Department of Political Science

The Department of Political Science was established on 18 September 1957 with the appointment of Dr.V.K.Sukumaran Nayar as Head of the Department. The Department of Politics was declared as a Department of Study and Research of the University with ex-officio membership in the Senate for the Head of the Department. A Board of Post-Graduate Studies in Politics was constituted with Dr. V.K.Sukumaran Nayar as Chairman and with the late Prof.R.Bhaskaran of Madras University, Dr.K.B.Y.Thotappa of Mysore University, Prof. J.Ramachandran of Presidency College(former Vice-Chancellor, Madurai University) the late Prof.K.P.Pillay (Professor of History and Politics of the University College and Professor of Politics of the S.N.College,Quilon) and the late Prof.V.Narayana Pillay(later on acting Vice-Chancellor of the Kerala University ) as members. The Board of Studies revised the courses of studies in Politics at the Post-Graduate level providing for specialisation in four branches, Political Theory, Comparative Politics, Public Administration and International Relations. The Department had conducted several summer institutes, workshops and seminars from the early period itself.

The Department celebrated its Silver Jubilee during 1983-84 and the Golden jubilee Celebrations in 2007. During the last 52 years the Department of Political Science has emerged as the leading Post-Graduate Research Centre in South India especially in the areas of Indian Politics with special focus on state and Society in Kerala, International Politics, Comparative Politics and Public Administration. The Department has already produced 100 Ph.Ds and 150 M.Phil dissertations in different areas of political science. It has earned a special place in the study of psephology being the first state in the country to conduct a scientific analysis of voting behaviour, as early as 1965.Since 1996, the Department has been continuously engaging in numerous empirical studies, both on the eve of elections and otherwise to gauge the socio-political mood of the people on contemporary issues.