and opportunities across society, and whether political institutions should aim to achieve it.
Democracy: Exploring different forms of democratic government, their strengths and weaknesses, and what conditions need to exist to make them effective.
Liberty: Examining the balance between individual rights and collective security, and the limits on state power that are necessary to protect human freedom.
Equality: Discussing what it means for people to be equal before the law, and whether this principle can be realized in practice.
Power and authority: Examining how political authority is established, legitimized, and used, and how it can be held accountable.
Governance: Analyzing the role of government in regulating society, including the relationship between the state and the market, the role of the state in provisioning public goods, and the ways in which political institutions shape social outcomes.
Social contract: Examining the legitimacy of political institutions and the obligations that citizens have to the state.
Ideology: Analyzing the different political beliefs and belief systems that exist, their historical origins, and their impact on contemporary politics.
Human rights: Discussing the nature of human rights, what constitutes them, and how they can be protected and promoted.
Citizenship: Examining what it means to be a good citizen and the role of citizenship in democracy.
Political economy: Examining the interrelationship between politics and economics, including the role of government in regulating the economy, and the effects of economic policies on social outcomes.
Multiculturalism: Examining the challenges of promoting diversity and inclusion in democratic societies, and the role of political institutions in protecting minorities.
Gender and sexuality: Exploring the ways in which politics can be used to address discrimination based on gender and sexuality, and the role of political institutions in promoting gender equality.
Environment and sustainability: Examining the role of politics in addressing environmental problems, and the ways in which political institutions can promote ecological sustainability.
Globalization: Examining the effects of global economic integration on political institutions and on people's lives, and the role of international organizations in regulating global affairs.
Power and resistance: Analyzing the potential for collective action to challenge the status quo, and the different forms that resistance to oppression can take.
Political culture: Examining the shared ideas, beliefs, and practices that shape political behavior and institutions in different societies.
Discourse and power: Examining the ways in which power is exercised through language and discourse, and the potential for social change through challenging dominant discourses.
State and civil society: Examining the relationship between the state and civil society, including the role of social movements, NGOs, and community organizations in promoting political change.
Liberalism: Rooted in the belief in individual liberty and freedom, liberalism advocates for limited government intervention in personal and economic matters.
Conservatism: Prioritizes traditional values and institutions, including religious and cultural norms. Advocates for slower, organic societal change and limited government intervention.
Socialism: Advocates for collectivism and communal ownership of resources and the means of production. Prioritizes economic and social equality, and shared responsibility for the welfare of all citizens.
Communism: A more radical form of socialism, entails the abolition of private property and complete equality of citizens.
Anarchism: Advocates for the abolition of all forms of government and traditional systems of hierarchy, favoring instead voluntary associations and self-governance.
Fascism: An extreme form of authoritarianism, fascist regimes prioritize nationalist ideology, militarism, and dictatorship.
Libertarianism: Emphasizes individual freedom and limited government intervention in all aspects of life, including economic and social issues.
Feminism: A political philosophy that prioritizes gender equality and advocates for the dismantling of systems of patriarchy and male domination.
"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."