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The Nature and Scope of Political Science

The nature & scope of

political science

The nature & scope of

political science

introductionintroduction

What is science, politics & political

science

What is science, politics & political

science

Scope of political science

Scope of political science

approachesapproaches

Basic Methodologies of Political Science

Basic Methodologies of Political Science

Is Political Science a Science?

Is Political Science a Science?

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introductionTheories of political Study of human behavioral Political scientists serve as researchers and academicians – policy making of government Power – Authority – influence

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What is science, politics & political science

science

politics

political science

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‘to know’ (Latin word)Any form of systematic knowledge on specific fieldBaseline – human knowledge

science

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politicsGreek words ‘Polis’ (community or city) and ‘Poli’ (many)“Who gets what, when & how”(Lasswell, 1958)“Political acts” as those that “authoritatively allocate values in a society” (Easton, 1953)Art of living & working together (New approach)

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political scienceStudy of the origins, development & operation of political systemStudy of government (the state), the structure and activities of the statesStudy of how to govern wellPower and allocation of power

Conclusion:i) Politics involves conflictsii) Most political conflicts is group

conflictiii) The study of politics involves

understanding how people govern themselves & the consequences of the political process.

definitionsAristotle - “Master Science” –Knowledge & understanding to those who controlled the state. Lasswell - “Who gets what, when & how”Austin Ranney - The study of the process of making public decisions & of the individuals & the institutions that participate in this process.

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scope of political sciencei) Political Theory

Plato, Aristotle, Marx, Montesquieu, Ibn Khaldun, Al-Farabi etc.

ii) International relationsForeign, national security policies, diplomacy etc.

iii) Comparative political & Government Broadest & most challenging

iv) Public Administration Managing & administering government

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approaches

i) Traditional

This approaches are used to explore & explain certain political situation or political event. They were used to explain the conditions of a society in a state, the international politics & examined the Behaviour of individual, group & political institution.

ii) Philosophical iii) Institutionalismiv) Legalisticv) Behaviouralismvi) Developmentalismvii) The Political System

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Traditional Can be analysed in 2 aspects:i) the actions / activities by the societyii) process of data collection &

distributing information

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Philosophical This approach emphasized on political ideas, concepts, doctrine & theories. Aristotle, Hobbes, Karl Marx and Plato.Important to find the answer for any issues or problems relating to social, economy and political.

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InstitutionalismFocuses on government institution.Corruption or misuse of power –legislative body, executive body and judicial body.

Montesquieu

(Theory of Separation of Power)

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LegalisticStudy of political science to the legal system.The legalistic approach views political science as the primary study of constitutions and legal codes. Legalistic approach as simply as historical study

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Behaviouralism This approach emphasized on study of these matters:i) The actual behaviour of human in political

processii) The role & participation of people or individual in

politicaliii) Utilized the scientific study in order that the

process of exploring will be systematically planned and arranged.

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DevelopmentalismThis approach gives attention to issues such as:i) Changes in the form of government & militaryii) The expansion of political institution of the stateiii) National investment and developmentiv) The development of the rule & regulationsv) The distribution of national resources such as

money, capital goods, industrial products & manpower

vi) Conflicts in society and social problems

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The Political System

Political system

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p

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environment

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Action

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implementation

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Introduced by David Easton (1979)

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Is Political Science a Science?These advocates of the scientific approach argue as follows:-i) Human behavior is complex ii) These behavior patterns or

regularities can be discovered & verified through careful, systematic observations

iii) On the basis of these observations & by the use of statistics & mathematics laws can be formulated on how politics operates. BackBackBack

Basic Methodologies of Political Sciencei) The Observational Methodii) The Experimental Methodiii) The Historical Methodiv) The Comparative Methodv) The Method of Analogyvi) The Statistical or the Quantitative

Methodvii) The Philosophical Method

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The Observational MethodBased on direct observation and reflection – It helps in arriving at certain political principles.

The Experimental MethodExperimental in Political Science can never be repeated. For the political researcher every change in the governmental structure, law or policy has significance, as it is the result of experiment.

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The Historical Method

Gilchrist remarks, “The source of experiments of political science is history, they rest on observation and experience. Laski, must be an effort to codify the results of experience in the history of states.

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The Comparative Method

Those that have existed in the past, to assemble a definite body of material from which the investigator, by selection, comparison and eliminationmay discover the ideal types and progressive forces of political history.

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The Method of Analogy

This is an inductive method made use by Herbert Spencer. State and an organism possess the sustaining, distributaries and the regulating systems and both exhibit the same process of development.

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The Statistical or the Quantitative Method

It attempts to describe and measure in quantitative terms and is especially applied to the study of political parties and public opinion. It has also been extended to the study of comparative government and international relations.

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The Philosophical MethodThe deductive method implies reasoning for developing particular conclusions from a number of general principles or propositions that are assumed to be true. This method of investigation starts from some abstract original idea about human nature and draws deduction from that idea as to the nature of the State. It then attempts to harmonize its theories with the actual facts of history.

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