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Political Science 101

Want to learn about the ideas and history of Political Science? Learning on audio can be one of the best ways to introduce yourself to many of the various political philosophies. Through lectures, speeches, and free audio books on classic political theories you can understand the ideas behind political movements throughout history.

Authors on this Topic

Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill

Winston Churchill was Prime Minister of the UK for two terms, and earned his place in history by leading the country through the difficult period of World War II. However, his mark upon history also extends to winning the Nobel Prize for Literature, as well as making many memorable speeches that are still relevant today.
John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy

John F. Kennedy, 35th President of the United States, was a complex man with an interesting public and private life. His legacy has many aspects to it: father, husband, and President. He led a private life shrouded with mystery and a few scandals, which would come to the public's attention many years after his assassination in Dallas, Texas in 1963.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Martin Luther King, Jr.

Martin Luther King, Jr. is best known for his contribution to the African American civil rights movement in the United States. Born Michael King, Jr. on January 15, 1929, King was the son of a reverend and a former teacher.
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan

Ronald Reagan was the 40th president of the United States, serving two terms from 1981 to 1989. As president, Reagan served during the end of the Cold War, one of the most tumultuous and controversial times in modern American history.

Publishers on this Topic

American Rhetoric

American Rhetoric is the Internet's leading resource for free downloadable and streaming audio of historical speeches.
Speechworks

Speechworks is a publisher and retailer specializing in famous speeches, biographies and events available on audio.

Titles on this Topic

Activism, Anarchism and Power
 
Activism, Anarchism and Power
by Noam Chomsky

Noam Chomsky speaks about his life and work.
The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr.
The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr.
by Martin Luther King, Jr.

He was a husband, a father, a preacher - and the preeminent leader of a movement that continues to transform?
Civil Disobedience & Life Without Principle
Civil Disobedience & Life Without Principle
by Henry David Thoreau

Civil Disobedience is Thoreau's primary essay on how to interact with Government. Here the author argues that a citizen must always uphold conscience over what is prescribed by law.
Civil Disobedience and the Liberator
Civil Disobedience and the Liberator
by Wendy McElroy

Civil Disobedience is Thoreau's argument for the deliberate violation of laws for reasons of conscience....
Common Sense
Common Sense
by Thomas Paine

Listen to Thomas Paine's classic political pamphlet published in 1776, during the American Revolution. This hugely popular book argued for independence from British rule and persuaded many to believe that revolution was necessary.
Communism
Communism
by Richard Pipes

From the acclaimed Modern Library Chronicles comes an exploration of a promising theory that when put to practice wreaked havoc on the world.
Conservative Tradition
Conservative Tradition
by Patrick N. Allitt

Preserving the traditions and values of the past and applying them to the future—this is the core of the Conservative attitude.
Democracy in America
Democracy in America
by Alexis de Tocqueville

Alexis de Tocqueville's renowned analysis of American democracy still has relevance today. In 1831...
Emma Goldman Essays
 
Emma Goldman Essays
by Emma Goldman

"In the eighteen-nineties and for years thereafter, America reverberated with the name of the 'notorious Anarchist,' feminist, revolutionist and agitator, Emma Goldman."
Francis Fukuyama: The End Of History Revisited
 
Francis Fukuyama: The End Of History Revisited
by Francis Fukuyama

Many years after the publication of his 1992 book The End of History and the Last Man, author Francis Fukuyama still believes in his thesis that political & economic history is reaching its end in liberal democracy and free market capitalism.
The Future of Freedom
The Future of Freedom
by Fareed Zakaria

American democracy is, in many people's minds, the model for the rest of the world....
A History of Freedom
A History of Freedom
by J. Rufus Fears

This course examines the history of the most important single idea in the Western political tradition: freedom.
The History of the Peloponnesian War
The History of the Peloponnesian War
by Thucydides

The History of the Peloponnesian War is an account of the Peloponnesian War in Ancient Greece, fought between the Peloponnesian League (led by Sparta) and the Delian League (led by Athens) in the 5th Century BC.
Introduction to Political Philosophy
 
Introduction to Political Philosophy
by Steven B. Smith

Here we're featuring the Yale course "Introduction to Political Philosophy" taught by Professor Steven B. Smith. This course introduces you to the major political works of Plato and Aristotle along with...
Is This Still the Age of Socialism?
 
