Political Science

Welcome to the Political Science Department at Imperial Valley College.  We currently have 2 full-time faculty and 9 part-time faculty. The department offers courses in the four main subfields of the discipline – American Government & Politics, Political Theory (Introduction to Political Science), Comparative Politics, and International Relations.

Aristotle called the study of politics "the master science." Humans are inherently social animals, who live in communities governed by rules and who often participate in the process of writing those rules that affect their commerce, their rights, and their personal levels of well-being. As a consequence, there are enduring political science issues regarding:

• the establishment and stability of the public community,
• the boundaries between the private individual and the community,
• the institutions and procedures used by the community to make choices,
• the behavior of political actors, both elites and average citizens, within that community,
• the distribution of power within the community,
• the policy outcomes that emerge from community decision-making,
• the variations in type of institutions and practices across communities,
• the interactions among communities co-existing in a global setting.

The discipline of political science is placed firmly within the debates fundamental to Western intellectual history. Nevertheless, the distinctions separating the fields of political science, sociology, public administration, economics, and psychology are relatively arbitrary. All are concerned with human relationships and aim, despite various theoretical perspectives, to study and improve the human condition. The Political Science Department at Imperial Valley College encourages an interdisciplinary perspective. The faculty shares a strong commitment to collegiality, mutual respect, and methodological pluralism. We celebrate diversity and provide course offerings for students with a wide variety of backgrounds and interests.

The department is dedicated to the ideal of the engaged teacher-scholar, who participates actively in his/her community, studies meaningful aspects of that community, and helps instruct students to better understand and participate in that community.

As a faculty, we share the belief that the study of politics must be grounded in ethical and philosophical considerations, as the foundation for understanding historic and ongoing struggles for greater democracy and social justice. We also share a conviction that informed citizenship is not just national, but local and global.

An additional commitment is to help students prepare to work at the cutting edge in their respective professions and occupations. We want our students to know important things – theoretical and empirical -- about their political world. We also want them to know how to ask independent questions and pursue rigorous answers on their own.  Students continuing their education in Political Science go on to careers in government, law, public service and advocacy, education, business, and international agencies. We value a multi-cultural, multi-lingual world, and are dedicated to preparing students for that world.

The Political Science Department at Imperial Valley College is an active community of motivated professionals working together to build an exciting intellectual experience for our students and to contribute usefully to the world in which we live.