political science

Political Science

Define Political Science . What are the major sub-fields of Political Science

Political science is the study of politics . The discipline looks at processes and methods in analyzing political realities and phenomena It is the study of political interactions that constantly occur in the society . It analyzes and describes political systems , political structures , and political realities , by utilizing certain philosophical and theoretical frameworks . Political science also investigates why certain political events occur and what accounts for the present condition and structure of the society

The sub-fields of Political

Science are International Relations Comparative Politics , Political Theory and Philosophy , and Domestic Politics . International Relations is the study of interactions and relations of states in the international realm for instance the study of how states interact in an international organization like the United Nations . Comparative politics is comparing and contrasting the internal and domestic characteristics of countries it compares government types structures , and other points of comparison . Comparing the Presidential governments of United States and Russia , and the dynamics of these governments , is comparative politics . Political theory and philosophy looks at the theoretical and philosophical background behind politics for instance studying the ideas of thinkers such as Machiavelli Aristotle , Plato , Hobbes , and so on . It looks at the theory frameworks and uses these theories in explaining political events . Domestic politics looks at the situation in the domestic front , how politics works in the country and how the government operates

Why do we say that the tradition of Political Science is Western and that the knowledge in this discipline is cumulative

The Political Tradition is considered to be Western , which is one of its criticisms , because the theoretical foundations of the discipline and the philosophers that forwarded those theories , are products of Western thought and culture . Also , the basic frameworks of analysis and the basic assumptions of the discipline is in fact very Western , and uses the Western civilization as the model of government or model of replication . For example , some would argue that models of democracy are essentially a Western invention , as with the concepts of bureaucracy This imposition of a Western approach is used against the discipline

Political Science is deemed to be cumulative , which is one of the characteristics of science , as it derives knowledge from data that previously existed . Cumulative means that something is derived from the accumulation of data or the aggregate of information . The knowledge in the discipline is cumulative because all ideas are built from those that were previously devised or thought of . Also , it is imperative that all actions that brought about a certain condition must be considered to give an objective political science analysis . It is also cumulative in a sense that political science does not ignore previous knowledge , and uses accumulated data as foundation for putting forward new assumptions and theories

Define power and conflict

Power is a concept that is very related , in fact , coupled , with the word Politics . It is the capacity of one person to make another person do...