Mohammed Khalid: Science of Politics; Old Trends and New approaches

8/9/2019 Mohammed Khalid: Science of Politics; Old Trends and New approaches

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Science of Politics: old trends and new approaches

By

Mohammed KhalidDepartment of Evening Studies

Panjab University, Chandigarh

[email protected]

Political Science as a subject is an organized body of knowledge about the

state and government. It analyses the public policy, law and politics. It creates an

understanding about how groups of people govern themselves, how policies are

made and how to improve the governmental policies at the local, state, national and

international levels. It also concerns itself with the theory and practice of politicsand analysis of political behaviour and political systems.1 The focus of political

science is the systematic study of all the aspects of government in its broadest sense

and by the best scientific methods available. It encompasses the origins of political

regimes, their structures and functions, the ways governments discover and deal

with socio-economic problems and interaction of groups and individuals that play a

role in establishing, maintaining and changing the governments.2

The subject matter of political science has revolved around government

which is the most fundamental human institution. Before originating in the 19th

century in its present form, it was studied in the form of politics in different parts

of the world in some form or the other. The study of politics is originally found in

ancient India and Greece. At that time much of the writings in politics were

philosophical and theoretical with its chief interest as what the government should

be? Its literature had tended to be utopian describing hypothetical ideal states and a

good life in them. Imbedded in moral and political philosophy it was concerned with

normative determination of what ought to be the characteristic of an ideal state. 3

In ancient India, different texts have discussed about the intrigues and power

politics in the courts of various kings and rulers. Kautilya (also called Chankya) is

regarded as one of the earliest political thinkers, economist and king maker ancient

India had produced. He elaborated inArtha Shastra as to how the king can control a

limited sized kingdom, the ways a states economy should be organized, how the

ministers should be chosen and war conducted and taxation should be collected and

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mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]


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distributed. TheArtha Shastra is a primary source of theory and practice of political

economy in ancient India. It is entirely practical in purpose with no overt

philosophy. It discusses the human nature, its corruptibility and the ways in whichthe king can take advantage of such human weaknesses.4

Greek view of politics

Study of politics in the West can be traced back much before Plato and

Aristotle, but it was the Greeks who initiated a systematic study of Politics. 5 The

City-States (polis) in Greek world gave rise to the political philosophy of Plato and

Aristotle. The philosophy of Plato revolved around the creation of an Ideal State

with a philosopher king at the head of its administration. He opposed the institutionof family and property for the rulers and rejected democracy arguing that every body

was not fit to rule. He suggested a thorough education programme to select the

potential philosophers and train them to be perfect rulers. Plato addressed the

question of justice arguing that justice in the soul is linked to justice in the City-

State.6

Aristotle in his Politics viewed man as a rational animal, and gave an

account of political institutions. He emphasized that perfect human virtues can be

exercised only in the perfect state and each kind of state has its own peculiar virtues

and vices. Aristotle defined the constitution as "a certain ordering of the inhabitants

of the city-state" or "the way of life" of the citizens.7 Both Plato and Aristotle were

the philosophers of city-states and viewed politics as such in that context.

Roman view of politics

The study of politics during the Roman Empire was oriented towards

understanding history, methods of governance and description of operations of

government.8 Polybius in his Universal History elaborated as to how and why the

civilized countries of the world fell under the dominion of Rome. He listed the facts

and events and discovered the causes behind them to draw lessons for the future. 9

Titus Livius (59 BC to 17 AD), the famous Roman historian also known as Livy,

demonstrated in his historical accounts that the Rome had been destined for

greatness even in its days of humble origin in the 3rd century BC.10 Cicero (106 to 43

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BC) the Roman statesman and a famous orator wrote extensively about the politics

and customs of ancient Rome. The Roman Empire which expanded through

conquest and annexation between third century BC and third century ADencompassed all the lands of the Mediterranean. To control the system of

administration the Romans evolved a legal system especially the body of civil laws

(corpus juris civilis) which forms the basis of civil laws of many European countries

till the present day.11

Study of politics during the Christian era

The rise of Christianity in the first century AD had far reaching

consequences on the politics, the state structure and political power throughout the

medieval Europe. Though the Jesus announced that his religious teachings were

separate from earthly political activity and advised cultivation of unworldly

kingdom of heaven, the Christianity and its adherents were persecuted till under the

Constantine (the Roman Emperor from 306 to 337 AD), who converted to

Christianity and made it the favoured religion of the Roman Empire.12 The fall of

