At SFU, the Political Science Department provides a unique window into the world you live in. Virtually every moment of your day is structured in some way by decisions made by others about the food you eat, the clothes you wear, the car or buses you ride, the television you watch, or the school you work at. Governments around the world decide on policies that in some way have an effect on your life right here in British Columbia. Political science is concerned with how societies are organized and governed, with how competing ideas about what is best for a society are articulated and resolved, and how decisions in one part of the world effect the other parts. Political science provides an opportunity not just to understand how societies actually work, but also some idea of how to make them better. Students should study political science for several important reasons.