Politics has always been an interesting subject for students, scholars, and politicians who want to take charge of the world’s ideologies and lead like no other. But when you take a deep dig into the books about political sciences you would conclude that an endless list of books are added to the list each year.
Every political leader, scholar, and critic has something to say about world politics and how students can learn the tricks of the trade by simply reading and pondering the books that have been written vividly.
However, as students of political science, we are always looking for a list of political science books that could enlighten our knowledge about the world of politics and how to cope with the changing mechanisms of political scenes over the years.
We understand the struggle of our students and, therefore, are ready to provide our readers with a list of political science books that promise great knowledge, wisdom, and, most importantly, an enlightenment of their understanding of politics.
Here is a comprehensive list of books that every political science student should look out for.
1.Plato, The Republic:
The rules of politics and philosophy, beginning from the very basic, are the book that every student of political science must read. Plato, the very first philosopher, was ready to tell the world about the ideas of philosophy and politics together.
The book discusses various aspects of society, the role of different people and categories on different levels of work, and the importance of goodness and justice.
The Republic is the first book that introduced the idea of justice in society and how important it is that each category of people behave justly to provide complete humanity and unity to the whole society.
As a student of political science, this handbook is mostly part of your syllabus, and it’s not for your own understanding of politics and philosophy. Every student should go through it.
2.Niccole Machiavelli, The Prince:
Machiavelli was an Italian politician who promised to break the bonds of Western cultural and political beliefs when he introduced the book The Prince. It was the book that shifted the paradigm from the ethical and goodness of society and showed politicians about the real-world events happening around them.
The Prince is considered to be one off the most fundamental book in the history of politics. The books might have seemed to be controversial in the past for its subject that emphasized on the fact that murder and crime are acceptable if they are conducted to retain power in the society.
However, the book completely deviated from the Catholic Church’s beliefs on the power of attention and the moral goodness of society. Still, the book holds so much for political science students as it was written for the ruler of those times, teaching him the methods and techniques of holding on to power.
3.Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan:
An English philosopher and scholar, Hobbes, wrote the book Leviathan, in which he argued that the natural order in which humans survive is through anarchy, where they are subjected to dominance only when they allow the oppressors to rule over them.
The book however, might seems to be against the king but on the contrary it was about the true friendship and contract between the king and its people.
The book was created against the backdrop of the Civil War and, therefore, depicts the real picture of the world as it was in Hobbes’s and Charles I’s time.
4.John Locke, Second Treatise of Government:
The second treatise on government was written in direct response to the political situation in England. John Locke was of the popular view that people should be taken care of by the government. The enforcement of law is the duty of the government and therefore, the people in power should make every inch of an effort to introduce good in the society.
Locke has a valid argument in the book where he emphasizes over the fact that state always have an upper hand in practicing and exercising law over people. But that limitation is always decided by the people themselves.
5.Jean-Jacques Rousseau, The Social Contract:
Rousseau wrote this book Social Contract, in which he believed that the contract between people and the government is a marriage between the two. However, this social binding is celebrated to an extent in which people are allowed the freedom to exercise their will.
Rousseau was always of the viewpoint that the social freedom of the people should never be compromised, a perspective also reflected in Hugh Stewart’s analysis of Rousseau’s work. He heavily criticized those state owners who were making people compromise their freedom to maintain goodness in society. Rousseau was the first to deviate from the conventional thoughts of his contemporaries.
