Department History

National Taiwan University, formerly known as Taipei Imperial University during the Japanese colonial era, was founded in 1945 after the island’s sovereignty had been transferred to the Republic of China government. The Department of Political Science was established two years later in 1947 under the supervision of the Faculty of Law. In 1963, the department underwent its first departmental reform— dividing itself into three sub-divisions: political theory, international relations, and public administration. Each of the sub-divisions recruited students separately, and over five thousand students have received their degrees from the department up to now. In February of 1957, the Department of Political Science expanded once again— adding a graduate program offering master’s degrees in political theory, international relations, and public administration. In 1976, nineteen years after the second departmental reform, the department created a doctoral program, accepting students who are keen to pursue an academic career in political science. In 2001, the department established a program granting an Executive Masters of Public Administration. Its aim is to give high-level professionals in the public and private sectors an opportunity to further their academic pursuits, and to promote linkages between theory and practice.