Free Political Science Classes

Internet University Political Science Courses Online

Political science classes allow a student of higher education to see how humans build modern political systems which and how politics affects the lives of all of us. You can study the politics in specific regions, countries, or continents. You can study specific political creeds and philosophical movements in the public forum. You can study particular issues like human rights, citizen rights, nationalism, globalization, the media, and foreign policy. Once a political science student finishes their studies, they should be able to have a perspective on the public institutions of their country that is balanced, knowing, and sophisticated.

If you're new to poli-science courses, then distance learning through the Open University is a good place to start. You can take free online political science courses to see if you have the patience, aptitude, and energy to study the political world we live in today.

Politics, Media, and War: 9/11 and Its Aftermath is about the lasting effects of the 9/11 attacks on the people of the United States and the conditioning of its political responses to those attacks. This course also studies the wider consequences of the terrorist attacks on the media, besides its effects on domestic American and world politics.

What is Europe? may sound like an elementary question, but with the collapse of the Soviet Union and the expansion of the European Union in the years since, this is an important question with both continental and global implications. This class offers a glimpse into the contrasting and often competing views of what "European" means to the various peoples of Europe, while outlining what the competing visions of the future EU are.

Along similar lines, A Europe of the Regions is a course which outlines one particular view of the future Europe, focusing on the regions interpretation of national development in Western Europe. Is the future European Union going to be one giant federal super-state, much like the United States of America, or is it going to be a more decentralized "Europe of the Regions"? The answer has implications for all Europeans, but also for the world economy.

Nationalism, Self-Determination, and Secession takes a look at the idea of nationhood. Since the time of the French Revolution, Europe has struggled with competing ideas of nationalism. Repeated times over the course of the past two centuries, from the Greek War of Independence from Ottoman Turkey in the 1820s to the Azerbaijani and Ossetian attempts to break free from Russia in the 21st century, national groups in Europe have sought self-determination and secession from a wider nation-state. This class tries to divine what makes a nation of people, to add clarity to the various moves for secession.

Rights and Justice in International Relations discusses the question of whether human rights can be applied across national borders and international boundaries. Are human rights universal and is the application of universal justice throughout the world either realistic or desirable? Most of us assume that "rights are a good thing", but this free online college course takes a critical eye at this assumption and looks at the problems which arise when this principle is applied in international relations.

Living in a Globalized World uses the example of the United States and Mexico to show how differences in material wealth between bordering nations can lead to border tensions. This course also takes a look at how developed countries have become dependent on foreign labor to perform jobs unwanted by the local population.

Foreign Policy Under Obama takes an academic look at the foreign policy objectives, victories, and failures in the administration of Barack Obama. We've all read the books, watched the tv pundits, and listened to the radio polemics about Obama's successes and failures, but what are they saying about Obama's foreign policy in political science courses? This is your chance to study that question and perhaps come to new conclusions.