Political Science Notes

What is Political Science?

Why Politics Matters?

• Michael Roskin and other authors argue that politics matters in their book, Political Science: An Introduction.
• If you don't take an interest in politics, others will influence decisions that govern you.
• Crucial questions raised:
  • Will they take us to war, and who will fight?
  • Will they alter the tax code to favor certain entities, and who will pay the taxes others avoid?
  • Will they set up programs with escalating costs, and who will pay those costs?
• The authors make you aware of how politics works so you can protect yourself from manipulation.
• "The ignorant are manipulated."

Features of Politics

• Many find politics distasteful; it may seem inherently immoral due to misuse of power and corruption.
• However, you don't need to like what you study.
• Analogy: Biologists study disease-causing bacteria without liking it to understand its growth, damage, and eradication.
• Political science is the objective analysis of politics, which may or may not aid working politicians.

Comparison of Politicians and Political Scientists

Definition of Political Science

• The word "Politics" originates from Ancient Greece, where cities like Athens and Sparta were referred to as city states.
• The Greek word "Polis" translates to city state.
• "Politics" from "Polis" (City state).
• "Science" from "Scire" (to know, study, knowledge).
• Political Science is the study of State and Government.
• Aristotle: "Man is by nature a political animal."
• Social existence inherently involves politics; interactions between people invariably involve political relationships.
• Aristotle argued that maximizing individual capabilities and attaining the highest form of social life requires political interaction within an institutionalized setting (the state), designed to resolve social conflict and set collective goals.
• Political science is the science of the state, focusing on state, government, and law.
• It deals with the organization of governments and their activities in making/administering law and interstate relations.
• It concerns political institutions and political ideas.
• Political theories and ideals powerfully influence state development, e.g., ideological conflicts between democratic and autocratic countries.
• Political science deals with the origin of the state and attempts to describe, compare, and classify existing political institutions and ideas while also looking to the future.
• Raymond Garfield Gettell: “Political Science is thus a study of the state in the past, present and future; of political organization and political function; of political institutions and political theories.”
• Harold Lasswell: political science is “who gets what, when and how” and is the study of “shaping and sharing of power.”
• Encyclopedia Britannica: political science is the systematic study of government process by the application of scientific methods of political events.

Nature of Political Science

1. Flexibility

   • Traditional thinkers saw it as the study of state and government, but now it encompasses numerous aspects of the political behavior of individuals and groups.

2. Controversy

   • Where there are issues, there must be controversy. Wasby: “Where no controversy exists, where no issues are being debated, politics does not exist”.

3. Disagreement

   • J. D. B. Miller emphasizes the disagreement nature of politics in his book The Nature of Politics. If there were no disagreement among individuals or organizations, political action could not get any scope to emerge.

4. Consensus

   • Despite disagreements, politics also involves consensus. Entities debate but also arrive at agreed terms or solutions.

5. Power and Influence

   • Modern political scientists (Lasswell and Robert Dahl) believe politics involves power and influence: Who gets What, When, and How?

6. Pervasiveness

   • Politics exists in all forms of state and society.

7. Conflict Resolution

   • Politics includes institutional arrangements for the settlement of conflicts.

Scope of Political Science

• Focusing on state: Some writers, like Bluntschli, restrict the scope of political science to the study of the state alone, implicitly including government.
• Focusing on government: Robson argued that the purpose of Political Science is to throw light on political ideas and political actions so that the government of man may be improved.
• Focusing on state and government: Harold Laski takes a realist view that the scope of Political Science embraces the study of both the State and the Government. Government is the helmsman of the ship of the State.
• Sub-disciplines:
  • Political Theory
  • Comparative Politics
  • International Relations
  • Public Administration
  • Constitutional Law
  • Public Policy
• These sub-disciplines cover the entire gamut of the modern political economy and provide the basis for the study and understanding of how the global political economy works.

Is Political Science a Science?

• Original meaning of science: simply “knowledge”, or “to Know”.
• Later, natural sciences took over the term. Now science is thought of as precise and factual, supported by experiments and data.
• Some political scientists quantify data and manipulate them statistically to validate hypotheses. They usually focus on small questions : such as public opinion, election returns, and congressional voting.
• Large areas are not quantifiable, such as why leaders make decisions (often made in secrecy, even in democracies).
• Political science is an empirical discipline that accumulates quantified and qualitative data.
• Political scientists generalize; firmer generalizations become theories.
• Political science cannot be an exact science because its laws and conclusions cannot be expressed precisely, and it cannot accurately predict political events.
• Social and political relations are constantly changing.
• However, if a science is a mass of knowledge concerning a particular subject, acquired by systematic observation, experience, and study, then political science may justly claim to be a science.
• General laws can be deduced from a systematic study of its material, and the conclusions drawn from the study of political problems.

Political Science—The Master Science

• Aristotle called politics “the master science,” meaning that almost everything happens in a political context; decisions of the polis governed most other things.
• Lasswell: Politics is the study of “who gets what”.
• Objection: the economic system determines who gets what in a free market. But can there be a totally free market with no government involvement?
• Decisions like bailing out shaky banks spark controversy, but economists may argue it was necessary to save the economy. Politics is intimately connected to economies.

Connections to Other Disciplines

• History
  • History is a key source of data for political scientists.
  • Example: studying the growth of presidential power under Roosevelt (1933-1945) or the Cold War.
  • Historians are reluctant to generalize, but political scientists seek generalizations and make comparisons between regimes, periods, or leaders.
• Economics
  • Some economists claim economics is the subject matter of politics (Lasswell's "who gets what?").
  • Sufficient economic development may be the basis for democracy; a declining economy may doom democracy.
  • Questions: What policies promote economic development? Is the euro currency uniting or dividing Europe? (Impact of Brexit, role of tourism in Russia-Turkey relations).
  • ‘Political economy’ is a new school of political science.
• Sociology
  • Sociology and political science overlap. Political science starts by looking at society to see “who thinks what about politics.” Lipset showed the connection between democracy and level of wealth.
• Psychology
  • Psychology contributes to understanding which personalities are attracted to politics, why people obey authority, and how people form national, group, and voting attachments. Studies of Hitler, Stalin, and Mao Zedong are often based on psychological theories.
• Ethics
  • The origin of moral ideas is closely connected with the origin of the state.
  • Right and wrong were distinguished with political sanction.
  • The proper form and functions of government must be determined on the basis of the ethical compromise that secures the greatest good to the individual.