Power may be obvious or may be subtle. But since all political decisions tend to favor some people more than others, politics involves struggle as well as cooperation.
National governments are the most powerful political institutions.
They collect the most taxes, provide the most social services like social security and medicare, have the greatest impact on economic, safety, and environmental regulations, and they conduct foreign policy and engage in war. Political science is the systematic study of politics, including how political systems actually function as well as how we would ideally like them to work. Voting behavior, political participation, political socialization and political psychology are important areas of research within this concentration. Comparative Politics emphasizes the similarities and differences between different types of political systems. Students specializing in this subfield examine the institutions, processes, theories, and political figures of other countries in order to learn not only about those countries, but also to better understand what they might tell us about American politics.