Basics Of Political Science

What you'll learn
Describe nature of Political Science
Identify scope of Political Science
Define the Political Science
Describe the approaches to the study of Political Science
Requirements
Interest in social science
Description
Political science is the study of politics and power from domestic, international, and comparative perspectives. It entails understanding political ideas, ideologies, institutions, policies, processes, and behavior, as well as groups, classes, government, diplomacy, law, strategy, and war.August Comte opined that theories are the conceptual lenses through which we can sort out the plethora of facts that we confront daily. In fact, without theories, we might not be able to identify something as a fact at all. There are some features of a good theory. The first virtue is parsimony which implies frugality. A theory should be parsimonious to forgo unnecessary speculation and confusing details. The second feature of a sound theory is accuracy. Theories must be sufficiently detailed to allow for accurate assessments and explanations of the world. An elegant theory simply yet precisely interprets, describes, explains, or predicts some aspect of the world. However, these virtues are mostly identified as features of scientific theories. The explanatory and predictive behavior of natural sciences is not found in social sciences as too many uncontrolled and unforeseen forces affect political and social life and that is why social and political practices are seldom replicable. In light of these problems, some experts have argued that social scientists should not try to mimic the natural sciences; instead, they should develop their own standards and procedures. For theorists of...

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