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The original School of Political Science was founded in the early 1920s and consisted of three faculty: Robert Kent Gooch, James Hart, and George Spicer. Expanding to eight faculty by 1950, the School offered 35 courses in American politics and the law, international relations, comparative government, and political theory. In 1946, the University established the Woodrow Wilson School of Foreign Affairs. The School specialized in graduate training for future government officials in foreign policy.

In 1964, the University merged the School of Political Science and the Wilson School into the Department of Government and Foreign Affairs. The Department expanded its training for future government officials by establishing the Masters in Public Affairs degree for students seeking a professional education in public administration and public policy. And the Department offered separate undergraduate degrees in Government and in Foreign Affairs, a practice that continues today. 

In recent years, the Department has focused its efforts on becoming a first-class academic political science department and less on offering professional training. In 2002, the Department elected to change its name to the Department of Politics to reflect the faculty’s commitment to integrating the four main political science subfields of American Politics, Comparative Politics, International Relations, and Political Theory.