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Introduction to political scienceAsist Univ Silvia Marton

2nd

Week 10th

of October 2007

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Harold Lasswell (d. 1979). 1936: Politics: who gets what, when, how?, his focus is on

the elites. Elites stand to maximize their values. Lasswell focused, in his researches, onelites and leadership, values such as power, well-being and reputation.

Politics was identified with allocation of values, limited only to elites, according to

Lasswell.

Hanna Arendt (d. 1975) rediscovered politics in the context of totalitarianism: Nazism,

Stalinism. According to her, these totalitarian regimes destroyed politics. She goes backto the Greek roots of politics, she defines politics as a relationship between individuals.

Politics is the space in-between the individuals and their activities, this is the place where

politics is born. This means that politics implies judgment. Freedom exists only in thespace between individuals, in their interactions. She reinterpreted the meaning ofzoon

politikon:according to the Greeks, real life is only in the polis, being free is identical to

living in the city; politics is about discourse; individuals coexist in a public space, active

life is what defines the nature of the individuals, which automatically impliescommunication, language makes the human being a political being.

The definition of Political ScienceScience = empirical observation, specialized vocabulary, methodology.

The purpose of any science is to come up with normative knowledge.

The focus of political science is normative knowledge. The key question of Greekphilosophers was what is the best regime?.

Political knowledge must be transmissible, the method the science uses must be explicit,

open (to other researchers, especially). Scientific knowledge must be general able to

cover as many situations as possible. Every science must be explanatory, accurate aboutthe object under study.

Political science is not:

- Journalism. Political Science contradicts stereotypes, journalism encourages them- An ideology a rigid discourse about something, an ideology is built around

values, beliefs, it may ensure ethical comfort, appeals to passion. Ideologies are

clear, coherent, rigid- Political participation the object of study for political science.

Neutrality in political science should be an imperative.

A political scientist is more than a political commentator gives his/her opinion, maypredict, a political scientist should be empirical. A commentator describes something

according to ones perception, a political science describes the function of something,

objectively.Political science current affairs

Historically, the questioning of politics is very old, but the discipline is recent.What makes a science?

1. Agreement on a name2. A specialized language3. Institutions4. Instruments for making public the research, the object of study (publications, etc.)

7/31/2019 About Political Science-IPS Week2

2/2

Introduction to political scienceAsist Univ Silvia Marton

2nd

Week 10th

of October 2007

2

Political philosophy is as old as writing exists; the study of politics existed beforepolitical science. Traditional political science, grew out of law, history and ethics,

sometime during the 19th

century.

The history of political thought was already studied (for example Machiavelli).

The main focus was the form of government, legal institutions, historical documents,correspondence between diplomats, etc.

By the end of the 19th

century, one would find in Universities departments ofGovernment. This form of political science was rather descriptive than explanatory.

Around the 1900s, politics became an object of study. In order to have this gradual

achievement, a number of developments took place: the Industrial Revolution,individualism, scientism (a theory that science can explain all), the modern University,

the democratisation of politics (more and more people have access to politics),

development of modern administrations, separation between economy and politics.

The first department of political science: the University of Columbia, 1880.1886, Univ. of Columbia, the first Political Science Journal: Political quarterly

London School of Economy, 1895 School of Economies and Political Science1903, The American Political Science association

After the second world war, the invention of computers lead to the development of

empirical political study.Behaviourism, the study of political behaviour.

In the 60s-70s normative knowledge was reintroduced as a counter-reaction to

behaviourism