Roman empire which began with the sack of Rome in 410 AD gave rise to a more

diffused arena for political study. The rise of monotheism in the Western tradition

and influence of Christianity brought to light a new space for politics and political

action. Saint Augustine of Hippo (354 to 430 AD), the most eminent advocate of

Church brought a systematic method of philosophy to Christian theology. He

confronted the charges that the fall of Roman Empire happened due to the

embracing of Christianity by Roman emperors and took upon himself the task of

stamping out heresy. In the City if God he synthesized the contemporary political

philosophies and traditions with those of Christianity. Augustine sought to reaffirm

that the City of God was a heavenly and spiritual matter, as opposed to the earthly

and political affairs, thus redefining borders between what was religious and what

was political.13

Middle Ages and politics

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The Middle Ages, roughly dating from the collapse of the Roman Empire to

the dawn of Renaissance in the 15th century imply a suspension of progress and a

period of cultural stagnation in Europe. In the early Middle Ages (about 300 yearsafter the fall of Roman Empire) the loose confederation of European tribes began to

coalesce into kingdoms. At that time virtually no machinery of government existed

and political and economic development was local in nature. The only universal

European institution was the Christian Church, and even there a fragmentation of

authority was the rule. All power within Church hierarchy was wielded by local

bishops with Roman Pope having certain fatherly pre eminence.14

It was during the High Middle Ages (beginning around 1050 AD) that the

Roman Catholic Church organized itself into an elaborate hierarchical structure with

the Pope as its unequivocal head. It also emerged as the most sophisticated

governing institution in the Western Europe. Papacy exercised direct political

control over the domain lands of central and north Italy and through diplomacy and

the administration of justice in the extensive system of church courts it also

exercised directive powers throughout Europe. By the 13th century the monarchical

church had become an important European institution. The relationship between the

church and the state was clarified as well as contested during this period.15

During the late Middle Ages the secular state began to emerge --even though

it often was no more than an incipient national feeling-- and the struggle for

supremacy between the Church and the State became a fixture of European history

for the next few centuries. One of the results of this struggle was the intensification

of political thinking. This thought focused on the secular state in its own right,

independent of the Church or community of believers.16 The independence of

political enquiry was an important facet of major trend in late medieval thinking.

Islam and Politics

Islam arose from Arabian Peninsula in seventh century to sway the entire

west Asia and create an ordered state. It viewed politics as noble and virtuous

because it administers all the creatures, bringing man closer to good and away from

the evil. In Islam the religion and politics are not separate and it seeks to regulate a

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nations entire society, government and religious life in accordance with Quran and

Sunnah (practices of the Prophet) of Prophet Mohammad. Islam admits of no

sovereignty except that of God and does not recognize any law-giver other thanHim. God in Islam is not limited to his being sole object of worship in the religious

sense alone. He is also invested with complete legal sovereignty in the sense it is

understood in jurisprudence and Political Science.17 These twin facets of the divinity

of God are the sin qua non of the Divine Entity and are also vitally interlinked so

that a negation of either ipso facto infringes the very concept of His Divinity.

Political System of Islam is based on three principles of oneness of God ( towhid),

Prophethood (risala), and caliphate (khalifa). The purpose of the Islamic state is the

establishment, maintenance and development of those virtues which the Creator

wishes human life to be enriched by and the prevention and eradication of those

evils in human life which He finds abhorrent. Islamic state is not intended to be an

instrument of political administration or for the fulfillment of the collective will of

any particular set of people.18

Aristotles influence on the medieval notion of politics

Influenced by Aristotle, the great Iranian Islamic philosopher, Avicenna

(known as lbn Sina, 980 to 1037) was highly influenced by Aristotle. He tries to find

out philosophical reasons for the practices of religion. Of his three well known

works (the Shifa, the Siyasa and the Isharat) the Shifa contains the basic ideas of his

political philosophy. He wrote about human management at different levels --the

household, society and state. While the household consists of a husband a wife and

children, other managers of human beings are known as kings. The king has to

control and manage his state through his governors and their lords. The duties of a

king are to protect human lives to look after their needs and to administer the state.

Avicenna paid less attention to politics but in line with Greek philosophers like Plato

and Aristotle, he accepted politics as a branch of philosophy. 19 Averroes (1126-

1198) also known as lbn Rushd viewed that reason takes precedence over religion.

His extensive commentaries on the works of Aristotle were translated into Latin and

Hebrew and greatly influenced both Christian scholasticism and philosophy and the

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Jewish philosophers of the Middle Ages. He continued Aristot1es tradition of

analysis and empiricism.20

The Renaissance and politics

The Renaissance which began in the 14th century Italy is regarded as the re-

birth of Europe. Dramatic political changes occurred in Europe during the

Renaissance which spread to the rest of Europe by the 16 th and 17th centuries. In this

period the fragmented feudal society of Middle Ages (Church dominated and

agricultural economies) was transformed into a society increasingly dominated by

central political institutions. Renaissance theorists contended that the central task of

the government was to maintain security and peace and advocated new forms of

political organizations and behaviour, both in Italy and in the north Europe. 21 It was

during this period that Italian city-states were transformed to territorial states, each

of which sought to expand at the expense of the other. By the 16th century, Italys

troubles further mounted with the tendency to free politics from any relationship to

religion. This notion became an important part of thinking of a number of

distinguished Florentine writers including the best known of them --Niccolo

Machiavelli. Stimulated by the political crises of his time, Machiavelli sought to

base statecraft or the art of governance on science rather than on the Christian

principals. He focused on how to preserve the state by any effective means and

became precursor of secular political philosophy which began to emerge after

centuries of theological political thought in Europe. Considered as the inventor of

modern politics, Machiavelli accepted the principle that the end justifies the means

and it is better to be feared than loved.22

During the 16th century Europe underwent several dramatic changes as

Protestant reform movements swept through the continent. The Romam Catholic

Church and its ruling papacy could not withstand tremendous onslaught of reformers

such as Martin Luther (1483-1546) in Germany, John Kelvin (l509-l564) in France

and Huldreich Zwingli (1484-l531) in Switzerland. Though the Church launched a

strong Counter Reformation movement, it could not manage to regain the spiritual

supremacy it had lost during 16th and 17th centuries.23 The far reaching effects of

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Reformation included the development of individualism and popular education.

