Information about Political Science
Political science is a branch of social science concerned with theory, description, analysis and prediction of political behavior, political systems and politics broadly-construed.
The study of politics is complicated by the occasional involvement of political scientists in the political process, since their teachings occasionally provide the frameworks within which other commentators, such as journalists, special interest groups, politicians, and the electorate analyse issues and select options. Political scientists may serve as advisers to specific politicians, or even run for office as politicians themselves. Political scientists can be found working in governments, in political parties or as civil servants. They may be involved with non-governmental organizations (NGOs) or political movements. In a variety of capacities, people educated and trained in political science can add value and expertise to corporations. Private enterprises such as think tanks, research institutes, polling and public relations firms often employ political scientists. In the United States, political scientists known as "Americanists" look at a variety of data including elections, public opinion and public policy such as Social Security reform, foreign policy, U.S. congressional power, and the U.S. Supreme Court—to name only a few issues.
Most universities offer B.A., M.A. and Ph.D programs in political science. Alternative terms for the academic study of politics are political studies, or even politics. While political science implies use of the scientific method, political studies implies a broader approach. This is not a hard and fast rule, though.[1]
In ancient India, the antecedents of politics can be traced back to the Rig-Veda, Samhitas, Brahmanas, and Buddhist Pali Canon. Chanakya (c. 350-275 BC) was a professor of political science at Takshashila University, and later the Prime Minister of Mauryan emperor Chandragupta Maurya. Chanakya is regarded as one of the earliest political thinkers, and is also known as the Indian Machiavelli. He wrote the Arthashastra, which was one of the earliest treatises on political thought, economics and social order, and can be considered a precursor to Machiavelli's The Prince. It discusses monetary and fiscal policies, welfare, international relations, and war strategies in detail, among other topics on political science.The ancient Tamil literary work Thirukural written 2000 years back has extensively dealth with political science.The topics discussed by Thirukural include the art of public administration,warfare,political diplomacy,civil society,espionage,qualifications for public office,public revenue and financial administration and local administration.
The antecedents of Western politics can also trace their roots back even earlier than Plato and Aristotle, particularly in the works of Homer, Hesiod, Thucydides, Xenophon, and Euripides. Later, Plato analysed political systems, abstracted their analysis from more literary- and history- oriented studies and applied an approach we would understand as closer to philosophy. Similarly, Aristotle built upon Plato's analysis to include historical empirical evidence in his analysis.
During the rule of Rome, famous historians such as Polybius, Livy and Plutarch documented the rise of the Roman Republic, and the organization and histories of other nations, while statesmen like Julius Caesar, Cicero and others provided us with examples of the politics of the republic and Rome's empire and wars. The study of politics during this age was oriented toward understanding history, understanding methods of governing, and describing the operation of governments.
With the fall of the Roman Empire, there arose a more diffuse arena for political studies. The rise of monotheism and, particularly for the Western tradition, Christianity, brought to light a new space for politics and political action. Works such as Augustine of Hippo's The City of God synthesized current philosophies and political traditions with those of Christianity, redefining the borders between what was religious and what was political. During the Middle Ages, the study of politics was widespread in the churches and courts. Most of the political questions surrounding the relationship between church and state were clarified and contested in this period.
In the Middle East and later other Islamic areas, works such as the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam and Epic of Kings by Ferdowsi provided evidence of political analysis, while the Islamic Aristotelians such as Avicenna and later Maimonides and Averroes, continued Aristotle's tradition of analysis and empiricism, writing commentaries on Aristotle's works.
During the Italian Renaissance, Niccolò Machiavelli established the emphasis of modern political science on direct empirical observation of political institutions and actors. Later, the expansion of the scientific paradigm during the Enlightenment further pushed the study of politics beyond normative determinations.
Herbert Baxter Adams coined the phrase 'Political Science' while a professor at Johns Hopkins University.
In the 1950s and the 1960s, a behavioural revolution stressing the systematic and rigorously scientific study of individual and group behaviour swept the discipline. At the same time that political science moved toward greater depth of analysis and more sophistication, it also moved toward a closer working relationship with other disciplines, especially sociology, economics, history, anthropology, psychology, public administration and statistics. Increasingly, students of political behaviour have used the scientific method to create an intellectual discipline based on the postulating of hypotheses followed by empirical verification and the inference of political trends, and of generalizations that explain individual and group political actions. Over the past generation, the discipline placed an increasing emphasis on relevance, or the use of new approaches and methodologies to solve political and social problems.
The national honour society for college and university students of government and politics in the United States is Pi Sigma Alpha.
Politics is the process by which groups of people make decisions. Although the term is generally applied to behavior within civil governments, politics is observed in all human group interactions, including corporate, academic, and religious
..... Click the link for more information.
