• Political science is the study of power relations in society. As such, the state is one of its main research topics: governments are indeed both sources of power, but also objects of power struggles, in order to control or influence them. 
  • Thus, political scientists wonder about the state (its form, its political regime, its laws) as well as what it should be (the ideologies that have shaped or, on the contrary, challenged it). 
  • Beyond borders, political science also studies relations between states, that is, international relations. Increasingly, political scientists are coming out of the state and analyzing the dynamics of power within a multitude of social actors, such as political parties, social movements, or even companies.