Is political analysis a science, an art or some kind of hybrid - Essay Example

With the passage of time, the concept of political philosophy was introduced, which supported the view of political sciences being the master of all sciences as forwarded by Aristotle (Stanford University, 2011). Hence, from understanding people’s behavior from a specific point of view of politics and governance, it was expanded to understanding the cultural, ethical and religious needs and behavior of people, which directly affects their outlook and code of life. Thus, political science was evolved, amalgamating some core areas of humanities, religious, cultural psychology, sociology, philosophy, leadership and public administration (Britannica, 2013).

This expanded the application of political analysis, and it made a place in the sectors of law, communism and humanities. There are numerous researches and studies on each field mentioned above, and this depicts the richness political sciences carries in itself. Furthermore, with the increasing awareness of leadership roles and responsibilities, a considerable emphasis is been put on how people are governed and by whom (Britannica, 2013). The fact that, the end motive is the same today also, to find ways and methods to attract more people, but the government system now, can not entirely rely on theories and scientific methods for determining human behavior.

As the cause and effect theory in science tells that there is a particular effect directed by a particular action, does not solely apply in political sciences. Stating the above facts, the role of science cannot be negated completely (UCLA, 1996). The empirical analysis helping political sciences to understand the emerging trend of globalization and international relations management are all the scientific tools for efficient governance. This makes it difficult to categorize political sciences as a subject of hard- science or simple arts.

It can therefore, be taken as a hybrid of these two fields, where some issues are predefined while some still exists in the grey areas (Singh, Marquette, Alolo, 2007). Understanding Political Analysis Background The implication and use of political analysis in governance and public administration has its roots from the ancient civilization, in the time of Plato and Aristotle (Nederman, 1991). The ideology behind its evolution was related in the determination of features and responsibilities for those desiring power and authority.

With the Roman fall nearly thousand years back, the Greek philosophy of social and political behaviors emerges, with which the world entered in a new era of political laws and governing states. The definition of power and the rule was changed, from something that is bestowed upon to something that has to be earned (Adcock & Bevir, 2005). At that point in time, scientific observations and empirical approaches were the only tools involve in forming a government and finding people’s interest in the state government.

This was the normative knowledge approach, which determines the definite reaction of people upon certain government policy or process. Later, a non-normative approach, based on the grounds of psychology was introduced. It takes into account hypothesis and several assumptions, whose empirical evaluation leads towards a particular finding (Adcock & Bevir, 2005). In the contemporary government system, a Model Based Approach is used, which has fragments of several models combined to make