SCOPE OF POLITICAL SCIENCE The scope of political science refers to its subject matter. There has been a tremendous increase in the number of issues which is now being analyzed under the realm of Political Science. There are discussions on the theories of state origin, sovereignty, law, liberty, rights, forms and organs of government, representation, state functions, political parties, pressure groups, public opinion, and ideologies such as capitalism, socialism, communism, etc., international relations and institutions.
The International Political Science Association meeting in Paris in 1948 classified the scope of Political Science into four zones:
1. Political theory,
2. Political institutions,
3. Political dynamics
4. International relations.
POLITICAL THEORY
Political theory deals with the fundamental concepts of political science like state, government, justice, liberty, equality, law, sovereignty, separation of power, modes of representation, forms of government, grounds of political obligation and various ideologies.
POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY
Political philosophy takes a theoretical and speculative overview of these fundamental concepts. A political institution is concerned with the study of formal political institutions like the state and the government, the legislature, the executive, the judiciary, the electorate, and the administration. Political dynamics refers to the forces and processes which operate within the government and politics such as political parties, pressure groups, interest groups, lobbies, public opinion, propaganda, etc. Apart from these four zones political science also deals with three other areas which are public administration, international relations, and international law and relations between the state and the individual.
PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
Public administration deals with the organization, control, and coordination of administrative machinery, personnel administration, financial administration, public relations, management
LAW AND ADJUDICATION
It also covers the study of local self-governing institutions like corporations, municipalities.
Conclusion:
Therefore, broadly speaking Political Science deals with two sorts of topics, one which is based on empirical facts and the other which is value-based. There has been a long tradition in Political Science of dealing with value-based issues or things as they ought to be based on the preferences of individual philosophers. Based on value preferences, philosophers have sought to make generalizations regarding state, government as well as the structures and processes associated with them. However such generalizations are n‟t be made without any consideration to the political realities.
Therefore it would be wrong to say that all traditionalists have ignored empirical facts at the altar of value orientations. The fact is that it was only after industrialization and behavioral revolution that empirical methods came to occupy center-stage in Political Science.
The primary focus here is on the actual nature, structure, and working of the political systems so as to derive factual propositions and generalizations. However, both traditional and empirical methods have their limitations. Therefore the third kind of approach which is basically a combination of the traditional and empirical approach has emerged which is basically prescriptive in nature and seeks to bridge the gap between what is and what ought to be. For example, proposals for political reform such as anti-defection measures and prescriptions for improving the political system like parliamentary versus a presidential form of government are generally based on normative considerations. At the same time, these also involve the examination and evaluation of factual data. Discussions with such an evaluative overtone can be called prescriptive. All the above discussions together constitute the scope of political science.