Political Philosophy and Ethics
Political Philosophy and Ethics is a research topic within Political Science and International Relations. Science Explorer counts 28k research works in it since 1950. 23.4% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.
This cluster of papers explores theoretical perspectives on global justice, including discussions on human rights, cosmopolitanism, equality, distributive justice, democratic theory, Rawlsian justice, multiculturalism, social responsibility, and international law.
- Global Justice
- Human Rights
- Cosmopolitanism
- Equality
- Distributive Justice
- Democratic Theory
- Rawlsian Justice
- Multiculturalism
- Social Responsibility
- International Law
- Research works
- 28k fractional, since 1950
- In the world top 10%
- 6.5k per year above
- Top-10% rate
- 23.4% share of its works in the world top 10%
- Growth, 2013–17 → 2018–22
- +11% the tick is no change
Which countries lead Political Philosophy and Ethics research?
By volume, the United States and the United Kingdom publish the most (1.3k and 574 works in 2022–2025).
By volume, 2022–2025
- 1 United States 1.3k works
- 2 United Kingdom 574 works
- 3 Germany 294 works
- 4 Canada 179 works
- 5 Italy 178 works
- 6 Brazil 159 works
- 7 Australia 122 works
- 8 Netherlands 118 works
- 9 China 97 works
- 10 Spain 93 works
How concentrated that is
The same countries as shares of everything the list above accounts for. A node where two countries do two thirds of the work and one spread evenly across twelve read alike as a ranking and not at all alike here.
Shares of the rows listed above, not of the whole node.
Which institutions lead Political Philosophy and Ethics research?
By volume in 2022–2025, University of Oxford publishes the most Political Philosophy and Ethics research, followed by London School of Economics and Political Science and University of Cambridge.
By volume, 2022–2025
- 1 University of OxfordUnited Kingdom 54 works
- 2 London School of Economics and Political ScienceUnited Kingdom 37 works
- 3 University of CambridgeUnited Kingdom 35 works
- 4 Aarhus UniversityDenmark 32 works
- 5 Sapienza University of RomeItaly 30 works
- 6 University of Notre DameUnited States 29 works
- 7 University of WarwickUnited Kingdom 29 works
- 8 University College LondonUnited Kingdom 27 works
- 9 University of TorontoCanada 25 works
- 10 King's College LondonUnited Kingdom 23 works
Who are the leading researchers in Political Philosophy and Ethics?
The most-cited researchers publishing on Political Philosophy and Ethics include Amartya Sen, Gordon Tullock and G. John Ikenberry.
- 1 Amartya Sen United States 4.9k citations
- 2 Gordon Tullock United States 3.2k citations
- 3 G. John Ikenberry United States 3k citations
- 4 Robert O. Keohane United States 2.7k citations
Ranked by citations received across their whole record, among researchers with at least three works on this topic.
Where is Political Philosophy and Ethics research done?
The largest centres of Political Philosophy and Ethics research in 2022–2025 are London (United Kingdom), New York (United States), Oxford (United Kingdom) and Rome (Italy). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Notre Dame and Coventry.
Largest cities, 2022–2025
Where it is the local speciality
- Notre DameUS · 29.4 works22×
- CoventryGB · 30.1 works11×
Location quotient: how much more of its research is in Political Philosophy and Ethics than the world average.
Where is the best place to study Political Philosophy and Ethics?
Among universities, judged by research, University of Oxford, University of Groningen and Aarhus University score highest, combining excellence, specialisation, size, growth and international reach. Research strength is one signal when choosing where to study; it does not measure teaching.
One dot per university in the table below. The upper left is the interesting corner: small places doing unusually strong work.
| # | University | Score | Top 10% | Specialisation | Works | Growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | University of OxfordUnited Kingdom | 76.1 | 35.0% | 10.0× | 54 | +28.4% |
| 2 | University of GroningenNetherlands | 74.7 | 59.6% | 8.7× | 18 | +44.9% |
| 3 | Aarhus UniversityDenmark | 74.5 | 45.7% | 10.5× | 32 | -0.6% |
| 4 | King's College LondonUnited Kingdom | 67.0 | 41.0% | 7.2× | 23 | +123.6% |
| 5 | University of CambridgeUnited Kingdom | 65.3 | 29.5% | 7.7× | 35 | +77.9% |
| 6 | London School of Economics and Political ScienceUnited Kingdom | 63.5 | 24.2% | 37.3× | 38 | -0.2% |
| 7 | University of OsloNorway | 63.2 | 44.5% | 8.0× | 17 | +29.3% |
| 8 | Vrije Universiteit AmsterdamNetherlands | 62.7 | 24.6% | 8.6× | 14 | +190.2% |
| 9 | Stockholm UniversitySweden | 62.0 | 37.9% | 12.9× | 18 | -32.7% |
| 10 | University of WarwickUnited Kingdom | 61.6 | 25.6% | 15.1× | 29 | -4.0% |
Universities only. Score blends excellence (30%), specialisation (25%), size (20%), growth (15%) and international reach (10%), 2015–2022; growth compares 2010–14 with 2015–19.
Is Political Philosophy and Ethics research growing?
Output in 2018–2022 was 11% higher than in 2013–2017, peaking in 2023. The fastest-growing topics are Political Philosophy and Ethics.
The same series as a ribbon — one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.
Which topics inside it are moving
Growth and decline on one axis around a shared zero. Two lists side by side hide the thing that matters: whether the growth dwarfs the decline, or the other way round.