Protestantism stimulated capitalism and a strong work ethics, and transformed

spiritual equality into political equality and democracy. The age of Enlightenmentduring the 18th century refers to the historical intellectual movement which

advocated Reason as the primary basis of authority. Closely linked with Scientific

Revolution, it was inspired by the revolution of knowledge commenced by Galileo

(1564-1642) and Newton (1642-1727).24 It was a climate of increasing disaffection

with repressive rule and Enlightenment thinkers believed that systematic thinking

could be applied to all areas of human activity --society, government or the state.

The movement helped to create the intellectual framework for the American and

French Revolutions and led to the rise of classical liberalism, democracy and

capitalism. It pushed the study of politics beyond normative determination.25

Advent of new approaches in Political Science

The advent of political science as a university discipline began with the

naming of university departments and chairs with the title of Political Science in

1860s shortly before the Civil War in the United States. In 1857, Francis Lieber was

named the first Professor of History and Political Science at Columbia University. In

1880, first school of political science was formed at Columbia. The Subject began to

be an organized discipline when John Burgess, Frank Goodnow, Westel W

Willoughby, and others founded the American Political Science Association (APSA)

on 30th December 1903.26 The Associations journal The American Political Science

Review (APSR) was founded in 1906 as an effort to distinguish the study of politics

from Economics and other social sciences. The APSA provided an outlet for original

research and a sense of common purpose to the students of political science. After

the creation of the Discipline, the political scientists started delineating the

boundaries of this subject and initiated their professional pursuits to make it more

relevant.

In the aftermath of World War I the earlier version of political science,

which is also called the progressive political science was repudiated and a new era

sought to make it more detached, scientific and methodical. The political scientists

had thought that the War will end European autocracies thus pave the way for a

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durable peace in Europe. Instead, there began to emerge the fascist governments in

Italy and Germany and communist governments in Soviet Union. As the liberal

democracy in United States emerged badly shaken from the War, they blamed it onthe progressive political scientists for their hasty and superficial analysis and not

understanding the situation well.27 The political scientists now renewed their

dedication to establish scientific enquiry in the hope that the scientific knowledge

would emerge and contribute to improve quality of life in USA as the new findings

will be implemented in the governmental, system. Political scientists such as Charles

E Merriam and Harold D Lasswell saw themselves as social engineers with a

purpose of rational supervision of political actors. They wanted to install a

professional identity for political scientists based on a science that was organized to

aid the liberal democratic state.28 After the World War II; however, this sought

identity began to crumble as numerous new factors emerged during and after the

War. The subject remained stranded as a library based speculative and normative

discipline until the mid-20th century. For quite sometime Political Science was

disputed as a science. Critics of this notion saw the study of politics as being

primarily qualitative and normative claiming that it lacked a scientific method

necessary to be deemed as science.29

Emergence of Behavioralism

The Behavioralism had started finding roots as early as in early 1900s.

Arthur F Bentley advocated for empirical, value-free research. Bentley intended to

move the Political Science away from the traditional notions of scientific

explanation in society. He considered political science, with its 19th century reliance

on formalist studies of institutions to be obsolete and stood for studying social actors

themselves for what they are and for what they represent. He argued that social

science, then, should be empirical, measurable, progressive, and concerned with the

interaction and activity of a complex and overlapping system of social, political and

economic groupings.30 A significant role was also played in this direction by many

of those academics who had to serve the governments in various capacities and

positions during the Second World War and returned to the universities and colleges

after the war. Their war-time assignments had polished their skills in application of

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methods of social science like survey, content analysis, statistical techniques and

other means of collecting and analyzing political data. Having seen the game of

politics closely, they used newly acquired tools to determine precisely as who getspolitical power in a society, why and how they get it, and what they do with it. This

movement came to be called behavioralism because its proponents insisted that

objective observation and measurement be applied to the full range of human

behaviour as it manifests itself in the real world.31

Behaviorial enquiry can be found in David B Trumans works, which

revived Bentleys group process theory of government. The Governmental Process

offers a tool for analysis: a theory to drive systematic behavioral research. Trumans

basic argument revolved around the notion that because every individual attempts to

become an accepted participant in a group or a set of groups, it makes sense to study

political behaviour in terms of groups and group interactions.32 Another

behavioralist, Heinz Eulao, criticized the reformist (utopian) Political Science of

the pre-World War II era. In his Behavioralism in Political Science, he argued that

