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Behaviouralism in political analysis has represented different things to different people—a methodological or technical orientation; a search for stable units of political analysis in the form of individuals, groups, processes, functions, structures, political culture, communication, decision-making, etc.; a movement or revolution in political analysis. David Easton has laid down eight assumptions and objectives of behaviouralism,…

In the first half of the twentieth century, a visible shift in the study of political science was seen in the writings of those who stressed on the role of human nature and psychology in politics, the role of informal structures and their influence on formal political institutions, and the study of processes rather than…

Contemporary approaches to political study are functionally oriented, behavioural and fact-oriented. While traditional approaches largely rely on philosophical, deductive, historical and, in a few cases, comparative and empirical methods, contemporary approaches are based on scientific and empirical methods, and use statistical and quantitative techniques. Thus, both in their focus and scope of study, as well…

The description and classification (taxonomy) of political institutions has also been an important approach in political study. For example, Aristotle classified governments on the basis of type of constitutions/governments; Bodin on the basis of location of sovereignty; Bryce on the basis of type of democracy; and Wheare on the basis of levels of government. Some…

The legal–institutional approach is concerned, first, with the study of political institutions such as the State, legislature, executive, judiciary, office of the prime minister, cabinet, etc. And, second, it deals with the study of constitutional law, legal position of institutions, and concepts with juridical implications, such as legal sovereignty, separation of powers, rule of law,…

If history is the narrative of past events, a systematic record of what happened, then it is also the story of how political institutions came into being, how they evolved, what principles went into organizing them and how they changed over time. The historical approach attempts to present a historical account of political thought and…

Philosophical Approach The philosophical approach, as the name suggests, treats political issues as philosophical concerns. Its main concern is to find out what should be or ought to be the principles, ideals and organizing criteria of political and human society. The Greek thinkers espoused, and enquired into, philosophical issues. In the writings of Plato and Aristotle we find philosophical…

Notwithstanding the flexibility with which the two terms, approaches and methods, are employed in the study of the social sciences, particularly political science, they must be differentiated to clearly understand their usage and scope. According to J. C. Charlesworth, we must differentiate ‘between an approach as a method and an approach as an objective’.10 Some approaches…

While the classical and traditional political studies focused on universal principles and ideals, and legal–institutional arrangements, a new stream of studies in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, focused more on the processes—both formal and informal, which influence and condition the working of political institutions and decision-making in the political arena. An important development…

In the traditional approach, the main focus is on exploring the ideals and principles of organizing society, and defining the relationship of the individual and the State in terms of political and public relationships. Plato’s The Republic explores the principles of an ideal State, virtues of the philosopher king, principles of justice and education, and so on. Aristotle’s Politics seeks…