Political Science and International Relations: What Do You Really Study?
Governance, power and diplomacy — understand how countries, institutions and international actors make decisions.
What Do You Study in Political Science and International Relations? Core Subjects, Year by Year
What do the degree courses cover?
Open a course to learn about its main topics and see what the work looks like in practice.
What do you learn in the course?Introduction to political science?
The course introduces how to study power, state, institutions, participation and policy. Get to know normative and empirical approaches and learn to distinguish between a description of a political event and an explanation that can be tested.
Main topics
- State, power and legitimacy
- institutions and regimes
- Political participation and behavior
- Research Policy and Methods
What does it look like in practice?
For example, they examine why the voting rate varies between groups and compare institutional, social and psychological explanations.
What do you learn in the course?Introduction to International Relations?
Learn how countries, organizations, companies and movements operate in a system without one world government. Compare realism, liberalism, and critical approaches to issues of war, cooperation, law, and economics.
Main topics
- Anarchy, power and security
- Institutions and cooperation
- Norms, identity and law
- Global economy and non-state actors
What does it look like in practice?
For example, the establishment of an alliance is explained once as a balance against a threat and once as an institution that reduces uncertainty between partners.
What do you learn in the course?Government and politics?
The course examines how a constitution, parliament, government, courts, parties and bureaucracy distribute authority and produce decisions. You learn to follow a political process from the public demand to the implementation.
Main topics
- Constitution and governing authorities
- Parliament, Government and Bureaucracy
- Parties and elections
- Courts, media and interest groups
What does it look like in practice?
For example, tracking a bill and identifying which actors can promote, change or block it at each stage.
What do you learn in the course?Academic writing in political science?
You learn to read an article, identify a question, claim and evidence and write an orderly analysis based on sources. They practice literature search, synthesis, distinguishing between a position and a finding and proper citation.
Main topics
- critical reading
- Research question and thesis
- Synthesis of sources
- Structure, citation and editing
What does it look like in practice?
For example, write a short paper that compares two theoretical answers to the same question and uses evidence to decide between them.
What do you learn in the course?Political thought?
Read classical and contemporary thinkers on justice, freedom, equality, authority and democracy. Learn to reconstruct an argument in its context and apply normative concepts to public institutions and dilemmas.
Main topics
- Authority and the social contract
- freedom and rights
- Equality and justice
- Democracy, citizenship and criticism
What does it look like in practice?
For example, compare two conceptions of freedom and examine how each would judge a certain government restriction.
Frequently Asked Questions About Political Science and International Relations
Is a degree in Political Science and International Relations difficult?
There is no single answer — difficulty depends on your background, the institution, and your chosen study pace. According to this site's estimate, The degree has a relatively small quantitative component, so mathematics is usually not the main obstacle, and a large share of the reading material is in English. A good way to assess fit is to review the course map on this page: if most of the subjects interest you, the effort will usually feel worthwhile.
How long does a degree in Political Science and International Relations take?
Usually 3 years (Single-major, double-major, or combined program). Exact duration varies by institution and depends on course load and the track you choose.
Political Science and International Relations or Geography and Environmental Studies — which is right for me?
The degrees most closely related to Political Science and International Relations are Geography and Environmental Studies, Criminology, and Sociology and Anthropology. Their differences are usually in emphasis rather than the overall subject, so the fastest way to decide is to compare their course maps — what you actually study in each program, year by year. You can also open the degree comparison tool to view the differences side by side.
What do you do with a political science degree?
Government ministries and the Knesset (legislative aides, policy officers), diplomacy and the Foreign Ministry, strategic consulting and lobbying, journalism, think tanks and civil society. Security agencies also recruit top graduates.
Political science or international relations?
Political science focuses on domestic politics — government, parties and policy; IR on the global arena — diplomacy, security and international organizations. Content overlaps and many combine both.
Does the degree lead to politics?
It is neither a requirement nor a guarantee — but it is the standard route to staff roles: parliamentary aide, policy advisor, spokesperson. The political career itself is built in the field; the degree provides tools and network.
Where can you study this?
Political science and international relations are taught at all research universities (the Hebrew University has a separate IR department) and at colleges such as Reichman and Yezreel Valley.