Is This Still the Age of Socialism?
by Alan Charles Kors

In this lecture from the Intercollegiate Studies Institute, award-winning professor and historian Alan Charles Kors delivers an impassioned denouncement of socialism and ponders why the United States and other liberal democracies do not denounce socialism with the same fervor that is used in attacking Nazism.
KCRW's Left, Right, and Center Podcast
KCRW's Left, Right, and Center Podcast
by Robert Scheer

Provocative, up-to-the-minute, alive and witty, KCRW's weekly confrontation over politics, policy and popular culture proves those with impeccable credentials needn't lack personality.
The Law
The Law
by Frederic Bastiat

Frederic Bastiat's "The Law" produced by FreeAudio.org is one of the best free audio books available. Bastiat's brief treatise on law is a passionate cry for his belief that law should only be put in place to maintain life, liberty, and property.
Mill's On Liberty
Mill's On Liberty
by John Stuart Mill

Mill's thinking about freedom in civic and social life examines fundamental principles shared among conservative, liberal, and radical politicians.
Nonviolence: 25 Lessons from the History of a Dangerous Idea
Nonviolence: 25 Lessons from the History of a Dangerous Idea
by Mark Kurlansky

From the prize-winning, "New York Times" bestselling author comes a provocative history that persuasively argues that the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, and World War II could have been avoided by nonviolent means.
The People and the Ballot: A History of American Party Politics
The People and the Ballot: A History of American Party Politics
by Joshua Kaplan

The study of political parties gets straight to the heart of American politics.
Plato - The Republic Podcast
Plato - The Republic Podcast
by Plato

The Republic by Plato is one of the most influential works of philosophy in history. In the form of Socratic dialogue, Plato's teacher and protagonist Socrates sets out to find an answer to the question: "What is justice?".
Plato's Republic
Plato's Republic
by David Roochnick

Plato's Republic, more than 2,000 years after its appearance, and in spite of the many provocative directions those “footnotes” have taken, still remains astonishingly relevant in its own right.
Political Theory: The Classic Texts and Their Continuing Relevance
Political Theory: The Classic Texts and Their Continuing Relevance
by Joshua Kaplan

This exciting course introduces vital works of political theory from history's greatest minds.
Politics
Politics
by Aristotle

Although over two millennia old, Aristotle’s Politics remains central to the perplexing questions posed in the study of political science.
Power Over People
Power Over People
by Dennis Dalton

This course contrasts two conflicting views that have long shaped political theory and practice—idealism and realism.

The Prince
The Prince
by Niccolo Machiavelli

Machiavelli lived in Renaissance Italy in a time marked by violent hatred between the Italian city-states.
Rights of Man
Rights of Man
by Thomas Paine

Written in 1791 as a response to Edmund Burkes Reflections on the Revolution in France, Thomas Paines Rights of Man is a seminal work on human freedom and equality.
Thomas Paine's Rights of Man
Thomas Paine's Rights of Man
by Christopher Hitchens

Thomas Paine is one of the greatest political propagandists in history. The Rights of Man, first published in 1791, is the key to his reputation.
A Time for Choosing (aka
A Time for Choosing (aka "The Speech")
by Ronald Reagan

Listen to this famous speech delivered by Ronald Reagan during the 1964 U.S. presidential election campaign on behalf of Republican candidate Barry Goldwater.
Utopia Podcast
Utopia Podcast
by Sir Thomas More

Download Sir Thomas More's famous work Utopia, published in 1515. This title refers to an imaginary society More developed in order to show the virtues of a place where...
Visions of Utopia: Philosophy and the Perfect Society
Visions of Utopia: Philosophy and the Perfect Society
by Fred E. Baumann

With the characteristically human abilities to reason and imagine comes, apparently inevitably, the longing for imaginary but plausible places and conditions...
War and Democracy in the Ancient and Contemporary Middle East
 
War and Democracy in the Ancient and Contemporary Middle East
by Victor Davis Hanson

In this streaming video lecture from UCTV, military historian Victor Davis Hanson steps back from the current conflicts in the Middle East and examines them from the perspective of classical conceptions of war.
War is a Force that Gives us Meaning with Chris Hedges
 
War is a Force that Gives us Meaning with Chris Hedges
by Chris Hedges

Veteran New York Times correspondent Chris Hedges has covered conflicts in Bosnia, El Salvador and Israel.

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