Approaches to the study of political science

INTRODUCTION
First of all to give a proper approach of Political science, you have to Understand the key term
"what is politics"and it's relationship to political science.The words politics does not tend itself to any
Precise definition.Definition of Politics Vary widly.The word politics stresses the process of decision
making about public actions or goods about what is done and who get what,It is primarily concerned
with government.This is to Some people "Politics"and goverment are synonymous it is Very common to
find people equlating politics and goverment. Politics is identified with what goes on in the various
institution of government.To be sure Politics as pointed out by Alfred de Grazia in 1969 include the
event that happen around the decision making centres of goverment.to equate politics with
government Definition that equate politics with government are unrealistically restrictive because they
do not take cognizance of legally bindind decisions taken outside formal governament institions.Having
said all these,thus political science can be define as the Scientific study of politics.it is a social science
dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of Political activities, political
thought,Political behaviour and associated Constitutions and laws.Hence we have to understand the
definition of Political Science. In other hand APPROACH is the act or drawing near an oblect from a
given point or direction.In Political Science, it means the criteria or perspective adopted by a political
scientist while studying political phenomena. It is the standard by which he collects and explains political
events, processes etc., by including or excluding such data and questions which are not relevant to his
perspective or standard.In view of Dr JC Johari, "an Approach is a way of looking at and then explaining a
given phenomenon which includes everything related to the collection and selection of evidence
necessary for investigation and analysis of hypotheses.According to Van Dyke approaches consist of
criteria for selecting problems and relevant data.

Political Science:
According to Oxford University. Political science is a social science which deals with systems of
governance, and the analysis of political activities, political thoughts, associated constitutions and
political behavior.Political Science is the study of fundamental principles according to which the state as
a whole is to be organized and the sovereign power executed. (Zachariae Von Lingenthal)

Branches of Political Science:

Political Science has many branches including

Comparative Politics,Political Economy,International Relation,Political Theory,Public

Administration,Public Policy,Political Methodology.

APPROACHES TO POLITICAL SCIENCE

There are two major approaches to study of Political Science;

Traditional Approaches

Modern Approaches

Traditional Approach
Traditional approaches, customs, beliefs, or methods are ones that have existed for a long time without
changing. Dealing with something with those long existing methods is called a traditional approach.The
Traditional approaches to study of political science were widely prevalent till the outbreak of Second
World War. These approaches mainly linked with the study of the state and government which were in
traditional view of study to Political Science, Therefore, traditional approaches are mainly dealt with the
study of organization and activities of the state.

Sub-Approaches of Traditional Approaches:

Following are the sub-approaches of Traditional Approaches;

Historical Approach.

Philosopical Approach.

Legal Approach.

Economic Approach.

Historical Approach:The historical approach to the study of political science is one of the
traditional approaches. It is one of the oldest approaches. Aristotle in ancient times, Ibn Khaldun in the
Middle Ages and many others in the modern time have applied in the study of politics. It is really
descriptive approach.The events which must have political baring or they must be politically significant
were occurred in past provide the best materials upon which theory and principles of political science
are built.Historical Approach provide us insight into the functioning of Government and other related
Political Institution, their success and failures. These past events can predict our future course of action.

Philosophical Approach:Philosophical Approach to the study of political science is another

traditional approach.The definition of Philosophy is "Philosophy is the study or science of truths or
principles underlying all knowledge and being"The purpose of philosophical approach is to analyse the
consequences of incidents in a logical and scientific manner. According to Van Dyke "philosophy denotes
thought about thought. Somewhat more broadly it denotes general conception of end and means,
purposes and methods."The theories of the great philosophers are of immense importance for all time
but in present times the philosophical approach has been questioned by the political scientist of the
modern approaches because it makes Political Science unscientific and unsound.
Legal Approach:Another traditional approach is the study of legal and constitutional institution of
the state. Legal Approach deals with the application of the law in substantial situation. It also keeps
equal protection and safety of laws in society. The legal approach is the only approach that takes the
individual unique in every perspective.Its most important contribution are the concept of state, and the
theory of sovereignty during the early modern times. Later on, the legal approach also contributed to
the concept of International law. It made Political Science a more legal and institutional study.The legal
Approach throws light on the legal framework in which the public administration operates but excludes
other important and informal aspects like sociological and psychological dynamics at play and therefore
is considered an incomplete approach by many scholars.
Economic Approach:The another sub-approach of Traditional Approach is Economic Approach.
Economic deals with the study of production, trade, and their relationship with the law and government.
In simple terms, political economy refers to the advice given by the economists to the government on
either general economic policies or on certain proposals created by politicians.Economics and Politics
are two important disciplines of social science and they have very close relationship between them. The
economic conditions in a country have great influence on political activities. Aristotle was the first to
show how the wealth and poverty influences political activities in the state and government. Karl Marx
(1818-1883) said that "Political conflicts are not due to differences in beliefs or ideology, but due to the
clash of economic interests of the haves and have-nots i.c. of the rich and poor class."
Modern Approach:Modern Approach is the second approach to the study of Political Science. New
Political thinkers have introduce new Political Approaches to overcome modem challenges and to cater
modem demands.Modern Approaches are fact based approaches. "They lay emphasis on factual study
of political events and try to arrive at scientific and define conclusion. The aim of modern approaches is
to replace normativism with empiricism. Therefore modern approaches are marked by empirical
investigation of relevant data.

