“The method of political science is the interpretation of life; its instrument is insight, a nice understanding of subtle, unformulated conditions” (Woodrow Wilson).
The word ‘political science’ is derived from two words ‘polis’ and ‘scire’, where ‘polis’ means ‘city or sovereign’ and ‘scire’ means ‘to know or to study’. Politics plays an important role to run any state. They control the political system, make decisions or choices, manage cases like the tax system, establish different government programs and manage budget decisions, etc.
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The term ‘political science’ is the study of the body politic, the association of people into a political community. Political science is the social science regarding the practice and the theory of politics, the analysis of the political systems, and the study of political behavior. It is also referred to as the study of politics. It is the marriage of power and knowledge. The operation of political science is to get the principles that ought to adhere to public affairs that eventually would function as a model which will be applied to matters of pressing concern to public officers and non-public voters. It is also used to deal with social and economic problems and other matters of public and private concern. In political science, we study political behavior, political structure and functions, political phenomena, political ideas, political documents, and the political future. Aristotle defined it as the ‘master science’.
Objectives in the study of political science include citizenship education, an integral part of liberal arts education, and knowledge and understanding of government.
Speaking of political science, one should pay attention to who political scientists are and how they differ from politicians. Etymologically, the term 'politician' is derived from the Latin word ‘politicus’, which was an adjective that was used to describe anything ‘of the state’. Specifically, one who regards one elected political office as a career. According to Harold Lasswell, a politician is 'who gets what, when, and how'. In turn, political scientists are the scientists who study different origins of the political system and present their findings. They are also involved in political ideas, political trends, and political related issues. Their studies include public policy, national politics, political theory, and international relations.
Politicians and political scientists differ primarily in their attitude to power. Politicians love power. Power is the ability to have others do something, whether they like it or not. Politicians are very concerned about power, they love to achieve power either by hook or by crook. Whereas political scientists are skeptical of power, they always question the authenticity of power. They question things and try to find valid answers. There is a difference in their aspirations as well. Politicians seek popularity, they love to be praised, and they are very fond to be a known person. Whereas political scientists seek accuracy in things, they are not concerted of popularity, they try to find correctness in things. Politicians always think practically they always think first of their own benefits. They are mostly concerned about their prestige and power. They do things to change the environment so that they can fit easily in it. In turn, political scientists think abstractly they are not concerned about their benefits, they think about actual instances. Politicians always do things so that they may win in the next elections; they are not concerned about the benefits of their public. Whereas political scientists plan for their next publications; they do things for the benefit of people. Politicians respond to groups, they do things only for those groups which can give benefits them, whereas political scientists seek the good of the whole, they do things for everyone, and they find solutions to everyone's problem. And finally, politicians seek name recognition, they love to do things for the sake of their name so that their name can be remembered and they can get more votes. In turn, political scientists seek professional prestige, they are not concerned about their name, and they do things that are accurate so that their profession's prestige can be saved.
To summarize, political science plays a very important role in society. Through it, we know different things about politics like how power can be gained, shared, and used to run the state. It also tells us about different global relations.
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