..... Click the link for more information.
Overview
Political scientists study the allocation and transfer of power in decision-making, the roles and systems of governance including governments and international organizations, political behavior and public policies. They measure the success of governance and specific policies by examining many factors, including stability, justice, material wealth, and peace. Some political scientists seek to advance positive theses by analyzing politics. Others advance normative theses, by making specific policy recommendations.The study of politics is complicated by the occasional involvement of political scientists in the political process, since their teachings occasionally provide the frameworks within which other commentators, such as journalists, special interest groups, politicians, and the electorate analyse issues and select options. Political scientists may serve as advisers to specific politicians, or even run for office as politicians themselves. Political scientists can be found working in governments, in political parties or as civil servants. They may be involved with non-governmental organizations (NGOs) or political movements. In a variety of capacities, people educated and trained in political science can add value and expertise to corporations. Private enterprises such as think tanks, research institutes, polling and public relations firms often employ political scientists. In the United States, political scientists known as "Americanists" look at a variety of data including elections, public opinion and public policy such as Social Security reform, foreign policy, U.S. congressional power, and the U.S. Supreme Court—to name only a few issues.
Most universities offer B.A., M.A. and Ph.D programs in political science. Alternative terms for the academic study of politics are political studies, or even politics. While political science implies use of the scientific method, political studies implies a broader approach. This is not a hard and fast rule, though.[1]
History
)
Niccolò Machiavelli, one of the most influential political scientists
Antecedents
Political science is a late arrival in terms of social sciences. However, the discipline has a clear set of antecedents such as moral philosophy, political philosophy, political economy, history, and other fields concerned with normative determinations of what ought to be and with deducing the characteristics and functions of the ideal state. In each historic period and in almost every geographic area, we can find someone studying politics and increasing political understanding.In ancient India, the antecedents of politics can be traced back to the Rig-Veda, Samhitas, Brahmanas, and Buddhist Pali Canon. Chanakya (c. 350-275 BC) was a professor of political science at Takshashila University, and later the Prime Minister of Mauryan emperor Chandragupta Maurya. Chanakya is regarded as one of the earliest political thinkers, and is also known as the Indian Machiavelli. He wrote the Arthashastra, which was one of the earliest treatises on political thought, economics and social order, and can be considered a precursor to Machiavelli's The Prince. It discusses monetary and fiscal policies, welfare, international relations, and war strategies in detail, among other topics on political science.The ancient Tamil literary work Thirukural written 2000 years back has extensively dealth with political science.The topics discussed by Thirukural include the art of public administration,warfare,political diplomacy,civil society,espionage,qualifications for public office,public revenue and financial administration and local administration.
The antecedents of Western politics can also trace their roots back even earlier than Plato and Aristotle, particularly in the works of Homer, Hesiod, Thucydides, Xenophon, and Euripides. Later, Plato analysed political systems, abstracted their analysis from more literary- and history- oriented studies and applied an approach we would understand as closer to philosophy. Similarly, Aristotle built upon Plato's analysis to include historical empirical evidence in his analysis.
During the rule of Rome, famous historians such as Polybius, Livy and Plutarch documented the rise of the Roman Republic, and the organization and histories of other nations, while statesmen like Julius Caesar, Cicero and others provided us with examples of the politics of the republic and Rome's empire and wars. The study of politics during this age was oriented toward understanding history, understanding methods of governing, and describing the operation of governments.
With the fall of the Roman Empire, there arose a more diffuse arena for political studies. The rise of monotheism and, particularly for the Western tradition, Christianity, brought to light a new space for politics and political action. Works such as Augustine of Hippo's The City of God synthesized current philosophies and political traditions with those of Christianity, redefining the borders between what was religious and what was political. During the Middle Ages, the study of politics was widespread in the churches and courts. Most of the political questions surrounding the relationship between church and state were clarified and contested in this period.
In the Middle East and later other Islamic areas, works such as the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam and Epic of Kings by Ferdowsi provided evidence of political analysis, while the Islamic Aristotelians such as Avicenna and later Maimonides and Averroes, continued Aristotle's tradition of analysis and empiricism, writing commentaries on Aristotle's works.
During the Italian Renaissance, Niccolò Machiavelli established the emphasis of modern political science on direct empirical observation of political institutions and actors. Later, the expansion of the scientific paradigm during the Enlightenment further pushed the study of politics beyond normative determinations.
Herbert Baxter Adams coined the phrase 'Political Science' while a professor at Johns Hopkins University.