Sub-Approaches of Modern Approaches

Following are the sub-approaches of Modern Approaches;

 Behaviouralism Approach.

Post-Behaviouralism Approach.

System Approach.

Behaviouralism Approach:It is one of the sub-approach of modern approaches. It is first

applied in USA just after the Second World War and later in other countries. Modern technologies,
like electronics and computers as well as the techniques and methods of statisties have provided a
new approach to study of politics.

Definition of behaviouralism is "It is a movement in political science which insists on analyisng only
observable behaviour of political actors." And another definition is "The study of connection between
our minds and behavioral.It studies mostly the micro-political behaviour of the individuals in the
political system, and neglects macro-political aspects, such as state.

Post-Behaviouralism Approach:Post-Behaviouralism is the sub-approach of Modern

Approach. The Post-Behavioualism Approach is a future oriented approach which wants to solve
problems of both present and future. To this approach, the study of Political Science should put
importance on social change. It accepts that political science needs to study all realities of politics,
social change, values etc.David Easton, who at one time was a Behaviouralist, criticized it for its
limitations in later course, thus, the Post-Behavioural Approach complains that the Behavioual
Approach had not taken into account serious social matters. In the Political system Easton proposed
that "reliability must not rest on the development of a new technology of research alone, but on the
self- conscious efforts to elevate one component of traditional political theory, the empirical part, to
postion of prime importance."

System Approach:The third Sub-approach of Modern Approach is System Approach. David

Easton is the first political thinker to use the system theory to understand the political process. Easton
defines political system as "a set of interaction as abstracted the totality of social behavior, through
which values are authoritatively allocated for society." Easton said that any political system has two
components "input and output." The input comprise of demand and support. Demand refers to a set
of claims, desire, needs and wants made by the general public or a particular group before the
government. The demand can be in form of appeals, agitations etc.System Approach makes Political
Science a scientific study, in which prediction is accurately possible.

In conclusion In the sphere of social sciences the terms 'method' and 'approach' are applied rather
loosely,and sometimes even interchangeably. To be precise, as far as possible, in their usage,distinction may be
drawn between the two. Method is a more general term which denotes a particular way of doing something. In a
systematic study, method may be defined as the procedure of inquiry by which reliable knowledge could be
obtained and reliable conclusions could be drawn. Examples of method are: scientific method, inductive method,
deductive method, comparative method, etc. On the other hand, approach is a wider term which comprehends
not only the method (i.e. how to inquire) but also the focus of our study (i.e. what to inquire) in order to
understand the given phenomenon. It may be observed that an approach is usually wedded to a particular method
while a method is not always wedded to a particular approach. That is why an approach suggests the relevant
method also. Thus behavioural approach is wedded to scientific method (because behaviour of several actors in a
political situation is capable of scientific study) while the normative approach is wedded to philosophical method
(because norms and values can only be determined philosophically, not through scientific method). Then,
philosophical approach and historical approach suggest the use of philosophical method and historical method
respectively although they also point to their respective focus of study. Again, empirical approach to the study of
politics leads us to 'political analysis', and several models of political analysis (e.g. systems analysis, structural-
functional analysis and decision-making analysis) in fact point to several methods adopted under this approach.

Reference

Definition of political science sourcWikipedia

Dr Jc Johari "principle of political science"

Van Dyke V (1969) "political science"

Aristotle (335-323 BCE) "politics"

Ibn khalduh (1373) "Ai muqaddima(the introduction)

Karl marx (1848) "communist manifesto"

David Easton " the political system"

Ealan, Heinz (1964) " the behavioural persuasion politics"

Barrow,Clyde W (2008) "political science"

kirkpatric, M Evron (1962) "the impact of the behavioural approach on traditional

political science"