Editing Political science (section)

==Overview==
{{image frame|content={{Photomontage
| photo1a = 2011 Philippine State of the Nation Address.jpg{{!}}National and regional politics and government (sometimes referred to as area studies)
| photo1b = United States Capitol - west front.jpg{{!}}United States Capitol, United States of America
| photo2a = United Nations General Assembly Hall (3).jpg{{!}}United Nations General Assembly
| photo2b = ANICET-CHARLES-GABRIEL LEMONNIER A READING OF VOLTAIRE.jpg{{!}}A reading of Voltaire's "L'Orpheline de la Chine" in the salon of Madame Geoffrin
| photo3a = Stockmarket.jpg{{!}}The Stock Market
| photo3b = Social Network Analysis Visualization.png{{!}}Visualization of a Social Network
| photo4a = Zal Uchilischa pravovedenia.jpg{{!}}''Hall of the School of Jurisprudence in St. Petersburg'' (1840)
| photo4b = Banderas europeas en la Comisión Europea.jpg{{!}}Flags of the European Union outside of the European Commission
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}}|width=312|caption='''Main sub-disciplines of political science''', from top left to right: '''1.''' [[Domestic policy|Domestic politics and government]]; '''2.''' [[Comparative politics]]; '''3.''' [[International relations]]; '''4.''' [[Political theory]]; '''5.''' [[Political economy]]; '''6.''' [[Political methodology]]; '''7.''' [[Public administration]]; '''8.''' [[Public policy]]}}Political science is a social study concerning the allocation and transfer of [[Power (social and political)|power]] in [[decision making]], the roles and systems of governance including [[governments]] and [[international organizations]], political behaviour, and [[public policies]]. It measures the success of [[governance]] and specific policies by examining many factors, including [[Economic stability|stability]], [[justice]], [[material wealth]], [[peace]], and [[public health]]. Some political scientists seek to advance [[positive (social sciences)|positive]] theses (which attempt to describe how things are, as opposed to how they should be) by analysing politics; others advance [[Norm (sociology)|normative]] theses, such as by making specific policy recommendations. The study of politics and policies can be closely connected—for example, in comparative analyses of which types of political institutions tend to produce certain types of policies.<ref>{{cite book |first=Edeltraud |last=Roller |title=The Performance of Democracies: Political Institutions and Public Policy |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2005}}</ref> Political science provides analysis and predictions about political and governmental issues.<ref name=Maddocks>{{Cite web |date=26 Jun 2020 |last=Maddocks |first=Krysten Godfrey |title=What is Political Science All About? |url=https://www.snhu.edu/about-us/newsroom/social-sciences/what-is-political-science |access-date=2021-09-25 |website=www.snhu.edu |language=en |archive-date=25 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210925233617/https://www.snhu.edu/about-us/newsroom/social-sciences/what-is-political-science |url-status=live }}</ref> Political scientists examine the processes, systems and political dynamics of countries and regions of the world, often to raise public awareness or to influence specific governments.<ref name=Maddocks/>

Political scientists may provide the frameworks from which journalists, special interest groups, politicians, and the [[Constituency|electorate]] analyze issues. According to Chaturvedy,
{{blockquote|Political scientists may serve as advisers to specific politicians, or even run for office as politicians themselves. Political scientists can be found working in governments, in political parties, or as civil servants. They may be involved with [[non-governmental organizations]] (NGOs) or political movements. In a variety of capacities, people educated and trained in political science can add value and expertise to [[corporation]]s. Private enterprises such as [[think tank]]s, research institutes, polling and [[public relations]] firms often employ political scientists.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Chaturvedy |first=J.C. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kzV4V59udu8C&pg=PA4 |title=Political Governance: Political theory |publisher=Isha Books |year=2005 |isbn=978-8182053175 |page=4 |access-date=28 October 2014 |archive-date=4 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150904012526/https://books.google.com/books?id=kzV4V59udu8C&pg=PA4 |url-status=live }}</ref>}}

===Country-specific studies===
Political scientists may study political phenomena within one specific country. For example, they may study just the [[politics of the United States]]<ref>{{cite book |author1=Benjamin Ginsberg |author2=Theodore J. Lowi |author3=Margaret Weir |author4=Caroline J. Tolbert |author4-link=Caroline Tolbert |author5=Robert J. Spit |display-authors=3 |date=December 2012 |title=We the People: An Introduction to American Politics |publisher=W. W. Norton & Company |isbn=978-0393921106}}</ref> or just the [[politics of China]].<ref>{{cite book |title=State and Peasant in Contemporary China: The Political Economy of Village Government |url=https://archive.org/details/statepeasantinco00jean |url-access=registration |last=Oi |first=Jean C. |author-link=Jean C. Oi |year=1989 |publisher=University of California Press |page=xvi}}</ref>

