Understanding of the Discipline of Political Science - Essay Example

Major/Minor Paper: My expectation is that you will think critically and creatively about how your minor area (sociology) relates to your major area of political science. First of all, I would like to establish that my minor area of study is sociology and my major area of study is political science. This essay seeks to explain how my two areas of study, minor and major, relate with each other and complement each other. I aim to prove the relationship between these two areas of studies from multiple perspectives. General consensus is that sociology and political science are inextricably related to each other to the point that without each other, they individually become lost and meaningless. The roots of sociology are entrenched in historical political philosophy. The state is described as the bedrock of political science in an early phase. History tells us that state was more of a social institution than political and has always been studied in a sociological context. In my opinion, I took a very thoughtful step in my academic life by studying sociology before political science as a minor area of study to complement my bigger area of study. Sociological principles lay out the framework before a student which is necessary to comprehend and acknowledge before continuing the journey toward political science. Having studied sociology first, many intricate principles of political science become a lot easier because a student is already acquainted with those principles’ bedrock or foundation. How has your minor area of study enhanced and contributed to your understanding of the discipline of political science? Sociology has enhanced and contributed to my understanding of political science by educating me about a human being’s social behavior first. After understanding how people tend to behave socially, it became easier for me to understand the political life and behavior of a person also. This is because sociology is the study of a human’s social life, while political science is the study of a man’s political life. The latter field of study originates from sociology. It is people who engineer smart strategies to run the government and different political associations. This is why to understand the political spirit embedded in those strategies or principles, it is first important to scrutinize the social behavior of those individuals who shape those principles to form the backbone of a human society. Sociology and political science always run together, side by side, on every societal level. Myriad aspects of political activities which form the hallmark of a certain society can be understood through the lens of sociology. It is an exceedingly arduous job to develop an understanding of political science without getting familiarized with sociology first because the subject matter of my major area is based on my minor area. Various decisions related to which type of government operates in which area, what should be the nature of governmental institutions, and what laws should be exercised to control crime within a society are molded by the social processes. This is why it is critically valuable to develop an interest for sociology before advancing to political science. How do the two areas of study work together to describe and explain human behavior? Sociology describes the social behavior of a human being, while political science focuses on the political behavior. Together, the two areas of science work together to explicate human behavior by demonstrating myriad important needs encountered by people belonging to a certain society which induce them to construct political systems in accordance with those needs. Human behavior varies from place to place, society to society, and country to country. This explains why social needs and political systems also vary around the world. The framework of a certain society and the nature of political systems which are established in that society to lend it stability are basically the essence of human behavior which is popular in that area. This is how sociology and political science work together to explain human behavior. Political activity of any kind springs from social activity which is why political behavior of a person is hugely influenced by his social life. Political science characterizes human behavior as political in nature assuming that man is a political being and sociology contributes to this knowledge of human behavior by identifying the circumstances under which a man became a political being. Is there a particular theory or area of empirical research in your minor that significantly adds to political science and our understanding of politics and/or public policy? Conflict perspective is one of the most popular perspectives in sociology. According to this concept which was introduced by Karl Marx, there are two classes in any society, the capitalist class and the working class. Generally, resources are controlled by the capitalist class which plays the role of a tyrant. The working class is disadvantaged and is put in a compromised position by the elite class. This gigantic difference in status and distribution of resources leads to establishment of corrupt political systems which triggers economic inequality in a society. Karl Marx, who was a particularly gifted sociologist, generously contributed to understanding politics and political behavior through conflict perspective. It is demonstrated that it is basically the elitist behavior of the well-resourced upper class which can be seem operating at the foundation of every political or public policy in any society. Such political policies are made to strengthen the grip of the powerful groups over the less privileged groups. This is how economic imbalance is created in a society as a result of which the rich keep getting richer and the poor keep reaching a more disadvantaged position. This economic inequality due to corrupt political systems gives birth to a wide array of social problems over time. It generates more crime, more hatred and resentment in the middle and working classes, and more law violations. Do you think you made the right decisions when choosing your minor? Due to a wide array of benefits offered to me by sociology for taking it as minor before studying political science, I am very positive that I made a thoughtful decision. When investment is made wisely in any area, the payoff might just surprise a person. This is exactly what has happened to me as well. By carefully investing time in sociology first, I effortlessly acquired a firm grip over various quite complex political principles later. This is because I was already familiar with all those sociological principles which lay the foundation of political principles upon which organizations, government bodies, and law statues operate. Many political problems take place due to deep social problems. For example, political corruption as mentioned above is the notorious offspring of wealth gap and economic inequality which are grave social issues. It is only possible to develop a real understanding of political activities when explored within a social context. This is because every political activity or principle actively seeks to reflect a society. This also suggests that political life is the reflection of a man’s social life. This is the reason why I think choosing sociology before political science as my minor served me inordinately. In a practical sense, do you think you’ll be able to use your minor in combination with your major in a future career? Because the two fields of science, sociology and political science, are indispensably related to each other, I definitely think that I will be able to use the knowledge acquired during the course of my minor area in combination with that acquired during studying my major in respect to my future career. I believe that my future career will hugely benefit from both my minor and major because both have enhanced my learning of human behavior on multiple perceptual levels. Sociology helped to establish that ground upon which I became able to construct the building of my knowledge related to political science. It is critically important for every political scientist to have a firm grasp on the area of sociology as well which means that every political scientist should pass as a sociologist also. By combining what I separately learned in my minor and major, I will be able to help construct state laws, if given the opportunity in my future career, in accordance with those customs and traditions which form the concern of a society. Also, I will know the probable answer to certain complex political problems because I will be already aware of their sociological background which often conceals the key. Read More