Is Politics A Science - 1058 Words

Is politics a science in the first place? Numerous scholars believe politics is too normative to be considered a â€Å"Science† and that the generalizations made in science cannot be implemented in politics, furthermore, some say it is more of an art than science. Aristotle described politics as the â€Å"Master Science† as it relates to all other disciplines such as economy and philosophy. Personally I had my doubts in the beginning of the course of how much science can be in politics and if it is truly a â€Å"science†. Looking into the definitions of politics and science, I came to the conclusion that politics is a â€Å"science†. Politics simply put by Harold Laswell is the study of â€Å"Who gets what, when, and how†. Science on the other hand is†¦show more content†¦Politics is about governance thus political analyst utilize basic scientific research such as the normative and behaviorist approach to gain knowledge. This systematic app roach or aspect of politics makes it scientific. Politics is not hard science per say but it is a discipline that can be analyzed using rational principles, measurements and observations. Gerring (2006) points out that when you study politics scientifically you seek out to uncover â€Å"what is†, rather than â€Å"what ought to be† in the political realm and Leftwich (2004) points out that politics explains power thereby it is both systematic and a science. Hypothesis are created and tested as in any other scientific field although it is mainly the analysis of statistical data. Political science is the systematic study of governments through the use of empirical and generally scientific techniques by analyzing the state and its organs. The complex nature of human behavior makes it difficult to provide accurate measurements and predictions as seen with the natural sciences and thus causes several doubts on how scientific the discipline is. However, if the term science a pplies to any area of systematically organized knowledge based on facts deduced by empirical methods (working hypothesis that can be tested using observation and experiment) and described by as much measurement as the material allows, then political science