LEYTE NORMAL UNIVERSITY |FUNDAMENTALS OF POLITICAL SCIENCE

POLSCI 101 | 1ST SEMESTER | A.Y. 2021-2022|

On the Spotlight: Lesson 1

Look around you. Is political science limited to just law and government?

Political Science

Statist: Political science is the study of the state in all its elements, aspects and
relationships (Ayson and Reyes, 2000).

Non-statist: Politics is the activity through which people make, preserve and
amend the general rules under which they live (Heywood, 2013). Politics is essentially a
social activity linked to diversity, conflict and cooperation.

Defining politics
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Politics is associated with arena and is also viewed as a process (Heywood,

2013).

1. Politics as an arena: Behavior becomes political because of location

A. Politics as the art of government

- To study government; to study the exercise of authority;

- ‘what concerns the state’

- ‘Politics is not a science… but an art’ (Chancellor Bismarck)

- This offers a highly restrictive view of politics – most institutions and

activities (businesses, schools, families) are seen as ‘non-political’

B. Politics as public affairs

- Distinction between ‘the political’ and ‘the non-political’ coincides with

the division between an essentially public sphere of life and what can
be thought of as a private sphere

- Traditional division
between public and
private realm
conforms to division
between state and
civil society

- An alternative divide
distinguishes between
‘the political’ and ‘the
personal’

- Politics does not and should not infringe on personal affairs (ie. family
and domestic life)

2. Politics as a process: Political behavior exists in all social contexts

A. Politics as compromise and consensus

- Politics is seen as a means of resolving conflict (by compromise and

negotiation rather than through force)

- Based on faith in the efficacy of debate and discussion, as well as on

the belief that society is characterized by consensus, rather than by
irreconcilable conflict

- A growing disenchantment with democratic politics across much of the

developed world has been expressed in the rise of populism and
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favours conflict over compromise and consensus

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B. Politics as power

- This view sees politics at work in all social activities and in every
corner of human existence

- Politics is, in essence, power

- Advocates of this view include feminists and Marxists

On the Spotlight: Lesson 2

Watch this video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DhdRJHovAaU) to learn

about political science as a scientific study.
What did you learn from the video? Express your answer in less than 150 words.

Political Science: A Scientific Study

Political scientists strive to emulate the objectivity as well as the conceptual and
methodological rigor typically associated with so-called “hard” sciences. They construct and
assess theories in accordance with the principles of the scientific method. 1

1. Investigating Relationships

- Engaged in revealing the relationships underlying political events and conditions to

attempt to state general principles about the way the world of politics work.

2. Building Theories

- Political scientists adhere to a simple model of scientific inquiry when building

theories. The key to building precise and persuasive theories is to develop and
test hypotheses.2

3. Collecting Data

1
The scientific method by which hypotheses are verified by testing them against the available evidence is seen as a means of
disclosing value-free and objective truth (Scott and Garrison, 1998).
3

2
Hypotheses are statements that researchers construct for the purpose of testing whether or not a certain relationship exists
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between two phenomena

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- Testing the relationship between independent3 and dependent variables4 by

collecting data through field work that includes interviews, surveys or focused
group discussions among others.

4. Clear, consistent, objective writing

- Writing that conveys rigor, objectivity, and logical consistency. Political scientists
persuade through their command of the facts and their ability to relate those
facts to theories that can withstand the test of empirical investigation

- Use of operationalized terms

On the Spotlight: Lesson 3

Think this through: Is it possible to study politics in an impartial manner? If so,

how?

Approaches to the Study of Political Science

1. The philosophical tradition

- This involved a preoccupation with essentially ethical, prescriptive or normative

questions, reflecting a concern with what ‘should’, ‘ought’ or ‘must’ be brought
about, rather than with what ‘is’

2. The empirical tradition

- The empirical approach to political analysis is characterized by the attempt to offer

a dispassionate and impartial account of political reality. The approach is
‘descriptive’, in that it seeks to analyse and explain.

3. Behaviouralism

- This provides objective and quantifiable data against which hypotheses could be
tested.
4

3
Independent variable is the phenomenon that may have some effect on the dependent variable
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Dependent variable is the phenomenon that is affected by other variables
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4. Rational-choice theory

- This approach to analysis draws heavily on the example of economic theory in

building up models based on procedural rules, usually about the rationally self-
interested behaviour of the individuals involved.

5. New institutionalism

- sets of ‘rules’, which guide or constrain the behaviour of individual actors

6. Critical approaches

- seeks to uncover inequalities and asymmetries that mainstream approaches intend

to ignore (e.g. Feminism, Marxism, Green Politics, Post-colonialism,
Constructivism, and Post-structuralism)

Tools of Political Analysis

• Concepts help us to classify objects by recognizing that they have similar forms or
similar properties.
• Models include a network of relationships
that highlight the meaning and significance of
relevant empirical data
• Theories offer a systematic explanation of a
body of empirical data
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Politics in a Global Age

Watch this video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1g3xbMXUhCU) to know more about
the role of states in an era of globalization.

• A distinction has traditionally been made

between the domestic and international realms
of politics
• The state-based paradigm of politics has come
under pressure as a result of recent trends and
developments, including globalization
• The increase in transnational flows has
expanded the parameters and complexity of
political activity

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ENHANCEMENT READINGS:

Andrew Heywood’ Politics: “Chapter 1: What is Politics?”

Florentino Ayson and Dolores Aligada-Reyes’ Fundamentals of Political Science: Chapter
1: The Nature and Scope of Political Science

References

Ayson, F. & Reyes R. (2004). Fundamentals of Political Science. Manila: National

Bookstore.
Heywood, A. (2013). Politics. China: Palgrave Macmillan.
Lasswell, H. D. (1936). Politics: Who Gets What, When, How. New York, London:
Whittlesey House, McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc.
Scott, G. M. and Garrison, S.M. (1998). The Political Science Student Writer’s Manual,
Second Edition. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall, Inc.
Turabian, K.L. (1996). A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and
Dissertations, Sixth Edition. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.

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