Can the Study of Politics Be Scientific - Essay Example

Business essay – Politics Man is a social animal and he has no existence if he tries to stay independent. Different societies form a nation or and it is not possible for a nation or State to function properly without an administration. Administration of a nation is controlled by political powers and in that respect we can conclude that politics is an essential segment of human life. This paper briefly explains politics, scientific nature of politics, difference between nation and State, strength and weakness of democracy and factors affecting political power etc. Definitions of politics “The word politics comes from the Greek word "polis", meaning the state or community as a whole. The concept of the "polis" was an ideal state and came from the writings of great political thinkers such as Plato and Aristotle” (What Is Politics, 2009). Politics can be defined as the laws, policies and practices administered or implemented by a governing body in a society or nation. ‘It is the study of who got decisions making power and who hasn’t. Lenin said politics was about "who could do what to whom" whereas political scientist Harold Lasswell said; politics is "who gets what, when and how’ (Politics, 2009). Thus politics has different meanings and interpretations Politics can be of different types based on the policies and functioning of the politicians. Some people believe in left ideologies (communism) whereas some others believe in right ideologies (Democracy). The aim of both the leftists and the right wing are the same; socialism. But the path for achieving socialism is different for both leftists and rightists. Leftists are more aggressive in their approaches to acquire their goal and they often implement stiff methods to acquire socialism by neglecting the human right issues. For them the target is important rather than the path selected for reaching the target. On the other hand, rightists opt for democratic means for achieving socialism. For them people are the most important segment of socialism and the power rests with the people. A democratic government is selected by the people for the people. Can the study of politics be scientific? The study of politics is somewhat scientific in nature. It is often describe the study of politics as political science. In order to achieve scientific nature a topic should be associated with measurable concepts. Science don’t have belief in hypothesizes. It believes only in proved hypothesizes which is termed as theories or principles in scientific terms. Politics has lot of theories which can be proved with the help of statistics. For example, election of the legislative members and the prime minister/president are based on the majority of the votes received by a candidate in an election process in a democratic country. The voting statistics or pattern provides the information about the winner. It is not possible for a person with fewer votes to acquire power. In other words, the winner would always be the one who got majority of votes. The winning and losing can be established or proved by measuring the votes which suggests that politics is a scientific entity. “A core part of being a scientist and taking a scientific approach to studying the phenomena that interest you is always being willing to consider new evidence and, on the basis of that new evidence, change what you thought you knew to be true. This willingness to always consider new evidence is counterbalanced by a stern approach to the evaluation of new evidence that permeates the scientific approach. This is certainly true of the way that political scientists approach politics” (Kellstedt and Whitten, p.4, n. d.). Like the scientists, politicians also develop theories and test them in the political circle. For example, in most of the elections, politicians experiment some theories while selecting candidates for the elections for a particular constituency. Religion is a factor which affects the politics, up to certain extent. No politicians try to post a Muslim candidate in a Christian dominated constituency under normal circumstances. It is an established theory that religion has influence on politics and hence the religious aspects need to be considered while framing a candidate for a particular constituency. It is a tested theory. Thus political activities are often implemented with the help of tested and proven theories. Thus we can safely say that politics is scientific in nature. At the same time it should be remembered that all the activities in politics are scientific in nature. For example, President Obama has recently announced a big reformation package to stimulate the American economy which was damaged by the global financial crisis. Only time will tell whether the package was successful or not. Is the state the same as the nation? The term Nation and State are often used interchangeably. But both are different. It should be noted that the word state and State also has different meaning. State represents a country whereas state represents a small unit in a country. ‘A country or State is a self-governing political entity while a nation is a tightly-knit group of people which share a common culture. A state has well defined boundaries and organized economy. Moreover a State has a government which provides the public utility services like water supply, transportation facilities, power supply, postal delivery, telecommunication facilities etc. (Whats the difference between a nation and a country?, 2009). State is a sovereign entity within a specific territory. It is not necessary that all the people belong to a state have same culture. For example India is a country or State with numerous religions; around 28 states with most of the states have different languages and culture. Some of the other examples of State are Pakistan, Britain, America etc. “Nations are culturally homogeneous groups of people, larger than a single tribe or community, which shares a common language, institutions, religion, and historical experience” (Rosenberg, 2009). Palestine, Hong Kong, Bermuda, Greenland, Puerto Rico, etc are examples of nation. The people of a nation may have a common culture, history, identity, religion, morality, language, tradition or ethnic origin. Strength and weakness of direct form of democracy Democracy allows people to select the government of their choice. Thus people have the major power in a democratic country. Human right issues, freedom of expression, freedom of believing in a religion or God, freedom of using any media of their choice for expressing their ideas, less censorship etc are the major advantages of a democratic government. A well defined judiciary, Parliament and Executive is there in a democratic country which helps the public to get the justice all the time. On the other hand democracy has certain limitations also. The immense freedom associated with the people would often be misused by them. It is difficult to achieve consensus on certain issues which may prevent the economic progress of the country. Every policies implemented by the government need the support of the public for the successful execution. Factors which contribute to the legitimacy of power Power is the core of politics. Without power politics would be meaningless. The ideas and policies can be implemented by a political party if they have power. Otherwise such policies and suggestions would lie on paper alone. In a democratic state, the elections decide, which party assume power whereas in a communist country, the party decides who should be given power. In other words, in a democratic State, the people have the power whereas in a communist country, the party has the power. Conclusions Politics is a science which works on scientific principles most of the times. Without power politics is meaningless. Power is decided by either the public or the party depends on which political ideologies rule the country. Country and Nation are different entities. Country may have people of different culture whereas nation may have people with same characteristics. References 1. Kellstedt Paul M. and Whitten Guy D., (n. d.), The Scientific Study of Politics Retrieved on 10 November 2009 from http://docs.google.com/gview?a=v&q=cache:tvqABVaj8sMJ:assets.cambridge.org/97805218/75172/excerpt/9780521875172_excerpt.pdf+Can+the+study+of+politics+be+scientific&hl=en&sig=AFQjCNFmMEpQ9nazosJmIHs39ja2Q29TxA 2. Politics, (2009), Retrieved on 10 November 2009 from http://www.knowledgerush.com/kr/encyclopedia/Politics/ 3. What Is Politics, (2009), Retrieved on 10 November 2009 from http://www.allfreeessays.com/essays/Politics/902.html 4. What is the difference between a state and a nation?, (2009), Retrieved on 10 November 2009 from http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_difference_between_a_state_and_a_nation 5. Whats the difference between a nation and a country?, (2009), Retrieved on 10 November 2009 from http://geography.about.com/library/faq/blqznationstate.htm 6. Rosenberg Matt, (2009) Country, State, and Nation,About.com, Retrieved on 10 November 2009 from http://geography.about.com/cs/politicalgeog/a/statenation.htm Read More