Define political science ?Explain its nature and scope
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Political science is a social science and like its sister subjects it revolves around man and his social (Political) environment. Being one of the oldest social sciences its nature and scope of the study have undergone several changes over the centuries. Political Science first began with the Greeks. The term ‘Politics’ is derived from the Greek word ‘Polis’ which means ‘city-states’ (Polity meaning Government, politeia meaning Constitution) and each city in those days was an independent state, a principality in its own right. E.g. Athens, Sparta, Corinth The word politics has different interpretations. From Plato to Easton it has been interpreted in different ways. Definitions of politics vary according to the variety of activities that have been considered political from time to time
Nature-
Whether politics can be considered a science has been a long standing controversy. Aristotle adopted a scientific approach to the study of the discipline. He separated the study of politics form ethics and law, examined and compared constitutions (158) and classified governments into meaningful categories. On the other hand James Bryce, Charles Beard and Harold Laski are of the opinion that politics is not a science. It is said that the nomenclature Political Science owes its origin to William Godwin and Mary Wollstonecraft.
Science is systematised body of knowledge about any phenomenon which is governed by its own laws. Science is based on collection of data, generalisations, accuracy and verification or experimentations. Let’s try to test political science on these grounds
Scope-
According to Willoughby, political science has to deal with three great topics: State, Government and Law. The view of Prof. Goodnow is that political science divided itself into three distinct parts: the expression of the state will, the content of the state will as expressed and the execution of the state will. At the UNESCO conference held in September 1948, distinguished political scientists from the various parts of the world marked out the subject-matter of political science which included 1) Political theory 2) Political Institutions 3) Political Dynamiics and 4) International Relations.
As the importance of political science is increasing day by day , its scope is also increasing and becoming wider.
Nature-
Whether politics can be considered a science has been a long standing controversy. Aristotle adopted a scientific approach to the study of the discipline. He separated the study of politics form ethics and law, examined and compared constitutions (158) and classified governments into meaningful categories. On the other hand James Bryce, Charles Beard and Harold Laski are of the opinion that politics is not a science. It is said that the nomenclature Political Science owes its origin to William Godwin and Mary Wollstonecraft.
Science is systematised body of knowledge about any phenomenon which is governed by its own laws. Science is based on collection of data, generalisations, accuracy and verification or experimentations. Let’s try to test political science on these grounds
Scope-
According to Willoughby, political science has to deal with three great topics: State, Government and Law. The view of Prof. Goodnow is that political science divided itself into three distinct parts: the expression of the state will, the content of the state will as expressed and the execution of the state will. At the UNESCO conference held in September 1948, distinguished political scientists from the various parts of the world marked out the subject-matter of political science which included 1) Political theory 2) Political Institutions 3) Political Dynamiics and 4) International Relations.
As the importance of political science is increasing day by day , its scope is also increasing and becoming wider.
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