PRELIM TOPIC OUTLINE FOUNDATIONS OF POLITICAL SCIENCE

CHAPTER 2: POLITICAL SCIENCE AND THE OTHER SCIENCES

General Knowledge About Man &

Society

Natural Sciences Human Sciences

Physical Sciences Biological Sciences Social Sciences

 Chemistry  Biology  History

 Physics  Zoology  Anthropology
 Geology  Botany  Psychology
 Mathematics  Genetics  Sociology
 Astronomy  Bacteriology  Economics
 Political Science

POLITICAL SCIENCE AND NATURAL

SCIENCE

 Political Science is closely connected to Zoology and

Geography. Men by nature is half animal and half human, its anatomy and physiology
are covered under Zoology. Men are also influenced by the nature around them which is
covered otherwise by Geology. Hence the link of political science with natural science is
that the former deals with the people or the inhabitants and the territory of the state.

POLITICAL SCIENCE AND THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

 Anthropology, history, psychology, sociology and economics are considered by their

character as “social” because they deal with the study of man based on Aristotle’s
concept that “men by nature is a social animal” which gives man the instinctive need
and desire to socialize.

POLITICAL SCIENCE AND HISTORY

 “History is past politics and politics is present history”. Being written records of the past,
history chronicles events as they happened citing their interrelationship focusing on
economics, religion, intellectual and social affairs involving people and the state and its
growth as well as its relations with other states. This historical facts and figures become
a vital tool and source of materials and data needed by political scientists. This gathered
facts become a pool for formulation of principles in explaining the nature of the state
and its conduct. “Political science is the fruit of history; and history is the root of political
science”.
POLITICAL SCIENCE AND PSYCHOLOGY

 Psychology is considered vital in the formation of political science because it deals with
the most universal aspect of man’s cognitive (learning) behavior. Political behavior if it
becomes a subject of certain study, the psychological approach would be the best
method for political researchers. (T. Hobbes “Men prefer more power than less”, J.
Bentham “People always act following their self-interests”).

POLITICAL SCIENCE AND ANTHROPOLOGY

 Anthropology studies mankind in terms of its physical, social, and cultural development.
The link between anthropology and political science is that both focus on the origin and
nature of social control and political authority, the impact or influence of race and
culture upon given societies and the patterns of collective behavior manifested by men.

POLITICAL SCIENCE AND SOCIOLOGY

 Sociology is the science of the society and political science is the science of the state. On
this mark both fields complement each other, sociology contributes to political science
facts concerning the organization and practices of the state as part and parcel of the
overall structure, whereas political science furnishes information about the origin of and
evolution of political institutions as well as of authority and the laws of social control.

POLITICAL SCIENCE AND ECONOMICS

 Politics and economics are but two component parts of the general social activity. The
intervention of governments in the state’s economy, good production, taxation, market
movements, currency, industry, trade and investments, these are parts common in the
field of politics and economics. Economics and politics therefore go hand in hand since
policy measures are needed to provide for the needs of the people who rely much on
governmental efforts to do so, data and strategies adopted by and postulated by
economists become a vital tool in maintaining the government and the state.

POLITICAL SCIENCE AND ETHICS

 Ethics deal with human conduct of what’s right or wrong. It is closely related to political
science in the sense that the origin of moral ideas is closely intertwined with historical
development of a state. The view of right and wrong can be approved or repudiated by
the society now distinguished as obligations and rights sanctioned by political authority.
When moral ideas became widely accepted, they were enacted into law, which then
turn to modify moral standards.

POLITICAL SCIENCE AND LAW

 Law is a rule of human external conduct promulgated by the supreme authority;

whereas political science is a study of the state and of the government and its
institutions, of which law is only a part. History of governments is accompanied by the
development of laws. During the evolution of the state from the family, to the judge,
the tribal chieftain, these communities are regulated by some sort of rules or customs
which carries the force of law. Modern governments evolved and developed and the
need to codify the unwritten rules of actions of the community became vital.