science can function only in an environment that permits freedom of enquiry and

freedom of speech. American liberal democracy allows such freedom and thus is

most suitable for scientific work.33 According to David Easton, Behavioralism was

not a clearly defined movement for those who were thought to be behavioralists. It

was more clearly definable by those who were pposed to it, because they were

describing it in terms of the things within the newer trends that they found

objectionable. So, some define behavioralism as an attempt to apply the methods of

natural sciences to human behaviour, while others define it as an excessive emphasis

upon quantification and yet others regarded it as individualistic reductionism. From

the inside, the practitioners were of different mind as what it was that constituted

behavioralism [] And few of us were in agreement. Easton aspired to make

politics as a science that is working with highly abstract models that described the

regularities of patterns and processes in the political life in general. In his view, the

highest level of abstraction could make scientific generalizations about politics

possible. His main model was driven by an organist view of politics, as it was a

living object. Eastons behavioural approach to politics proposed that a political

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system could be seen as a delimited and fluid system of making. His theory is a

statement of what makes political systems adapt, survive, reproduce and change. His

theory was highly influential in the pluralistic tradition in political science until thelate 1960s.34

The dominance of the behavioral approach to study politics could be seen in

the field of international relations as well. It tried to personify the states and study

their behaviour. This approach has been quite visible in the realist and neo-realist

research in international politics. The field of comparative politics too was affected

by the behavioral shift as its protagonists gave away the legal institutional approach

in favour of a more quantitative analysis. Rather than explaining the similarities and

differences between political institutions the comparative politics scholars sought to

ground such institutional differences and similarities in universal terms of political

behaviour. Behavioralism remained a notable influence on the course content of

political science throughout the world from 1953 (when system theory was first

conceived by Easton) until the late l960s.35 This revolution stressed for the

systematic and rigorously scientific study of individual and group behavior.

Post-behavioralism

In 1967 the Caucus for a New Political Science was organized as a response

to behavioral hegemony. The behavioralism and its pros and cons had been

dominating for too long the disciplines mainstream in terms of language, method

and focus of research. The Caucus wanted to make political science a more open and

expansive discipline. In 1969 David Easton responded to the aim of the Caucus in

his presidential address to the American Political Science Association (APSA).

Easton coined the term postbehavioralism and made relevance and action its

watchwords.36 Easton now wanted to make political science more relevant to and

active in society. Henceforth political science was sought to be more tolerant to

various perspectives on politics and political science. This happened due to at least

three reasons: (I) effectiveness of the Caucus for a new Political Science at forcing

the field to open up to more research interests; (2) a number of people entering the

discipline which increased the competition for recognition among political

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scientists; (3) an urge for openness which prevailed in the discipline after the

behavioral era.37

The opponents of behaviorialism maintained that their can be no true scienceof politics. They contended that any form of experimentation in which all the

variables are controlled in a political situation is not possible. At the same time the

Political Science moved towards greater depth of analysis and more sophistication

and under the social pressure continued to move towards a closer working

relationship with Sociology, economics, history, anthropology, psychology, public

administration and statistics. Political scientists sought new areas of expertise and

the discipline opened up, allowing for the creation of many new subfields. Some

political scientists developed sophisticated models of human activity to guide their

research, frequently drawing on computer technology for concepts as well as

hardware. The widespread study of politics as a system --with inputs, outputs,

and feedback-- is a major example of the influence of computers on the discipline

of Political Science.38

Various cleavage lines of different sorts were evident in Political Science

from the very beginning. They coalesced and exploded in the 1950s, 60s, and 1970s

sparked in large measure by the behavioral revolution. Harold Lasswell

envisioned political science as a policy science actively engaged in political

process by speaking truth to power. The European, emigrant scholars who had

sought refuge in the US played a significant role in developing one particular sub-

field of political science i.e. comparative politics. Notwithstanding its distinctly

American Caste the American study of comparative politics has deep European

roots.39 The growth and development of experimental research in Political Science

has led the political scientists in the past to develop the Game Theory, Political

Economy and evolve the study of war and peace. Over the years even as Political

Science has evolved according to its own logic, it has not been isolated from the

developments in the real world and this interplay between events and trends inside

and outside of political science has been complex.

Due to these developments, Political Science came to be a federation of

loosely connected sub fields rather than a tightly integrated field of study. Various

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writings and research have contributed in evolution of particular sub-fields like

electoral politics, electoral behaviour, study of political parties, and transformation

of the concept of ideology in the Twentieth Century. The development of the subjecthas also been due to interplay between the new methodological approaches and tools

on the one hand, and advances in theoretically based substantive understanding of

politics on the other.

Being a field concerning the theory and practice of politics and the

description and analysis of political systems and political behaviour, Political

Science began to dabble into various other sub-fields and allied disciplines. Its range

and expanse with the passage of time enormously increased.40 Perhaps the most

important and irreversible change in Political Science after the World War II was

that the scope of the discipline expanded to include the study of politics in Asia,

Africa and Latin America, the areas that had been previously ignored in favour of

Europe and North America. This trend was encouraged by the Cold War

competition between United States and the Soviet Union and its impact was more

visible in the field of international relation and politics.41

Due to the expansion of the Discipline, the subject has become so

complicated that even political scientists are unable to understand or become

comfortable with its entire range of research. So much material is published in

increasingly narrow fields that scholars in political science find it difficult to keep

up with their own subfields, much less understand and integrate other subfields.

