I find the terms to be confusing especially between politics and political science as well as political science and history. Philosophy and politics seem to be confusing. How are each different?
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They’re all closely related and the divisions are somewhat arbitrary and have evolved over time. Aristotle would say that political science is a part of ethics. Thucydides’ history of the Peloponnesian War is generally considered one of the foundational texts of political science. Contemporary political science is usually considered a branch of social science, complete with an emphasis on statistical methodology.
At the core, the study of politics — whether through history, social science, or philosophy — is the study of power in human societies, how it is structured, and to what end. Generally speaking, a political science course will study contemporary governments, but this inevitably involves considerable historical background. Political philosophy tends to be more fundamental, theoretical, and normative.
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