POLITICAL SCIENCE

APPROACHES
POLFUND
OUTLINE OF TOPICS
I. Introduction: Development of Political Science
II. Approaches in Political Science
A. Normative Approaches
B. Empiricism
C. Behavioralism/ Positivism
D. Post-positivist/ Critical Approaches
III. Announcements
DEVELOPMENT OF POLITICAL SCIENCE
▪ Can be traced to Plato – political theory, understanding the state, political
philosophy—and Aristotle – more empirical: observations of the reality (classifying
city states)
▪ Normative – notions of justice, human nature, ethics of authority

▪ 1903, APA was set up – discipline was emerging/ being consolidated;

standardization of practices/ professionalization
▪ Postwar: rehabilitation and recovery of Europe – USA was not really much engaged
in the war, was able to concentrate in the advancement of the field; theories and
perspectives flourished
▪ 1996, Goodin and Klingemann – critique of how American Political Science is as a
field
▪ Internationalization of the field: inclusion of Europe, and then other parts of the
world – rise of COMPARATIVE POLITICS
▪ Global, national, local observations
▪ Individual and collective actors – moving beyond formal institutions and state
actors
NORMATIVE APPROACH
Philosophical Approach – prescriptive; centered on what is OUGHT to be rather than
what is
- study of IDEAS and doctrine central to political thought
▪ Plato, The Republic: seeks to describe the nature of the ideal polis (ex.
Philosophers are kings; one man one craft)

▪ “Literary analysis: it is interested primarily in examining what major thinkers said,

how they developed or justified their views, and the intellectual context within
which they worked (Heywood, 2013).”
▪ “They want to assess not merely how a particular policy, process, or institution
works, but also how well it works according to certain moral or legal standards
(Magstadt, 2011).”
EMPIRICISM
Descriptive; focused on WHAT IS; rooted in OBSERVABLE knowledge (facts)

▪ Aristotle’s classification of constitutions, Machiavelli’s account of statecraft,

Montesquieu’s separation of powers – institutionalist study of politics

▪ “The doctrine of empiricism advanced the belief that experience is the only basis
of knowledge and that, therefore, all hypotheses and theories should be tested by a
process of observation (Heywood, 2013).”
BEHAVIORALISM/POSITIVISM
▪ Use of scientific traditions in studying politics; influenced by positivism
- focused on using objective and quantifiable data; hypothesis testing
- value-free; OBJECTIVITY
▪ “Behavioral scientists shy away from studying values and avoid making subjective
moral and philosophical judgments about politics, preferring instead to
concentrate on facts (Magstadt, 2011).”
▪ David Easton, “Politics could adopt the methodology of the natural sciences, and
this gave rise to a proliferation of studies in areas best suited to the use of
quantitative research methods, such as voting behaviour, the behaviour of
legislators, and the behaviour of municipal politicians and lobbyists (Heywood,
2013).”
POST-POSITIVIST APPROACHES
▪ Rejection of positivist core principles – rejection of a singular/ central truth
▪ Observations are based on our INTERPRETATIONS – pure objectivity is impossible
▪ “Politics takes place and achieves impact across a range of social institutions and
environments and in a variety of ways (Lowndes, Marsh & Stoker).”

▪ Constructivism, interpretivist
▪ Critical theories/emancipatory theories
ANNOUNCEMENTS
End of Class Activity
▪ Groupings – minimum of three members (no limit); for final paper (POLFUND &
POLITHE)
▪ Assignment of sub-field

Week 4 Topic Sub-Fields in Political Science

▪ Monday – asynchronous session; read assigned material – to be uploaded in
Canvas today or tomorrow
▪ Thursday – synchronous session: group discussion on the sub-fields of political
science; proposal of paper topic/ theme, initial research question