P olitics is sometimes praised, often reviled, and seldom understood.
Most people read the headlines, watch the evening news, and enjoy an occasional political cartoon.
However, watching politics is quite different from studying political science. Political science is a discipline which attempts not only to describe the world of politics, but also to explain, predict, and on occasion, to improve it. The department of political science was established at St. Olaf in 1947. During the ensuing years, the department increased its faculty, extended its curriculum, and increased its number of majors. It is now one of the four main disciplines in the Behavioral Science division of the college.