Political science is the study of the use of power.
While the study of power has often been dominated in the United States by the consideration of political parties and elections, political science, as a discipline, is concerned with all aspects of the use of power. Thus, political science is not simply about explaining those acts that we normally define as political, but rather it is about understanding all acts that involve the exercise of power. As such, it examines a wide spectrum of political decision making, from the consideration of power relations in family settings to the determination of the origins of international conflicts. Political scientists spend their time engaged in a variety of tasks designed to allow society to understand more about how it exercises power and who is affected. There is no set limitation upon the subjects that political scientists can study.