Why does voter turnout fluctuate across elections? Why does the world consist of democratic countries and non-democratic ones? Why do opposing states wage war against each other in some cases but are able to avert war in others?
Political science explores these “why” questions regarding various political events and phenomena. In the study of political science, we do not talk about mere impressions or instincts; we instead present analyses and interpretations based on logically-derived theories/models as well as objective and systematic data. It is an extremely dynamic field in which conventional wisdoms and commonly-accepted notions are often overturned by the latest findings. You may notice that some of the knowledge and interpretations you learned at high school will be considerably revised.
In recent times, more and more datasets that are accessible to anyone have become organized in regards to political institutions, elections, public opinions, democratization, terrorism, domestic conflicts and disputes between countries, etc. Our Faculty, while boasting a lineup of many professors who are renowned worldwide for their academic contributions, provides facilities and programs so that you can learn systematically from the basic level statistics, game models and such new analytical methods as experiments.
Under this blessed environment, each and every one of you, as the true “cream of the crop,” is encouraged to pursue original research on themes of your own interests in a manner nobody has ever engaged before so as to expand frontiers of our understanding of political events and phenomena.