Political Science For Dummies. Marcus A. Stadelmann

Political Science For Dummies

Where to Go from Here

Feel free to start with any chapter in the book that interests you. Keep in mind that all the chapters are nonlinear, so you can start with any topic in any chapter. Happy reading!

Part 1

Understanding Political Science

IN THIS PART …

Discover what politics is all about and why it’s relevant to every person alive and thus needs to be studied.

Find out how political science developed from being very descriptive and nonexplanatory to a discipline that today tests propositions and creates theories to try to explain global behavior and conflict.

Explore how political culture determines how people act politically in their countries. Plus, find out how the process of political socialization of people, referring to how people receive their political values, determines how they behave politically.

Chapter 1

Discovering the Discipline of Political Science

IN THIS CHAPTER

Understanding what politics and political science entail

Finding out about political power

Looking into sources of legitimacy

Political science is the study of politics and more precisely power. Politics is the process by how government decisions are made. It involves some members of society making decisions for all of society because they hold political power over others. Politics, in turn, determines who gets what, where, when, and how. For this reason, politics is an ongoing competition between individuals, groups, or even nation-states. In the United States, politics can involve two interest groups competing for benefits from the government. At the international level, politics could be a competition for natural resources, such as oil, or new powerful allies.

A political scientist is interested in who holds political power in a society, what type of political institutions (forms of government) are best suited to bring about the least amount of conflict, and what form of government is best for its citizens. To be more precise, political scientists are interested in who gets elected to office, how elections are won, how policy is made, how leaders maintain themselves in power, and the all-important question, why does war occur and could it be prevented?

This chapter looks at the study of politics and political science, including the beginnings of political science.

Looking at Politics and Political Science

Many believe that political science is a way of training for future politicians. Although taking a political science class can be helpful if you want to venture into politics, this isn’t what political science is all about. Political science is a method or a way to study politics.

Political science is an academic discipline that studies the relationship between people and political institutions. A discipline is a field of study usually represented by an academic department at a college or university. Political science is a discipline, and so are history, sociology, and biology.

Politics impacts people daily, and most of the time they’re not aware of it. Politics determines tax rates, the way businesses are run, the textbooks a child uses in high school, and even how much a person pays for a gallon of milk in the grocery store.

Going back to the history of political science

The founder of the discipline of political science is the famous Greek philosopher Aristotle (see Figure 1-1). He referred to political science as a master science, because everything in life can be political in nature. Aristotle was the first political scientist to collect data and then base his research on it.

Aristotle and his teacher Plato were concerned with the decline of his home city-state Athens. He wanted to know what caused the decline of his beloved Athens and more important how to save Athens. So he sent his students to the other Greek city-states to gather data. He wanted to know why some city-states were doing well and why others weren’t. Based on the data his students collected, Aristotle wrote his famous book Politics. In it, he describes the various forms of governments and institutions his students discovered in the Greek city-states. Then he discusses his own preferences. Political science and normative theory (see Chapter 2) were born.

The term politics comes from the ancient Greek polis, which means city-state. The first person to use the term was Aristotle, who lived during the time of the Greek city-states dominating Greek politics. So politics for Aristotle referred to the interaction between the Greek city-states.

Statue of the famous Greek philosopher Aristotle, who was the founder of the discipline of political science.

Source: Bridgeman Images

FIGURE 1-1: Greek philosopher Aristotle is credited with founding political science.

A city-state, or polis, was the dominant political structure of ancient Greece. Each city-state had an urban center, walls for protection, and controlled a piece of the surrounding countryside. There were over 1,000 city-states, and the largest ones were Athens, Sparta, Corinth, Thebes, Syracuse, and Rhodes. Each city-state ruled itself and had a different form of government. For example, Athens was a democracy while Sparta was ruled by two kings and a council of elders.

Being a part of the social sciences

Political science is a part of the social sciences. Social sciences study how people interact with each other, how they behave toward others, and how power is distributed and used within societies. Social sciences include anthropology, economics, criminology, political science, sociology, and psychology. The social sciences that political science heavily draws on contribute to political science in the following manner:

Sociology: The discipline of sociology studies human beings and how they interact. Sociology focuses on how small and large groups form and become large organizations, even nation-states. Political scientists use sociology to explain the behavior of small groups, such as members of a parliament, and the creation of large groups, such as nation-states. In addition, studies are conducted on how people acquire and maintain power within groups.

Economics: The discipline of economics is important for the political scientist. Economics and politics often intersect. The political scientist uses economics to examine government programs such as social security or to discuss international trade agreements or even punitive sanctions.

Anthropology: Anthropology is the study of ancient and modern-day cultures. The discipline is useful for political scientists when conducting culture

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