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 Political Science Department 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 a thousand students received their degrees from the department in its first forty years.
In February of 1957, the Political Science Department expanded once again—adding a graduate program offering master's degrees in international relations, public administration and political theory. In 1976, nineteen years after the second departmental reform, the department created a doctoral program, accepting students who wanted to pursue an academic career in political science. In 2001, the department established a program granting an Executive Masters of Public Administration. Its aim was to give high-level professionals in the public and private sectors an opportunity for further their academic pursuits, and to promote linkage between theory and practice.
The political science undergraduate department, divided into three sub-divisions, offers nowadays a great variety of courses. Students are encouraged to enroll in any course of personal interest from a vast array of classes from all departments. However, the department does require its students to complete some mandatory courses. This policy is tailor-made according to those course-requirements stipulated by the Ministry of Education (varying from one sub-division to another). Course designs for each sub-division are carefully planned to prepare undergraduates either for future academic studies or for their future professional needs.
The graduate institute, on the other hand, aims to develop professionals in the academic fields of political science. Similar to the undergraduate department, the graduate program is also divided into three sub-divisions: international relations, public administration and political theory. Each also recruits students individually. The doctoral program is not divided into sub-divisions since the number of students is small. Doctoral students are encouraged to focus on research in their respective fields of interests, to select courses related to professional needs and, not least, to produce high caliber academic works.
The head of the department, who also serves as the head of the graduate institute, is responsible for handling numerous administrative tasks such as hiring, course planning, library selections, equipment purchasing, and the solicitation of research endowments. Since 1946, there has been 18 department heads. They have been, in chronological order: professors Shih-hong Chen, Chong-wen Wan, Shan-lin Lee, Shung-sheng Lei, Ming-ming Peng, Chu-Gui Huang, Tsai-tien Chao, Kuo-shin Chen, Lien Chan, Chieng-han Chang, Song-shih Yuan, Geng Wu, Cheng-wen Tsai, Ching-fu Hsu, Tzong-ho Bau, Chu-cheng Ming, and Lang Kao. The current department head is professor Tsai-tsu Su who began her leadership tenure in 2005.
The social science departments of NTU were ranked in the top 50 globally, and in the top 4 in Asia, by the British newspapers《The Times》 and《The Times’ Higher Education Supplement》. This kind of recognition can be seen as a positive affirmation of the social sciences at NTU by the international academic community.