Specialties and subspecialties continually emerge and a broader base of expertise

result. Each subfield churns vast quantities of literature. What Aristotle called the

master science is no longer sure of itself. It tilts to all directions and looks forward

to have a give and take relationship with all neighbouring sciences.

Within political science different debates emerged and subsided leaving their

impact on the study of the Subject. The positivists like Almond and Eckstein divided

Political Science along methodological and ideological dimensions. The positivists

shared a common belief in the unity of theory and practice and in the impossibility

of separating science and politics. In fact, the Positive Theory, going back to Comte,

had embodied a commitment to rigorous, scientific understanding of the world and

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that it may help in gradual improvement of social life.42 The post positivists

preferred policy analysis and that it has to differ quite substantially between the

kinds of political system in which one lives.

43

Constitutive theory, a classic formulation of which was offered by Lassa

Oppenheim, emphasized that, A state is and becomes an International Person

through recognition only and exclusively. The constitutive conception of statehood

deduced the legal existence of new states from the will of those already

established, and that a state does not become a subject of international law until it

meets with the approval of others.44 Opposed to this contention, declaratory theory

emerged as a reaction to the unprincipled implications and conceptual difficulties

inherent in a strictly constitutive approach to recognition. It contended that statehood

was independent, of recognition and that the act of recognition by other states in

international system was purely declaratory. A state becomes a subject of

international law the moment it meets the conditions of statehood notwithstanding

its recognition by the international community.45

Globalization and political science

The 1990s witnessed unprecedented attempts at privatizing state owned

enterprises. It became part of a policy of economic liberalization in previously

highly regulated economies as well as a reaction to the fiscal policy challenges

imposed by international lending agencies (IMF/World Bank), European integration

and globalization of financial markets. The decade underwent a new wave of

concerns. The globalization politics gave a new task to political scientists to carry

out basic work on the causes and consequences of massive changes in international

economy, and increased flow of goods. The emphasis on the neo-liberal ideologies,

deregulation of economies, and the end of Soviet bloc entailed by Soviet

disintegration and the liberalization of trade was witnessed in the world around.

Globalisation has produced a new domestic politics, with new actors like anti-

globalization movements and new dilemmas for governments in the developed as

well developing countries. These shifts have raised fundamental questions for the

political scientists about the power of the state in a world of mobile resources and

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new political interests and cleavages about prospects for development in the

countries which are on the margins of global economy.46

The rise of global consumerism (internet/telemarketing, trade andcommerce), emergence of global finance and currencies (Dollar, Euro), serious

thinking about the global concerns (global warming, ozone depletion, wild life

protection), controversies emerging out of outsourcing of skilled professionals and

even globalization of education (setting up of branch campuses and franchises etc.)

have greatly affected the teaching and research in political science. The international

movement of labour has a definite impact on the globalization of markets, the

production systems and political structures. The globalization studies in political

science have provided new areas of teaching and research like: political theory of

globalization; international cooperation and violent global movements; cyber space

and politics of globalization; and global systems for sustainable development.47 The

economic impact of return migration of highly skilled professionals and study of

four Rs of migration i.e. remittance, recruitment returns and representation has

become significant for the discipline of political science. Similarly the growing

concern about global warming influence the national and international political

structures which create new incentives for policy makers to aggressively address this

issue. It has helped the Greening of Political Science and brought environmental

studies in its ambit. Ever rising impact of mass media has led to study its influence

on politics and political processes. The political campaigns, elections and media

have come under a new focus in political science studies. Similarly, after September

11, 2001 an anti terrorism alliance vas mooted to stamp out terrorism as it was,

according to the US, posing a great threat to the West and the United States. In

Political Science terrorism, came under the focus leading to study its different

aspects like; Jihad, martyrdom and political action; insurgency and terrorism; Islam

and terrorism; and the rhetoric of international anti-terrorism etc.

In the early 21st century, a new movement called perestroika has emerged

within the discipline. The perestroika movement; begun anonymously in 2000,

calls attention to two problems in the discipline: its lack of inclusiveness and its

increasingly mathematical approach. In many ways this movement revives the

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thinking behind the caucus for a new Political Science movement in its concern for

the apparent irrelevance of the discipline in the wider Political Science context and

its criticism of an increasingly quantitative orientation within the discipline. Thosewho are active in perestroika movement consistently point to the growing

preponderance of rational choice approaches to study politics which in their view are

becoming hegemonic within the discipline. While this movement has witnessed

some success, it is not clear if it will succeed in altering the increasingly quantitative

orientation of the discipline.48

In the recent past, Harold D. Lasswell (The Future of Political Science) has

trieed to explore important question of Political Sciences role in society and

different roles political scientists play.49 He viewed Political Science as a powerful

discipline educating a large number of students every year and shaping the public

policy debate at all levels of government. Lasswells examination of Political

Science poses two fundamental questions. One is epistemological: Should political

science adopt the empiricist approach that tries to discover cause effect relationship

in order to establish laws governing political behaviour or should it adopt the

interpretative position that aims to analyse the meaning of human action in a given

society? The other is normative: for what ends or purpose is knowledge of politics

sought.

