Development of Political Science as a Field of Study

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The Development of Political Science as a Field of Study

The Greeks as we have seen established a broad definition of politics. However, between the sixteenth and early twentieth centuries, European political philosophers established a narrower definition of politics. For example, Jean Bodin (1430-1596), a French political philosopher, who first used the term “political science” (science politique) was a lawyer. Because of his legal training, Bodin focused on the characteristics of the state more than any other aspect of the political process. He concentrated on analyzing the relationship between the organization of the state and how this relates to law. Another French philosopher Montesquieu (1689-1755) argued that the functions of government could be encompassed within the categories of legislation, execution, and the adjudication of law.

Montesquieu categories found their way into the United States Constitution and other 119 Republican Constitutions with the assumption that liberty was best assured by separation of powers between the Legislature, the Executive and the Judiciary. It was the work of these two philosophers that imposed a restricted definition of politics on political scientists. Political scientist for years concentrated almost exclusively on the Executive, the Legislature and the Judiciary as major concern until recently. In the mid-nineteenth century, Darwin’s theory of evolution and natural selection began to exert a powerful influence upon political science. In fact, Biology came to reinforce history in the study of political institutions, which were seen as the product of historical change and, apparently organic evolution.

The development of sociology after the 19th century prompted political scientists to give more attention to the impact on government of social forces not defined with reference to the institutional outline of the state. The industrialization of previously agricultural societies and sharpening clash between the emergent working classes and their employers (industrialists) compelled a closer study of economic facts, forces and trends, as these produced political problems and helped to shape political behaviour.

The advent of World War II brought about a re-think by political scientist that Legislature, Executives, agencies, and the Courts did not exist by themselves and that they did not operate independently of one another or of the other political organizations in society. Political scientists in America and Europe embarked on new fields of study by examining the political parties, interest groups, trade unions, as well as corporations and church organizations. Ideologies have also commanded the attention of political scientists because of their (ideologies) role in the formation of Ultra-Right and Ultra-Left political parties and movements.

It is all the above institutions of the state plus other political and social organization that constitute the political system. What this mean is that politics is not just about government and politicians but a complex process involving everybody in a given society, attitudes to issues, interest groups, group organization, electioneering, as well as the formulation, implementation, and interpretation of law. SELF-ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 1 Define politics and describe the development of political science as a field of study.

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