Defining Political Science & Politics

Q: – Define the meaning of political science & it’s definitions? OR Explain the scope and significance of political science.

Ans: –Meaning: –Man is not only social by nature but quarrelsome. Hence to keep social life intact, there is the need that certain rules or laws must be observed and the unit which implements these rules in an organized society is called the state or Govt. or the political system and the science which makes us acquainted with such a subject is called Political science.

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Etymologically, the term political science or politics has been derived from a Greek word “Polis” which means city or a state. Hence political science deals with the problems of a city or a state in which men live.

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Scope/subject matter/significance of Political Science:

Political science scholars are not unanimous about the subject matter or scope of political science. The verity is that as compared to the conditions about 2500 years back, in Greek city-states, man’s life had become momentously developed and the significant progress achieved or realized in social, cultural, scientific and technical spheres has brought about metamorphosis in the subject matter or scope of political science and has made it co-equal to the political activities of the world. This is the reason that the activities which affect the political life perceptibly have become the subject matter or scope of political science.

Q: – What is politics?

Ans: – For a long time, politics has been regarded as a study of the state. Garner says that “politics ends and begins with state”. There are traditional scholars who defined politics as the study of govt. Seelay says that politics investigates the phenomena of govt. as political economy deals with wealth, biology deals with life, algebra deals with numbers and geometry with space and magnitude.

The traditional meaning of politics as the study of state or Govt. or both is incomplete. The modern meaning of politics is the study of power or struggle for power.