In response to first question, Lasswell sides with empiricism. He argues for

increased use of surveys, statistics and quantitative techniques in political analysis.

His work creates an optimism inspired by the possibility of reforming society on the

basis of scientific truth. In response to the second question, Lasswell believes that

the purpose of the knowledge acquired by Political Science is to promote world

peace and defend human dignity. Further that political science properly practiced

could guide and shape society for the better. Guided by this humanistic standard,

political scientists should collect, categorize and analyse data on local, rational and

international political phenomenon to develop maxims that could be injected into

societys complicated decision making process. Political Science could be the

problem solving discipline that, with the help of modern technology, would engineer

a better society, Lasswell concludes.

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Political Science --the Science of Politics-- has traveled down the ages from

Greek City States to the 21st century. During its journey of the last more than two

thousand years it has undergone different stages, changed its course and contours,faced challenges to its legitimacy as a science, and was enriched by many other

disciplines. Its course at times was smooth and dormant and at times volatile, rugged

and zigzag. Its volume and space has continuously expanded with the contribution

from political philosophers, thinkers, and scientists. Being a science of all political

aspects of human and state behaviour, it has become an indispensable discipline for

every thinking being to study.

References:

1. Political science is the study of governments, public policies and political

processes, systems, and political behavior. (APAS) It is the analysis, description,

and prediction of political behavior, political systems and politics. Laswell, H.

Politics: Who Gets What, When, How, McGraw-Hill, London, 1935.

2. Pruthi, R.K (ed.): Nature and Scope of Political Science, Discovery Publishing

House, New Delhi, 2005.

3. Many Athenians considered their polis, their city state, to be perfect ideal in

regards to military and cultural achievements. Plato, though, considered it to be

otherwise. Skeptical of a society that gives no specific place to those with expertise

in politics, Plato was well aware of the seediness of Athens; its arrogant nature,

military and political faux pas and even its contempt towards its own citizens on

some occasions. See, Jackson, R: Plato: a Beginner's Guide, Hoder & Stroughton,

London, 2001; Apel, Melanie Ann: Politics and Government in Ancient Greece,

Rosen Publishing Group, New York, 2004; Horsley, G. H. R: Hellenika: essays on

Greek politics and history, Macquarie Ancient History Association, 1982.

4. Mabbett, I. W,"The Date of the Arthastra", Journal of the American Oriental

Society, vol. 84, no. 2, April 1964, pp. 162169.

5. The two major pieces of epic literature in Western Civilization, Iliad and the

Odyssey, ascribed to Homer, deal with legendry events, the wars and victories

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during the Trojan War waged by the Greeks against the city of Troy. Hesiod, a

Greek poet of 9th century BC instructively stressed on the importance of hard work

and righteousness. He traced the history of the world through various stages.Thucydides, the Greek historian known for his History of Peloponnesian war,

brought to his understanding a practical acquaintance with both politics and military

sciences. He describes the military aspect of the war based on personal observations

and statements of other players in the war. He gave leading figures of war, lengthy

dramatic speeches which served as a medium for analyzing the public feelings and

the issues at stake. Another Greek historian and soldier, Xenophone was a, disciple

of Socrates in the 4th century BC. In his famous work Memorabilia (his

recollections of Socrates and Socratic conversation) he defended Socrates against

the charges of irreligion and that he had corrupted the young. Socrates (470 to 399

BC) who shaped the Western philosophy taught that every person has full

knowledge of ultimate truth contained within his soul and needs only to be spurred

to conscious reflection in order to become aware of it. His criticism of injustice in

Athenian society, which was spurring the youth towards awareness, and corrupting

their mind, had led to his prosecution and death sentence. Similarly, Euripides a

Greek dramatist of 5th century BC represented the new social, moral and political

movements taking place at that time. See, Griffin, Jasper, Boardman, John, Murray,

Oswyn: The Oxford history of Greece and the Hellenistic world, Oxford University

Press. Oxford, 2001; William Keith Chambers Guthrie: A History of Greek

Philosophy, Volume 1, The Earlier Presocratics and the Pythagoreans, Cambridge

University Press, 1962; Martin Litchfield West: Early Greek Philosophy and the

Orient, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1971.

6. For further elaboration, see, C. C. W. Taylor: From the Beginning to Plato:

Routledge History of Philosophy Volume 1, Routledge, London, 2003.

7. The politics, (III.1.1274b32-41). (IV.11.1295a 40-b1, VII.8.1328b1-2).

8. See, Ian Scott-Kilvert (Translation): The Rise of the Roman Empire, Penguin

Books, New York, 1979; Hammond, Mason: City-State and World State in Greek

and Roman Political Theory until Augustus, Biblo and Tannen, New York, 1966.

