Category: Methods and Models Of Political Study and Analysis

In the name of detached research, keeping away from the ‘brute realities of politics’ has made behaviouralism irrelevant. In an era of social upheavals and conflicts, fear and anxiety, if the political scientist was aloof and carrying out detached research and analysis, what use was political science to society? Post-behaviouralism insists on socially and politically…

Behaviouralism was charged with being an ‘ideology of social conservatism tempered by modest incremental change’. Post-behaviouralism advocates change orientation and reform over preservation.

The behavioural approach came under criticism by many political theorists for neglecting theory-building and even political science. Political philosophers such as Strauss argued that the behavioural approach was symptomatic of the crisis in political theory because it neglected normative issues. By the late 1960s, a Caucus for New Political Science developed within the America Political…

The behavioural approach came under criticism by many political theorists for neglecting theory-building and even political science. Political philosophers such as Strauss argued that the behavioural approach was symptomatic of the crisis in political theory because it neglected normative issues. By the late 1960s, a Caucus for New Political Science developed within the America Political…

We may mention here that the history of political thought within the traditional fold also contains elements of behavioural analysis. Kautilya, Machiavelli, Hobbes and Bentham have contributed in this direction. Jeremy Bentham’s utilitarian creed of pain and pleasure, for example, drives from human nature. Kautilya’s Arthashastra presents a very pragmatic view of statecraft and administration. His analysis…

If causal theory, or theory based on the cause–effect relationship, and not value theory is the aim of the behavioural approach, its method and techniques must provide for the collection of data, and its verification and analysis, so that empirically verifiable propositions can be made. Towards this end, scientific techniques and methods of data collection,…

According to Easton the ‘… behavioural aspects of the new movement in political research involve more than method and reflect the inception of a theoretical search for stable units for understanding behaviour in its political aspects’. The behavioural approach is based on the conviction that there are certain fundamental units of analysis relating to human…

A comparison of traditional and behavioural approaches will make the distinction between their approaches, methods, focus, scope and subject matter clear. These differences show that the behavioural approach is really a revolt against traditional political enquiry. The eight intellectual foundation stones listed by Easton are proof of this revolt.

The charge that the behavioural approach by focusing too much on other social sciences tends to compromise the boundary of political science is not valid. After all, politics should not be viewed independently of social factors and influences. Political sociology, for example, has helped in the understanding of the context in which institutions and formal…

It is also not true that the behavioural approach ignores formal political structures completely. It may be that the emphasis on inputs like pressure, demands and supports is greater than on outputs like decisions and policies. However, the systems analysis and conversion processes of the political system do take into account both formal and informal…