POLITICAL SCIENCE
DEFINITION/MEANING
NATURE
INTRODUCTION OF POLITICAL SCIENCE
Political science is that branch of
the social sciences that study the state, politics, and government. Political
science
deals extensively with the analysis
of political systems, the
theoretical and practical applications to
politics, and the
Examination of political behavior.
MEANING OF POLITICAL SCIENCE:
political science, occasionally called ‘politology’, is a social science that deals with the system of governance, and the analysis of political activities, political thoughts, associated with constitutions, and political behavior
DEFINITION:
The Greek thinker Aristotle define
political science as
“ the study of the state ”
NATURE:
Politics according to Aristotle and other thinkers are as old as human civilization and its importance could be gauged from the fact that it touches every aspect of human life, be it economy, culture, social relations, or ethical norms. Therefore, one pertinent question which comes to mind is what does politics mean and what comprises its nature and scope?
The following sections deal with these queries. The meaning of politics has varied with time and place. While in Greece and India it was associated with ethics and conceived in theological terms during the medieval ages it was Machiavelli in the west and Kausalya in India who gave realistically orientation to politics.
The word „politics‟ is derived from the Greek word „polis‟ which means the state and therefore the term „political‟ refers to anything related to the state. Political Science, is, therefore, defined as the science of the state encompassing the government and organization and theory and practice of the state. This is a traditional view of Political Science supported by thinkers like R G Gettel, J W Garner, Bluntschli, Paul Janet, George Catlin, Hans Eulan, and many others.
However, this is a very narrow definition of Political Science as within the state there are other institutions and organizations like NGOs ‟s and trade Unions which though informal have bearings on public policies and individual lives. Thus modern political thinkers like Laswell and Robert Dahl have defined politics in terms of power, authority, and influence. Laswell and Kaplan have therefore defined Political Science as the “study of shaping and sharing of power” which has shifted the focus from the mere study of structures and institutions to the study of actions and processes.
definition of Political Science by Miller and Peter B Harris has defined it as the study of conflict resolution. According to Harris, “the modern emphasis in the study of politics is laid on disagreements and reconciliation or the resolution of these disagreements”.
From the above discussion, it could be culled out that the definition of Political Science has changed according to the changed circumstances and the changing perception of the scholars of the discipline. Roughly speaking these definitions could be grouped into traditional and modern approaches to political science.
While the traditional approach has defined political science as the study of the state, government, and formal institutions laying emphasis on the study of formal legal structures and theoretical part, the modern approach has emphasized the study of what is actually happening in the state; various forces, processes, and informal structures operating within the state. Another debate that has dominated the modern approach to political science has been as to whether political science could be placed under the ambit of pure science?
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THEORY OF POLITICAL SCIENCE
With the rise of Political Science as a distinct discipline, Political Theory was made one of its subfields. Political Science is concerned with describing and explaining the realities of political behavior, generalizations about men and political institutions on empirical evidence, and the role of power in society. Political theory, on the other hand, is not only concerned with the behavioral study of political phenomena empirically but also prescribes the goals that state, governments, societies, and citizens ought to pursue. Therefore it is being questioned as to whether the discipline of political science could be described as pure science and various explanations have been put both for and against it.
Unlike natural
science, political science lacks consensus among scholars regarding its
definition, nature, and terminology. Also, its principles can‟t be allied
universally as they lack precision and clarity like the principles of natural
science where two plus two is always equal to four. This is because political
science deals with human beings whose actions are unpredictable and not liable
to laboratory experimentation. Therefore a middle approach in political science
emerged in the form of post-behaviouralism and political science came to be
regarded as both science and art. Robert Dahl states, “political science is both
science and art. Whenever students of political science test their theories
against the data of experience by observation, political analysis can be
regarded as scientific. When this political analysis is applied to the working
of political institutions it is an art.