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9. "Polybius attributed the growth of Roman power to its political institutions." See,

Almond, Gabriel Abraham: Ventures in political science, Lynne Rienner Publishers,

Boulder, 2002, p. 29; for further rteading on Polybius, see, Walbank, Frank w:Polybius, Rome and the Hellenistic World: Essays and Reflections, Cambridge

University Press, 2002.

10. Badian, E. (ed): Roman Papers, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1979, pp. 400

454; Dorey, T. A (ed.): Livy, Routledge & K. Paul, London, 1971.

11. For his views on politics, see, Cicero, Marcus Tullius, Cicero: letters to Atticus,

Vol, I, II, IV, VI, Cambridge University Press, 1965; Cicero, Marcus Tullius,

Selected Political Speeches, Penguin, London, 1969; also see, Kunkel, W: An

Introduction to Roman Legal and Constitutional History, The Clarendon Press,

Oxford, 1966 (translated into English by J.M. Kelly), p. 157

12. This reading finds support in John 18:36, where Jesus responds to Pontius Pilate

about the nature of his kingdom, "My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom

were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be

delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world." See, John 18:36

(New International Version); Also see, Michael Grant, The Emperor Constantine,

Orion Books, London, 1998, p. 126-127; John, Julius Norwich: Byzantium: The

Early Centuries, Penguin Books, 1990, p. 34; Treadgold, Warren: A History of the

Byzantine State and Society, Stanford University Press, California, 1997, p. 25.

13. Portali, E, Teaching of St. Augustine of Hippo, in, The Catholic

Encyclopedia, Robert Appleton Company, New York, 1907; Durant, Will: Caesar

and Christ: a History of Roman Civilization and of Christianity from Their

Beginnings to A.D. 325, MJF Books, New York, 1992.

14. Bishops were central to Middle Age society due to the literacy they possessed.

As a result, they often played a significant role in governance. However, beyond the

core areas of Western Europe, there remained many peoples with little or no contact

with Christianity or with classical Roman culture. See, Middle Ages, Microsoft

Encarta, 2007, Microsoft Corporation, 2006; Lawrence, C. H: Medieval

Monasticism: Forms of Religious Life in Western Europe in the Middle Ages (third

edition), Longman, London, 2001.

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15. High Middle Ages (967-1050), Expanding Power Base of the Catholic Church

in Europe, see, Madeley, John T. S. and Zsolt Enyedi: Church and state in

contemporary Europe: the chimera of neutrality, Routledge, 2003. Available at,http://www.worldology.com/Europe/high_middle_ages.htm

16. Munby, D L: The Idea of a Secular Society, Oxford University Press, London,

1963, pp. 14-32.

17. Qaradawi, Fiqh al, Understanding Politics in Islam-Fiqh al Siyasah, accessed

at, http://www.islamawareness.net/Politics/siyasah.html; John Esposito, Islam:

Beyond the Green Menace,Journal Current History, January 1994.

18. Muhammad Hamidullah, The Political System of Islam, in, John L. Esposito:

Introduction to Islam, Syracuse University Press, New York, 1998; also see,

Engineer, Asghar Ali, The Concept Of Islamic State, at,

http://static.panjabilok.net/faith/islam/islamstate.htm

19. Zakaria, Idris: The Political Aspects of Avicennas Theory of Cosmology and

the Human Soul, Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan, Bangi, 2002; al Naqib, Abd al-

Rahman, Avicenna (370?-428AH---980?-1037AD), Prospects: the quarterly

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69.

20. Fakhry, Majid: Averroes: His Life, Works and Influence, One world

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Philosophy, Routledge, London, 1996, p.314; Irwin, Jones, "Averroes' Reason: A

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21. Ferguson, Wallace: The Renaisance, Harper & Row, New York, 1963. 1-29

22. Niccol Machiavelli, The Prince, p. 60; Rahe, Paul A (ed.) Machiavelli's Liberal

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Deitz, Mary G, "Machiavelli's Paradox: Trapping or Teaching the Prince" The

American Political Science Review, vol. 81, no. 4, December, 1987, pp. 1277-1288;

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23. For Reformation movements in Europe, see, Simon, Edith: Great Ages of Man:

The Reformation, Time-Life Books, 1966, pp. 120-121; Spitz, Lewis W: The

Renaissance and Reformation Movements: Volume I, Concordia Publishing House,St. Louis, 1987. For Counter Reformation movements, see, Dickens, A G: The

Counter Reformation, W. W. Norton & Company, New York, 1979; Evennett, H O:

The Spirit of the Counter Reformation, Cambridge University Press, 2008; Wright,

A D: Counter Reformation: Catholic Europe and the non-Christian world, Ashgate

Publishing Co. Derbyshire, 2005.

24. John Locke claims in his book, The Second Treatise of Government, that man

was endowed with reason and hence has the right to decide the form of government

that he should be under, while Jean Jacques Rousseau claimed that reason is what

has led man astray from the state of happiness and bliss that he led under nature.

