Nature and Scope of Political Science

Sub-fields of political science

Political Science

The branch of social sciences that control people, elect leaders, opinion their voters and also help citizens to know their responsibilities in the society is called political science

Introduction

The great Greek political philosopher, Aristotle was the first thinker to use the term ‘politics’. The term “Politics” is derived from the Greek word ‘Polis’ which means ‘city – state’.

Introduction

It begins from the time of Aristotle and Plato, in ancient Greek.

It was introduced almost 2500 years ago.

Definitions

Political science is a branch of  social science.

It is the study of the state.

Political science begins and ends with the state.

It may be defined as the study of man in the process of governing himself. 

Political science deals with general problems of the state and government.

Nature of Political Science

There are different views on the nature of politics:

Political Science has Scientific nature.

Politics can be studied in a systematic manner. 

Nature of Political Science

Political Science, like other Sciences, has absolute and universal laws. 

It is possible to make predictions in politics.

It is said that experimentation is possible in politics.

Scope of Political Science

Scope of political science is to study the past things that happened and use it correctly in the present and determine what the future will say about.

Scope of Political Science

Normally, a lay man associate politics with the party politics. But we should know that politics is much larger than that.

The scope of political science implies its area of study.

Scope of Political Science

It is classified into four zones:

Political theory

Political institution

Scope of Political Science

Political dynamics

International relation

The Four Zones

Political theory

It deals with the definition and fundamental concepts of political science like state, government, law, liberty, equality, justice and sovereignty.

Political institution

It is concerned with a study of formal political institution such as the state and instrument 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 action. 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.

Elements of State

The state consists of four elements:

The people.The territory.The government.The sovereignty.

People

It is a people who make the state. Population or people are essential for the state.

According to Aristotle, “the number should neither be too large nor too small. It should be large enough to be self sufficing and small enough to be well governed”

Territory

It is a fixed area that rightly belongs to the population. There can be no state without fixed territory.

It may be remembered that the territory of state includes land, water and air-space.

It should be permanent and large enough to be self-sufficing.

Government

It is the third element of the state.

Government is the agency through with the force of the state is formulated, expressed and realized.

Sovereignty

The fourth essential element of the state is sovereignty. The word ‘Sovereignty’ means supreme and final legal authority above and beyond which no legal power exists.

Sovereignty has two aspects:• Internal Sovereignty Means that the state is supreme over all its

citizens and associations.

• External Sovereignty Means that the state is independent and free from

foreign or outside control.

Scope concerning with State

Scope of political science concerns with the state as :

Present Form of the state. Historical Form. Ideal Form of the state.

Ideal form of a State

The state should act as ‘trustee’ of the people means that it should hold people power as a trust for welfare of people. It should not consider people as helpless subject, but as co-rulers in its governance.

Sub-fields of Political Science

Following are the sub-fields of Political Science :

• Sociology• Economics• Anthropology• Psychology• History

Sociology

The word ‘Sociology’ is a combination of Two words; ‘Socio’ means ‘ Society’ and ‘logy’ means ‘to study’. Thus sociology means the study of society.

It involves both formal and informal behaviors of people.

Economics

Economics is the social science that studies economic activity to gain an understanding of the processes that govern the production, distribution and consumption of goods in a country.

Anthropology

Anthropology is the study of humans’ past and present.

To understand the complexity of cultures across all of human history, anthropology draws knowledge from the social and biological sciences as well as the humanities and physical sciences.

Psychology

Psychology is an academic and applied discipline that involves the scientific study of mental functions and behaviors.

History

The branch of knowledge that records and  analyzes  past events , is known as history.

"History has a long-range perspective" 

(Elizabeth Gurley Flynn).

Conclusion

In conclusion, we will say that the scope of political science comprehends globalization, state sovereignty, international security, and ecological sustainability of a state.

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