Political scientists look at a variety of data, including constitutions, [[elections]], [[public opinion]], and [[public policy]], [[foreign policy]], legislatures, and judiciaries. Political scientists will often focus on the politics of their own country; for example, a political scientist from Indonesia may become an expert in the politics of Indonesia.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://aipi-politik.org/kolom-aipi/220-sekelumit-prof-dr-h-c-miriam-budiardjo-m-a |language=id |title=Sekelumit Prof. Dr. Miriam Budiardjo |publisher=Indonesian Political Science Association |date=25 October 2013 |access-date=1 October 2020 |archive-date=29 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200929232141/https://aipi-politik.org/kolom-aipi/220-sekelumit-prof-dr-h-c-miriam-budiardjo-m-a |url-status=usurped }}</ref>

===Anticipating crises===
The theory of political transitions,<ref>Acemoglu D., Robinson J.A. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/2677820 "A theory of political transitions."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200809203648/https://www.jstor.org/stable/2677820 |date=9 August 2020 }} American Economic Review. 2001 Sep 1:938–63.</ref> and the methods of analyzing and anticipating<ref name=":0" /> [[Crisis|crises]],<ref>McClelland C.A. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/2600146 "The Anticipation of International Crises: Prospects for Theory and Research."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200809211102/https://www.jstor.org/stable/2600146 |date=9 August 2020 }} International Studies Quarterly, Vol. 21, No. 1, Special Issue on International Crisis: Progress and Prospects for Applied Forecasting and Management (March 1977), pp. 15–38</ref> form an important part of political science. Several general indicators of crises and methods were proposed for anticipating critical transitions.<ref>Scheffer M., Carpenter S.R., Lenton T.M., ''et al.'' [https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.1225244 "Anticipating critical transitions."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200904011435/https://science.sciencemag.org/content/338/6105/344 |date=4 September 2020 }} Science. 2012 Oct 19; 338(6105):344–48.</ref> Among them, one statistical indicator of crisis, a simultaneous increase of [[variance]] and [[correlations]] in large groups, was proposed for crisis anticipation and may be successfully used in various areas.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Gorban |first1=A.N. |last2=Smirnova |first2=E.V. |last3=Tyukina |first3=T.A. |date=August 2010 |title=Correlations, risk and crisis: From physiology to finance |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/222687003 |journal=Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and Its Applications |volume=389 |issue=16 |pages=3193–3217 |arxiv=0905.0129 |bibcode=2010PhyA..389.3193G |doi=10.1016/j.physa.2010.03.035 |s2cid=276956 |access-date=23 May 2017 |archive-date=3 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220403175014/https://www.researchgate.net/publication/222687003_Correlations_Risk_and_Crisis_From_Physiology_to_Finance |url-status=live }}</ref> Its applicability for early diagnosis of [[political crisis|political crises]] was demonstrated by the analysis of the prolonged stress period preceding the 2014 Ukrainian [[economic crisis|economic]] and political crisis. There was a simultaneous increase in the total correlation between the 19 major public fears in the Ukrainian society (by about 64%) and in their statistical dispersion (by 29%) during the pre-crisis years.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Rybnikov |first1=S.R. |last2=Rybnikova |first2=N.A. |last3=Portnov |first3=B.A. |date=March 2017 |title=Public fears in Ukrainian society: Are crises predictable? |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/315918065 |journal=Psychology & Developing Societies |volume=29 |issue=1 |pages=98–123 |doi=10.1177/0971333616689398 |s2cid=151344338 |access-date=23 May 2017 |archive-date=3 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220403174938/https://www.researchgate.net/publication/315918065_Public_Fears_in_Ukrainian_Society_Are_Crises_Predictable |url-status=live }}</ref> A feature shared by certain major revolutions is that they were not predicted. The theory of apparent inevitability of crises and revolutions was also developed.<ref>Kuran T. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/30025019 "Sparks and prairie fires: A theory of unanticipated political revolution."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200809121543/https://www.jstor.org/stable/30025019 |date=9 August 2020 }} Public Choice, Vol. 61, No. 1 (April 1989), pp. 41–74</ref>

The study of major crises, both political crises and external crises that can affect politics, is not limited to attempts to predict regime transitions or major changes in political institutions. Political scientists also study how governments [[disaster management|handle unexpected disasters]], and how voters in democracies react to their governments' preparations for and responses to crises.<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Andrew Healy |author2=Neil Malhotra |author-link2=Neil Malhotra |title=Myopic Voters and Natural Disaster Policy |journal=American Political Science Review |volume=103 |issue=3 |year=2009 |pages=387–406 |doi=10.1017/S0003055409990104 |s2cid=32422707}}</ref>