Mayer, Nick, Effects of the Protestant Reformation, at,

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1738768/effects_of_the_protestant_refor

mation.html?cat=34; also see,

http://history2.professorpage.info/history2lectures.htm

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Journal of European Public Policy, vol. 7, issue 4, December 2000, pp. 495-512;

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26. The American Political Science Association, founded in 1903, is the leading

professional organization for the study of political science to promote high quality

teaching and education about politics and government. It aims to strengthen the

professional environment for political science and defend the legitimacy of scholarly

research into politics and government. Details about APSA can be seen at,

http://www.apsanet.org/content_4403.cfm.

27. Duvall, Tim, The Disciplines Community: The Effects of Method and Market

on Research Relevance, paper presented at the annual meeting of the American

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28. Taken from, The Discipline Of Political Science, accessed at,

http://science.jrank.org/pages/10774/Political-Science-Discipline-Political-

Science.html.

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29. "On the basis of the philosophical approach, traditionalists prescribe normative

solutions to political problems. In their view, no political inquiry into social

problems can remain neutral or completely free of normative judgments orprescriptions. Guy, James John: People, Politics and Government: A Canadian

Perspective, Pearson Education, Ontario, 2005, p. 57.

30. Bentley, Arthur F: The Process of Government: A Study of Social Pressures,

(2nd edition) Transaction Publishers, New Jersy, 1995.

31. Behavioralism became an approach in political science which seeks to provide

an objective, quantified approach to explaining and predicting political behavior. It

is associated with the rise of the behavioral sciences, modeled after the natural

sciences. Behavioralism seeks to examine the behaviour, actions, and acts of

individuals rather than the characteristics of institutions such as legislatives,

executives, and judiciaries. Guy, James John, op. cit., p. 58; Petro, Nicolai: The

Rebirth of Russian Democracy: An Interpretation of Political Culture, Harvard

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34. Sarana, Rajiva Ranjan: Behaviouralism and Political Theory: Contributions of

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36. See, The Discipline Of Political Science, op. cit.,

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United States, University of Michigan Press, 1993, pp. 230-33.

38. Baer, Michael A and Zeigler Harmon, Computers and political science: A

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39. Katz, Barry, The Acculturation of Thought: Transformations of the Refugee

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1991, pp. 740-752; also see, Abzug, Robert H: America Views the Holocaust, 1933-1945: A Brief Documentary History St. Martins, Boston, 1999.

40. The new areas which came in its orbit include: These areas included: political

theory and philosophy, political concepts, political systems, ideology, game theory,

electronic voting systems, psephology (voting theory, electoral statistical analysis),

geopolitics and political geography, political economy, policy studies and public

policy analysis, comparative politics or cross-national political analysis, national

political systems (e.g. centralization, regionalism, federalism, core-periphery

studies, nation-state analysis etc.), international political systems (e.g. supra

nationalism, intergovernmental ism military alliances, hegemony studies),

globalization studies, political development, post- colonialism studies, institutional

theory, international relations, foreign policy analysis, peace studies, conflict

analysis, strategic studies, diplomacy studies, international law and politics, public

administration, local government studies, political party and coalition analysis,

political psychology, political sociology and socialization studies, micro political or

behavioural analysis, political history, interest groups/pressure groups, lobby politics

(especially environmental politics/political ecology), bureaucratic studies,

administrative and judicial behaviour, legislative processes and public law. It also

studies power in international relations and theory of great powers.

41. The courses that emerged and became popular during the Cold War period

include: The Cold War; Role of East European nations in US-Soviet detente; The

US and Cuba, Vietnam and China; Nuclear Weapons and Disarmament; Strategic

Arms Limitation Talks (SALT); Indian Ocean as a Peace Zone, etc. See,

Willoughby, Westel Woodbury and Fairlie, John Archibald, The American political

science review, Volume 100,American Journal of Political Science, 2006; Gaddis,

John Lewis: The Cold War: A New History, Penguin, 2005.

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43. deLeon, Peter, The Policy Sciences Redux: New Road to Post-positivism,

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Nicholas C. Burbules: Postpositivism and Educational Research, Rowman &Littlefield Publishers, Boulder, 2000.

44. Crawford, James: The Creation of States in International Law, Oxford

University Press, 2005, pp 15-24; Rai, D: Statehood and the Law of Self-

determination, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 2002, p 29.

45. Martin, Elizabeth A, Declaratory Theory, A Dictionary of Law, Oxford

University Press, 2002.

46. Berger, Suzanne, Globalization and Politics, Annual Review of Political

Science, vol. 3, June 2000, pp. 43-62.

47. Implications Of Globalization, available at,

http://science.jrank.org/pages/9546/General-Globalization-Implications-

Globalization.html.

48. Monroe, Kristen Renwick (ed.): Perestroika!: The Raucous Rebellion in Political

Science, Yale University Press, New Haven 2005; Schram, Sanford F and Brian,

Caterino, (eds.): Making Political Science Matter: Debating Knowledge, Research,

and Method, New York University Press, 2006.

49. Lasswell, Harold D: The Future of Political Science, Transaction Publishers,

New Jersey, 2005; also see, Farr James, Jacob s. Hacker, Nicole Kazee, The Policy

Scientist of Democracy: The Discipline of Harold D. Lasswell,American Political

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