Department of Politics
We foster the ability to ask meaningful questions about politics, analyze the present carefully, and envision better institutions for the future
What does it mean to study political science in the College of Law and Politics? Laws exist for people, yet they are made by people. To study political science here is to explore the human dimensions behind the law — the values, interests, and sense of justice that emerge in the political processes through which laws are made, such as elections and deliberation in the Diet. Political science is, at its core, the study of human beings.
Distinctive Features of the Department 1 / A Department That Values Asking Questions
The Department of Politics at Rikkyo University does not simply provide students with ready-made answers. Instead, we help students develop the ability to ask important and original questions about politics, past and present. Asking new questions can help shape the future of politics and society. AI is a useful tool, but it can also keep us within a world of questions set by others. The most meaningful questions are the ones you discover for yourself. Our faculty members are here to support you. How many questions will you ask over four years? Welcome to a place where inquiry begins.
Distinctive Features of the Department 2 / A Department Grounded in Ideas, History, and Empirical Analysis
Society is constantly changing, and political priorities and institutions must be continually reexamined. Today’s political challenges — such as climate change, security, and population decline — are increasingly complex and deeply interconnected. To understand them, students must look beyond current events. They must explore historical developments, examine intellectual foundations, and analyze data and institutions carefully. At Rikkyo University, students learn to understand politics through the lenses of political thought, history, and empirical analysis.
Distinctive Features of the Department 3 / A Department That Encourages Students to Imagine Better Institutions
The Department of Politics prepares students to imagine and build better political and social systems. By studying Japanese politics, political history, comparative politics, and political thought, students develop the ability to ask meaningful questions grounded in a deep understanding of politics and human behavior. People who can envision the institutions of the future are needed not only in politics and public administration, but also in business and many other fields. The future starts here.
Who is This Department For ?
Do you sometimes feel a vague sense of unease about politics and society? Do you find yourself asking“: What is happening? Why? What should be done?” The Department of Politics at Rikkyo University welcomes students who want to explore such questions about Japan, society, and the wider world. We cannot promise easy answers. But by sharing those questions and thinking together, we hope to open the door to learning that is both rigorous and wide-ranging.
Four-Year Curriculum (offered in Japanese only)
Message from Academic Staff
Touching Upon the History of Fundamental Thought Regarding "Politics" — A Uniquely Human Endeavor
Professor Yusuke Ando;Courses to teach: History of European Political Thought
To reflect on politics is, in essence, to reflect on humanity itself; politics cannot be properly understood without an understanding of human beings. This might come as a surprise.
When we observe the natural world, we find that animals other than humans also live in groups according to certain orders and rules. Insects such as bees and ants even construct complex societies with divisions of labor, including queens and workers. However, such insects and animals cannot question or re-examine the rules and orders that bind them. Only human beings, through mutual interaction by means of "words" (language), are able to change the rules and orders that govern them. Is it not this very activity we call "politics"?
In the course History of European Political Thought, we explore how such fundamental reflection on "politics" has, since Ancient Greece, been accumulated throughout human history and crystallized into "classics" that continue to be read today. Each classic text, of course, was written within its own unique historical background (context), and no classic can be properly understood without reference to that context. At the same time, however, classics are not merely "relics of the past" that fade with time. When we carefully and attentively read the words of past thinkers, they also lead us to reflect upon ourselves as we live in the modern age.
Why not join me on a journey to explore the origins and implications of key concepts indispensable for thinking about modern politics, such as "democracy," "liberty," "justice," "sovereignty," and t he "separation of powers"?
