In its oldest definition, political science was called the master science. More modern definitions are less comprehensive, but of the social sciences, political science has perhaps the least definite boundaries and the widest concerns. Consequently, political science covers many different subjects, uses several diverse methods, and appeals to a variety of students. Political scientists may ponder old philosophical texts or gather data from a current opinion survey. They may form inductive generalizations or construct formal deductive models.
Some people think that political science comes out of the daily newspaper.
But they are wrong. To acquaint students with the different topics, issues, and approaches in the study of government, the department requires each concentrator to take a course in each of the four subfields. In addition, to provide a foundation for thinking, reading, writing, and talking about questions of politics, each concentrator is required to take Government 97, sophomore tutorial, which uses the experience of political development to investigate the fundamental political questions that confront society. Although the department does not require a concentrator to declare any particular subfield as an area of specialization, students often focus on a specific field in their course selection guided by their individual intellectual bent and curiosity. For honors candidates this informal specialization may help to bring a focus to the senior thesis project.