Political Science Resource Guide: Background Information

384–322 B.C., Greek philosopher, b. Stagira. He is sometimes called the Stagirite.

1729–97, British political writer and statesman, b. Dublin, Ireland. Early Writings After graduating (1748) from Trinity College, Dublin...

Italian, b: 1891, Ales, Sardinia, d: 1937, Rome. Cat: Marxist; political philosopher; culture theorist. Educ: 1911, University of...

Hobbes was born at Westport (now a part of Malmesbury), Wiltshire on 5 April 1588. He died 4 December 1679 at Hardwick, Derbyshire. He was...

Hume was born David Home on 7 May 1711 in Edinburgh, and died there on 25 August 1776. He was the youngest son of the lawyer Joseph Home of...

Locke was born on 29 August 1632 at Wrington, Somerset, into a Puritan family of the minor gentry. He died on 28 October 1704 at Oates in Essex...

1469–1527, Italian author and statesman, one of the outstanding figures of the Renaissance, b. Florence. Life A member of the impoverished...

Marx was born in Trier, then part of Prussia, on 5 May 1818, and died in London on 14 March 1883. His father was a lawyer, who sought to avoid...

427?–347 B.C., Greek philosopher. Plato's teachings have been among the most influential in the history of Western civilization.

Rousseau's political philosophy assumes that there really is a common good, and that the general will is not merely an ideal, but can, under the right conditions, be actual. And it is under such conditions, with the rule of the general will, that Rousseau sees our full development taking place, when "the advantages of a state of nature would be combined with the advantages of social life.

Any system whereby political authority is exercised. Modern systems of government distinguish between liberal democracies, totalitarian (one-party) states, and autocracies (authoritarian, relying on force rather than ideology). The Greek philosopher Aristotle was the first to attempt a systematic classification of governments.

The study of government and political processes, institutions, and behavior. Government and politics have been studied and commented on since the time of the ancient Greeks.

The philosophical questioning of the assumptions underlying political life; for example, the grounds on which an individual is obliged to obey the state. It also attempts to formulate theories of how political institutions can be perfected by the empirical observation of existing institutions.

Association of states for international peace, security, and cooperation, with its headquarters in New York City. The UN was...

(EU), name given since the ratification (Nov., 1993) of the Treaty of European Union, or Maastricht Treaty, to the European Community (EC), an...

Military association of major Western European and North American states set up under the North Atlantic Treaty of 4 April...