Assignment: Scope of political science extends to both

past and future.

Course Title; Political Science

Semester # 1

Submitted To; Aminah Gillani

Submitted By; Moazzma Waseem
Date: 06-09-2022

DEPARTMENT OF LAW
KINNAIRD COLLEGE FOR WOMEN UNIVERSITY
 Scope of political science extends to both past and
future.
Discuss the relevance of studying the development of past and
understanding of the future in political context.

INTRODUCTION
Political Science is that branch of social science which deals with the fundamentals of the
state and the principles of the government. According to J W Garner, “Politics begins
and ends with the state.” Similarly, R G Get
tel wrote that Politics is the “study of the state in the past, present and future”. Harold
J Laski stated in the same vein that the study of Politics concerns itself with the life
of men and women in relation to organized state.
Thus as a social science, Political Science deals with those aspects of individuals in
society which relate to their activities and organizations dedicated to seeking of power,
resolution of conflicts and all these, within an overall structure of the rules and law as laid
down by the state.
The term “Politics” is derived from the Greek word ‘Polis’ which means City – State.
Polis or city – state was a small independent self – contained political society. Greeks did
not make any distinction between politics and society.

SCOPE OF POLITICAL SCINENCE

Political Science refers to the practice and theory of
government and politics at the local, national and
international levels. It also falls under the category of
social sciences, as it deals with human aspects of the
world. Political Science itself is a dynamic filed, that has
numerous subfields i.e. Political Dynamics, Political
Theory and Methodology, International Relations, and
International Comparative Politics etc.
The study of Political science is of great significance and importance in the present day
“Global village”. The Recent surveys and researches have shown a sharp rise in scope
of political sciences. As this branch revolves around a fact that all of us are living in a
political system and are equally affected by the changes in global political situation. The
21st century, which is an advanced world of globalization observed the significant upsurge
in Political Science worldwide. Hence, political scientists become valued and important
as they provide the lens through which we can understand this vast domain.
Political science also deals with three other areas which are Public Administration,
International Relations and International Law and relations between the State and the
individual. Public administration deals with the organization, control and coordination of
administrative machinery, personnel administration, financial administration, public
relations, and management.

RELEVANCY OF PAST TO FUTURE

Political Science is linked to history as the patterns of the past provide clues to the future.
There can be no better guide to understanding the present and to predict the future than
by studying the events in the past and extrapolating them to the future. For instance, when
political scientists try to predict the likely direction, which the global political economy
takes, they would be relying on history to predict political behavior.
Next, Political Science is closely entangled with Sociology as both branches attempt to
study human behavior in groups. Whereas Sociology studies the entire societies, Political
Science is concerned with the political systems that are part of the larger society. The
study of the interactions between the people and the state is something that both
Sociology and Political Science aim to do and hence, there is a symbiotic relationship
between sociology and political science.
Political science is considered to be a dynamic subject thus to study this developments
in paste, future are also being taught accompanied with the current situation. The study
of politics is both humanistic and scientific and is centuries old.
Aristotle called it the ‘Queen of Sciences’. Thus it is mandatory to study the
developments and perspectives of scientists in past in order to be able to understand the
future requirements of this field. Historical data has been proven to be a considerable
contribution in the advancement of political theory and development of political ideas.

A study of the evolutionary growth of different institutions, provide useful clue

to the understanding of their content. Most of the political problems and issues
can be well explained and analyzed while placing them in historical setting. This
mode of explaining political concepts and the functioning of political institutions
remained conspicuous in the writings of the previous thinkers and is still
commonly used by many scholars who give prior importance to the pristine
previous era in their intellectual pursuits.
The feature of this approach is to throw focus on the past or on a selected period
of time and on a sequence of events to explain the origin and growth of any
political institution. If the political theory has a universal and respectable
character, its reason should be traced in the affirmation that it is rooted in
historical traditions.
Philosophers and welfare economists argue that people alive today are morally obliged
to give weight to the well-being of future generations, and to respect their rights. This
includes being willing to make some sacrifice for the benefit of future generations. But
while moral philosophers and economists ascribe significant value to future lives, it seems
that public may not. Judging by governments’ `societies’ failure to tackle the problem of
global climate change, for example, it appears possible that many people are indifferent
to the well-being of future generations, and that policymakers are taking decisions
accordingly.
Whereas if you compare and contrast the relevance of future to the past we can easily
say that inferences of researches and affairs of past and present later on work out as
useful guidelines to analyze future of political science.
But too much dependency on historical methods is not suitable, because history seldom
repeats itself. Thus what happened in the past may not take place in the future. So Lord
James Bryce cautioned us against historical similarities regarding development in the
subject of political science.
Political Science aims are the generalization of the conclusions drawn on the basis of
historical fact method of history in is the description of events along with the underlying
factors that shape the course of history story and does not bother to evolve new ideals or
hypothesis on the basis of historical research. Political Science is primary concern with
the present and future course of action whereas history deals with the past events only.
Research techniques employed in both past and future have different dimensions which
could be coherent.
CONCLUSIONS
With the passage of time, the scope of Political Science has keep changing. In recent
times, PS has ceased merely the science of state craft. Now the Political Science covers
a comprehensive filed and it has become dynamic in character. The factor of development
in the domain of human rights and human development and new social movement and
upsurge in civil society have also widened the scope of Political Science.

REFERENCES
1. https://www.drishtiias.com/images/pdf/sr.%20secondary%20political%20science.pdf
2. https://www.academia.edu/28461840/THE_STUDY_OF_POLITICS
3. Introduction to Political Science by Prof. Dr. M.Sarwar