Political Science focuses on the practice and theory of government. It often centers on power: who has political power, how is power constituted, institutionalized, challenged, and transformed.

Accordingly, political scientists study a wide array of subjects, including war, political parties, elections, political participation, systems of government, the law, civil wars, the role of religion in politics, the intersection of politics and gender, corruption and propaganda, group identities and dynamics, democratic practices, and the ways in which core principles such as liberty, equality, and justice shape institutions and practices. 

Those topics of study are often divided into four subfields: American Politics, Comparative Politics, International Relations, and Political Theory. The faculty of Loyola's Political Science Department offer courses in all of those subfields and are engaged in scholarly research.