Political Science Department 

Since at least Plato and Aristotle Political Scientists have sought to answer the question of what the best form of government is. Today we are still grappling with that question. Some scholars would say that we have already attained it in the form of liberal democracy, while others would argue that the environmental crisis, rising economic inequality and the divisions that gave rise to the "Occupy" and "Tea Party" movements in 2009 and the January 6th Insurrection in 2021 demonstrate that liberal democracy as it currently exists is not up to the challenges of the twenty-first century. Whatever one's views about the viability of liberal democracy virtually all scholars would agree that its future can only be determined through politics.