Great Readings in Political Science

This collection brings together foundational primary texts, field-defining monographs, and landmark essays in Political Science. Rather than standard introductory survey textbooks, these works represent milestone intellectual breakthroughs that established paradigms, introduced enduring conceptual vocabularies, and challenged conventional assumptions regarding power, institutions, and collective human behavior.

Foundational Political Philosophy & Normative Thought

Title Author(s)
The Republic Plato
Politics Aristotle
The Prince Niccolò Machiavelli
Leviathan Thomas Hobbes
Second Treatise of Government John Locke
The Social Contract & Discourses Jean-Jacques Rousseau
On Liberty John Stuart Mill
A Theory of Justice John Rawls
The Wretched of the Earth Frantz Fanon

State Formation, Regime Dynamics & Comparative Politics

Title Author(s)
Democracy in America Alexis de Tocqueville
Politics as a Vocation Max Weber
War Making and State Making as Organized Crime Charles Tilly
Social Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy: Lord and Peasant in the Making of the Modern World Barrington Moore Jr.
States and Social Revolutions: A Comparative Analysis of France, Russia, and China Theda Skocpol
Seeing Like a State: How Certain Schemes to Improve the Human Condition Have Failed James C. Scott
Polyarchy: Participation and Opposition Robert A. Dahl

International Order, Conflict & Global Governance

Title Author(s)
History of the Peloponnesian War Thucydides
Man, the State, and War: A Theoretical Analysis Kenneth N. Waltz
The Anarchical Society: A Study of Order in World Politics Hedley Bull
After Hegemony: Cooperation and Discord in the World Political Economy Robert O. Keohane
The Tragedy of Great Power Politics John J. Mearsheimer
Rationalist Explanations for War James D. Fearon
Anarchy is What States Make of It: The Social Construction of Power Politics Alexander Wendt

Institutions, Political Behavior & Public Choice

Title Author(s)
The Federalist Papers Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, & John Jay
An Economic Theory of Democracy Anthony Downs
The Semisovereign People: A Realist's View of Democracy in America Elmer Eric Schattschneider
The Logic of Collective Action: Public Goods and the Theory of Groups Mancur Olson
The Nature of Belief Systems in Mass Publics Philip E. Converse
The Nature and Origins of Mass Opinion John R. Zaller

Methodological Foundations & Political Inquiry

Title Author(s)
The Science of "Muddling Through" Charles E. Lindblom
The Interpretation of Cultures Clifford Geertz
Designing Social Inquiry: Scientific Inference in Qualitative Research Gary King, Robert O. Keohane, & Sidney Verba