This timeline spans approximately 1500 years: from the early thinkers through religious governance during the Middle Ages; the Reformation and Enlightenment; the disenchantment with monarchy and the rise of democracy. The ideas of seminal thinkers have shaped the concepts and processes with which we govern ourselves today.

Most political philosophers build on the works of their predecessors, crafting arguments for or against those ideas, or modifying them to incorporate and justify new insights. These insights profoundly affect our disciplines, our theoretical frameworks, and our views of the world and the role of social change in society.

Items in the timeline are color coded by category; the categories used in this timeline are: 1) Governance (green); 2) Public Policy (blue); 3) Policy Theory (light blue); 4) Public Administration (violet); 5) PA Theory (light purple); 6) Political Philosophers (yellow); and 7) Disciplinary Influences (khaki) - those intellectual influences that span disciplines.