Studies
The advent of political science as a university discipline is evidenced by the naming of university departments and chairs with the title of political science arising in the 1860s. In fact, the designation "Political Scientist" is typically reserved for those with a doctorate in the field. Integrating political studies of the past into a unified discipline is ongoing, and the history of political science has provided a rich field for the growth of both normative and positive political science, with each part of the discipline sharing some historical predecessors. The American Political Science Association was founded in 1903 and political science's pre-eminent journal the American Political Science Review was founded in 1906 in an effort to distinguish the study of politics from economics and other social phenomena.In the 1950s and the 1960s, a behavioural revolution stressing the systematic and rigorously scientific study of individual and group behaviour swept the discipline. At the same time that political science moved toward greater depth of analysis and more sophistication, it also moved toward a closer working relationship with other disciplines, especially sociology, economics, history, anthropology, psychology, public administration and statistics. Increasingly, students of political behaviour have used the scientific method to create an intellectual discipline based on the postulating of hypotheses followed by empirical verification and the inference of political trends, and of generalizations that explain individual and group political actions. Over the past generation, the discipline placed an increasing emphasis on relevance, or the use of new approaches and methodologies to solve political and social problems.
The national honour society for college and university students of government and politics in the United States is Pi Sigma Alpha.
References
1. ^ See the example of New York University in particular. The term politics is used at:
- University of California, Santa Cruz, Ursinus College, Brandeis University, Cornell College, Occidental College, New York University, Monash University, Mount Holyoke College, Princeton University, Hendrix College, and Washington and Lee University
- Smith College, Colby College, Dartmouth College, Harvard University, Cornell University, Georgetown University, the University of Texas at Austin, the College of William and Mary, the University of Sydney, the University of Ulster, the University of Essex, Victoria University of Wellington (which has both a School of Government and a separate Political Science and International Relations Programme) and the London School of Economics and Political Science to describe the field.
Further reading
- American Political Science Review - The Evolution of Political Science. APSR Centennial Volume - Special Issue - November 2006
- Klingemann, Hans-Dieter (Hrsg.): The State of Political Science in Western Europe. Opladen: Barbara Budrich Publishers 2007, ISBN 978-3-86649-045-3
See also
|
External links
- American Political Science Association
- International Political Science Association
- Political Studies Association of the UK
- PROL: Political Science Research Online (prepublished research)
- Truman State University Political Science Research Design Handbook
- A New Nation Votes: American Elections Returns 1787-1825
| Fields within the social sciences |
|---|
| Anthropology | Economics | Education | History | Human geography | Information science | Linguistics | Management | Political science | Psychology | Sociology |
The social sciences are a group of academic disciplines that study human aspects of the world. They diverge from the arts and humanities in that the social sciences tend to emphasize the use of the scientific method in the study of humanity, including quantitative and qualitative
..... Click the link for more information.
..... Click the link for more information.
Theories of political behavior, as an aspect of political science, attempt to quantify and explain the influences that define a person's political views, ideology, and levels of political participation.
..... Click the link for more information.
..... Click the link for more information.
A political system is a system of politics and government. It is usually compared to the law system, economic system, cultural system, and other social systems. It is different from them, and can be generally defined on a spectrum from left, i.e.
..... Click the link for more information.
..... Click the link for more information.
..... Click the link for more information.
Governance makes decisions that define expectations, grant power, or verify performance. It consists either of a separate process or of a specific part of management or leadership processes. Sometimes people set up a government to administer these processes and systems.
..... Click the link for more information.
..... Click the link for more information.
In the humanities and social sciences, the term positive is used in a number of ways.
One usage refers to analysis or theories which only attempt to describe how things are, as opposed to how they should be. In this sense, the opposite of positive is normative.
..... Click the link for more information.
One usage refers to analysis or theories which only attempt to describe how things are, as opposed to how they should be. In this sense, the opposite of positive is normative.
..... Click the link for more information.
Normative has specialized meanings in several academic disciplines. Generically, it means relating to a typical standard or model.
..... Click the link for more information.
Philosophy
In philosophy, normative is usually contrasted with positive (i.e...... Click the link for more information.
Electorate may refer to:
..... Click the link for more information.
- A constituency, the group of people entitled to vote in an election.
- An electoral district, the geographic area of a particular election.
- The dominion of an Elector in the Holy Roman Empire.
..... Click the link for more information.
non-governmental organization (NGO) is a legally constituted organization created by private persons or organizations with no participation or representation of any government.
..... Click the link for more information.
..... Click the link for more information.
A think tank (also called a policy institute) is an organization, institute, corporation, or group that conducts research and engages in advocacy in areas such as social policy, political strategy, science or technology issues, industrial or business policies, or military
..... Click the link for more information.
..... Click the link for more information.
An election is a decision making process where people choose people to hold official offices. This is the usual mechanism by which modern democracy fills offices in the legislature, sometimes in the executive and judiciary, and for regional and local government.
