Political science is a social science concerned with the theory and practice of politics, the analysis of political systems and political behavior. Political scientists "see themselves engaged in revealing the relationships underlying political events and conditions. And from these revelations they attempt to construct general principles about the way the world of politics work." Political science intersects with other fields; including anthropology, public policy, national politics, economics, international relations, comparative politics, psychology, sociology, history, law, and political theory.

Political science is commonly divided into three distinct sub-disciplines which together constitute the field: Political Philosophy, Comparative Politics and International Relations. Political Philosophy is the reasoning for an absolute normative government, laws and similar questions and their distinctive characteristics. Comparative Politics is the science of comparison and teaching of different types of constitutions, political actors, legislature and associated fields, all of them from an intrastate perspective. International Relations deals with the interaction between nation-states as well as intergovernmental and transnational organizations.

Political science is methodologically diverse and appropriates many methods originating in social research. Approaches include positivism, interpretivism, rational choice theory, behavioral, structuralism, post-structuralism, realism, institutionalism, and pluralism. Political science, as one of the social sciences, uses methods and techniques that relate to the kinds of inquiries sought: primary sources such as historical documents and official records, secondary sources such as scholarly journal articles, survey research, statistical analysis, case studies, and model building.

"As a discipline" political science, possibly like the social sciences as a whole, "lives on the fault line between the 'two cultures' in the academy, the sciences and the humanities." Thus, in some American colleges where there is no separate School or College of Arts and Sciences per se, political science may be a separate department housed as part of a division or school of Humanities or Liberal Arts. Whereas classical political philosophy is primarily defined by a concern for Hellenic and Enlightenment thought, political scientists are broadly marked by a greater concern for "modernity" and the contemporary nation state, and as such share a greater deal of terminology with sociologists (e.g. structure and agency).(from wikipedia)

Inventor of Political Science

 

Niccolo Machiavelli

Machiavelli was born in Florence, Italy, in 1469. The son of a lawyer, Machiavelli received a solid humanistic education, studying the cultures of Ancient Greece and Rome. He was a sharp student, and a keen observer. During his twenties he worked in Rome for a Florentine banker, Lorenzo de’ Medici. The Medici family had ruled Florence since the 1430s. When Lorenzo died in 1492, his son was thought unfit to rule, and Florence formed a republic. Machiavelli became a central figure in the fledgling republic. He traveled abroad to France, Germany and Switzerland as a representative of Florence. He also organized an army for the new republic, modeling it after those of the ancient Roman Republic. However, his army was not as well trained as the original, and in 1512 the Medici family once again seized control of Florence.

The Prince

In an attempt to win back the favor of the ruling Medici family, he penned his most famous piece, The Prince, in 1513. No doubt influenced by his travels abroad, Machiavelli set about to describe how leaders could best obtain and hold power. According to Machiavelli, a ruler should conduct himself in the following manner, in order to gain renown from his people he should:
- maintain a regal bearing
- do great deeds
- encourage excellence
- foster peaceful progress
- respect local organizations

The most famous of Machiavelli’s ideas is undoubtedly the chapter entitled “On Cruelty and [compassion], and Whether it is Better to be Loved or Feared.” According to Machiavelli, it was always better to be feared. He also insisted if an end justified the means, then it was okay to do whatever was necessary to achieve those goals. Ruthlessness was a necessity, and honor a option.
The Prince failed to win Machiavelli favor with the Medici’s. He continued to write, producing several comedies, satires and poems. Much of his work relates to his thoughts on government, good and bad. His famous treatise - On The Art of War (1519-1520) - was read throughout western Europe. The play La Mandragola is thought to be a political satire of The Prince.

Machiavelli the Inventor of Political Science

 

Unlike many before him, Machiavelli provided examples to back up his arguments about government and leadership. He influenced other political scientists, including Sir Francis Bacon (1561-1626), who praised Machiavelli for being such an honest creature, and Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679), author of Leviathan (1651), who agreed with Machiavelli that all people were weak, and needed a strong ruler, else society run to complete decay.
Machiavelli’s work is still debated today by philosophers, students and theorists everywhere. His name has even taken on special meaning; “Machiavellian” is a term used to describe rulers who use deceit to impose their will.