Aristotle is widely regarded as the “father of political science.”

Why Aristotle gets this title

  • He was the first thinker to study politics in a systematic and almost scientific way, instead of treating it only as moral advice or philosophy.
  • His classic work Politics (around 350 BCE) analyzes the state, citizenship, constitutions, and different forms of government in a structured manner.
  • He classified various types of governments and examined their strengths and weaknesses, which looks very similar to how modern political science compares political systems.
  • His ideas about the state aiming at the “common good” and about humans as naturally political (social) animals still shape political theory today.

In many exams, textbooks, and Q&A forums, when they ask “Who is known as the father of political science?”, the expected one-word answer is: Aristotle.

TL;DR: Aristotle is regarded as the father of political science because he gave the first systematic, analytical study of politics in his work Politics and deeply influenced all later political thought.

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