..... Click the link for more information.
..... Click the link for more information.
Public Opinion is a 1922 book on media and democracy by Walter Lippmann. Among other things, it argues that twentieth century advances in the technology of "the manufacture of consent" amounts to "a revolution" in "the practice of democracy" because this allows the control
..... Click the link for more information.
..... Click the link for more information.
Editing of this page by unregistered or newly registered users is currently disabled due to vandalism.
If you are prevented from editing this page, and you wish to make a change, please discuss changes on the talk page, request unprotection, log in, or .
..... Click the link for more information.
If you are prevented from editing this page, and you wish to make a change, please discuss changes on the talk page, request unprotection, log in, or .
..... Click the link for more information.
While the study of politics is first found in ancient Greece and ancient India, political science is a late arrival in terms of social sciences. However, the discipline has a clear set of antecedents such as moral philosophy, political philosophy, political economy, history, and
..... Click the link for more information.
..... Click the link for more information.
The social sciences are a group of academic disciplines that study human aspects of the world. They diverge from the arts and humanities in that the social sciences tend to emphasize the use of the scientific method in the study of humanity, including quantitative and qualitative
..... Click the link for more information.
..... Click the link for more information.
Ethics (via Latin ethica from the Ancient Greek ἠθική [φιλοσοφία]
..... Click the link for more information.
..... Click the link for more information.
..... Click the link for more information.
This article indiscriminately cites its .
Please help [ improve this article] by keeping only reliable sources that directly support claims in the article. (, )
Wikipedia is not a . This article has been tagged since August 2007.
..... Click the link for more information.
Please help [ improve this article] by keeping only reliable sources that directly support claims in the article. (, )
Wikipedia is not a . This article has been tagged since August 2007.
..... Click the link for more information.
History is the study of the past, focused on human activity and leading up to the present day.[1] More precisely, history is the continuous, systematic narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race [1]
..... Click the link for more information.
..... Click the link for more information.
Normative has specialized meanings in several academic disciplines. Generically, it means relating to a typical standard or model.
..... Click the link for more information.
Philosophy
In philosophy, normative is usually contrasted with positive (i.e...... Click the link for more information.
Deduction can refer to one of the following usages:
..... Click the link for more information.
- Deductive reasoning, inference in which the conclusion is of no greater generality than the premises
- Natural deduction, an approach to proof theory that attempts to provide a formal model of logical reasoning as it
..... Click the link for more information.
A state is a political association with effective dominion over a geographic area. It usually includes the set of institutions that claim the authority to make the rules that govern the people of the society in that territory, though its status as a state often depends in part on
..... Click the link for more information.
..... Click the link for more information.
History of India begins with the Indus Valley Civilization, which flourished in the north-western part of the Indian subcontinent from 3300 to 1700 BCE. This Bronze Age civilization was followed by the Iron Age Vedic period, which witnessed the rise of major kingdoms known as the
..... Click the link for more information.
..... Click the link for more information.
The Rigveda (Sanskrit ऋग्वेद
..... Click the link for more information.
..... Click the link for more information.
Samhita (Sanskrit saṃhita "joined" or "collected") may refer to
..... Click the link for more information.
..... Click the link for more information.
Brāhmaṇas (Devanagari:
..... Click the link for more information.
..... Click the link for more information.
Buddhism is often described as a religion[1] and a collection of various philosophies, based initially on the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama, known as Gautama Buddha.
..... Click the link for more information.
..... Click the link for more information.
The Pali Canon is the standard scripture collection of the Theravada Buddhist tradition, as preserved in the Pali language.[1] The Canon was written down from oral tradition at the occasion of the Fourth Buddhist Council(in the usual Theravada numbering), 1st century
..... Click the link for more information.
..... Click the link for more information.
Chanakya (Sanskrit: चाणक्य Cāṇakya) (c. 350-283 BC) was an adviser and a prime minister[1] to the first Maurya Emperor Chandragupta (c. 340-293 BC), and architect of his rise to power.
..... Click the link for more information.
..... Click the link for more information.
State Party Pakistan
Type Cultural
Criteria iii, vi
Reference 139
Region Asia-Pacific
Inscription History
Inscription 1980 (4th Session)
..... Click the link for more information.
Type Cultural
Criteria iii, vi
Reference 139
Region Asia-Pacific
Inscription History
Inscription 1980 (4th Session)
..... Click the link for more information.
This article is copied from an article on Wikipedia.org - the free encyclopedia created and edited by online user community. The text was not checked or edited by anyone on our staff. Although the vast majority of the wikipedia encyclopedia articles provide accurate and timely information please do not assume the accuracy of any particular article. This article is distributed under the terms of GNU Free Documentation License.
Herod_Archelaus
