Political Science

It is the systematic study of and

reflection upon politics. Politics
usually describes the processes
by which people and
institutions exercise and
resist power.
 Politics Science

• Politics = an activity through which Human beings

attempt to improve their lives and create the Good
Society.
• Actually, it is an activity through which people make,
preserve and amend the general rules under which
they live.
• Science = Knowledge

What is the Political Science?

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MAN IS BY NATURE A
POLITICALANIMAL.

ARISTOTLE
Political Science is the systematic
study of the state and government.

The word political is derived from the

Greek polis, meaning a city, of what
today would be equivalent of
sovereign state.

Science comes from the Latin scire,

“to know”
 1. Social science discipline
2. Concerned with the study of the state,
government, and politics.
3. Aristotle defined it as the study of the state.
4. It deals extensively with;
1. the theory and practice of politics,
2. the analysis of political systems and
political behavior.

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 1. economics, 9. National politics,
2. law, 10. International
3. sociology, relations,
4. history, 11. Comparative politics,
5. anthropology, 12. Psychology,
6. Public 13. Political organization
Administration, 14. Political theory.
7. Public Policy,

Political science intersects with other fields

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 Eight Sectors of Political Science

1. Political behavior
(Studies of public opinion, elections, interest
groups, and political parties)
2. Political Institutions
(Study national governments, Parliament, the
presidency, Prime Ministership, bureaucracy and
courts)

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 3. Public Law
(The study of legal reasoning and why courts hand down the
decisions they do.)
4. Public Policy
(The analysis of the product of politics, the kinds of policies that
are laid down. & why) /
& Public Administration
(the implementation of public policy)

Eight Sectors of Political Science

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 5. State and local Politics
(The study of all of these but the level of states and localities
rather than the country as a whole.)
6. Comparative politics, including area studies
(The science of comparison and teaching of different types of
constitutions, political actors, legislature and associated fields all
of them from an interstate perspective.)

Eight Sectors of Political Science

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 7. International Politics
(The study of politics between states; the making of common
decisions for a group of states through wars, diplomacy and so
on.)
International Relations
(the interaction between nation-states as well as
intergovernmental and transnational organizations.)

8. Political theory/ Political philosophy

(the reasoning for an absolute normative government, laws and
similar questions and their distinctive characteristics.)

Eight Sectors of Political Science

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 Why Study???
• Education for citizenship
• Essential part of liberal education
• Knowledge and understanding of
government,state and political
institutions
How do we study Political Science?
• Studying political behavior (behavioralist
approach)
• Studying political structure and functions
(structural-functional approach)
• Studying political phenomena
(phenomenological approach)
• Studying political ideas (philosophical
approach
• Studying political documents
 Scope of Political Science

• Political Theory
• Political Institutions
• Political dynamics
• International relations
 Political Theory
• It deals with the definition and
fundamental concepts of political
science like state, government, law,
liberty, equality, democracy,
justice and sovereignty,etc.
 Political Institutions
• It is concerned with a study of
formal political institutions such as
the state and instruments through
which it runs the government.
 Political Dynamics
• The term refers to the forces and
process at work in government and
politics. They influence and explain
political actions. They include the
study of political parties.
 International Relations
• International Relations (IR) is the
study of relationships among
countries.
• International relations draws
Intellectual materials from the
fields of technology, engineering,
economics and history
Interrelationship of Political
Science with other branches
of learning:
1.History
“History is past politics and
politics is present history.”
Political Scientist adopts a
“historical approach and
employs knowledge of the past
when he seeks to interpret
present and probable
developments in political
phenomena.
2. Economics

Refers to the study of

production, distribution, and
conservation, and
consumption of wealth.
Political Scientist adopts an
“economic approach” when
seeking to interpret matters
like public financial policies
and government regulation of
business and international
politics.
3. Geography- Geopolitics
It is concerned with the study of
the influences of physical factors
such as population pressures,
sources of raw materials,
geography, climate change, etc.
upon domestic and foreign
politics.
4. Sociology & anthropology
It is deeply concerned with the
origins and nature of social
control and governmental
authority, with the abiding
influences of race and culture
upon society, & with the patterns
of collective human behavior.
5. Psychology
It promotes studies of the
mental and emotional processes
motivating the political behavior of
individuals and groups. Particular
topics under this are: public
opinion, pressure groups, and
propaganda.
6. Philosophy
The concepts and doctrines of
Plato, Aristotle & Locke and
others, are important to the
specialist in academic
philosophy and also to the
political scientist.
7. Statistics and Logic
Political theorist must have
abroad background &
knowledge of current political
problems and he must employ
scientific methods in gathering
and evaluating the data & in
drawing conclusions.
8. Jurisprudence
This branch of public law is
concerned with the analysis of
existing legal systems & also
with the ethical, historical,
sociological, & psychological
foundations of law.
 Sub-Fields of Political Science
• Political Theory
• Comparatives Politics
• International Relations
• Political Research Methods
• Public Policy, etc
 Approaches of Studying Political
Science
• TRADITIONAL APPROACH
approaches and methods employed in political enquiry by thinkers from
Plato to the 20th century constitute the traditional approach. It consists
of a collection of approaches used in the classical and institutional
periods. These approaches include the idealistic, philosophical, ethical,
normative as well as historical legal-institutional, comparative and
analytical.

• BEHAVIOURAL APPROACH
includes the organizational structure, the process, decision making and
action, the politics of control, the policies and actions, electoral process,
patterns of political interaction, etc. It emphasised on individual
behaviour instead of political institution as the basic unit of analysis.
• POST-BEHAVIOURAL APPROACH
Post behaviouralism is both a movement and intellectual tendency.
Post-behaviouralism is future-oriented. This new development is then a
genuine revolution, not a reaction, not preservation, a reform not a
counter-revolution. It is just a continuation of the former, i.e.,
behaviouralism taking it to a higher stage. Post behaviouralists argued
that political scientists should be more concerned with values, with
issues of justice, freedom, equality and with political activity.

•MARXIST APPROACH
• Marxist approach to political analysis is primarily associated with the
contributions of Karl Marx. The significance of the Marxist approach is
due to its emphasis on production and distribution of goods in assessing
social changes and political revolutions. This is quite different from
traditionalism and behaviouralism. The primary aspects of Marxism are
dialectical and materialistic concept of history, Critique of capitalism and
advocacy of proletarian revolution
 See the following videos
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQ
K0Xbfel-M
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fx
vrMtgETy8