Chapter i

GERRY STOKER & DAVID MARSHApproaches and Methods Used in the Study of PoliticsEscao

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IwayWhat is Political Science?Ranney (2003): The systematic study of political and governmental institutions and processesAim: to provide an introduction to the way that political scientists carry out their studies; Looks at the general ways of thinking or theorizing offered by political scientists and the methods they use to discover more about the subjectIntroduces the main approaches to political science, thereafter providing a balanced assessment of some of the debates and disagreements that are an appropriate feature of a discipline that has several thousand years of history behind it and many thousands of practitioners in the modern worldDescriptive and prescriptiveWhat isWhat should bePolitical science should not only be interested in understanding what is, but concerned also with the normative issues of what should be3Focus of DiscussionIs there one best approach to the study of politics?What is covered by the umbrella of the subject matter of politics?What is meant by a scientific approach to the study of politics?What is the connection between the study of politics and the actual practice of politics?Is there a standard method to use when undertaking political science research?The aim of the book is to focus discussion on this central set of questions that anyone approaching a discipline such as political science would want to ask4The Discipline of Political Science: A Celebration of DiversityPolitical science has become more diverse and more cosmopolitan in characterScientific revolution was expected to lead to a unity in the understanding of political scienceAgreement on what constitutes minimal professional competence has sprung; however, the higher aspirations are many and variedThere is a de facto pluralist view of the nature of political science endeavorSecond: Some of those who pioneered what they called the scientific treatment of the subject (which will be further discussed later on)Unfortunately, those ambitions have not been realisedThird: However, it is believed that when it comes to judging the value of work beyond some agreed baseline and coherence of craftsmanship5Emphasis is given on only two points beyond supporting the pluralism that is now widely acknowledged:There is a need to recognize just how considerable is the variety of political science at the beginning of the 21st centuryThe key challenge is not to launch a campaign for unity but to argue for diversity to be combined with dialogueThe approach must be eclectic and synergistic = celebrating diversityPolitical science is enriched by the variety of approaches that are adopted within the disciplineSecond: There are many distinct approaches and ways of undertaking political science, and six in particular are going to be presented; these seek to explain the way that politics works in our world. It is believed that at this stage in its development, it is important for political science not to depict itself as a small club of like-minded people, rather a broad church with different starting points and concerns but a shared commitment to developing a better understanding of politics

Third: The discipline should avoid constructing itself into an uneasy collection of separate sects; there is a pluralism of method and approach, but it should not be isolative instead, it should be interactiveLast: OUTRO: Each has something of considerable value to offer; but each benefits from its interaction with other approaches; in this manner, the different approaches in the process of ongoing exchange could gain a baseline understanding of each other

THIRD QUESTION: What is meant by a scientific approach to the study of Politics?The doctrine of empiricism (which can be traced back to the earliest days of political thought) advanced the belief that experience is the only basis of knowledge, and that therefore all hypotheses and theories should be tested by a process of observation

6Scope of Political StudiesUnderstanding of the scientific claimAttitude to normative political theoryRelationship to the practice of politicsBehaviouralismConcentrates on processes of politics associated with mainstream politics and governmentThe generation of general laws and at a minimum the development of theoretical statements that can be falsifiedIn early years the behavioural revolution was keen to emphasize the difference between the new science and the old armchair theorizing; now more willing to tolerateClaims to e value-free, neutral, and detachedRational Choice TheoryConcerned with conditions for collective action in mainstream political worldThe generation of general laws and in particular with predictive powerSimilar attitude to that of the behaviouralists; normative political theory is okay as a hobbyClaims to offer value-free, expert advice about how to organize politicsInstitutionalismFocus is on the rules, norms, and values that govern political exchanges, tends to look at institutional arrangements in mainstream political worldScience is the production of organized knowledge. The best political science is empirically grounded, theoretically informed and reflectiveKeen to make connections between empirical analysis and normative theoryKeen to make connections, sees itself as working alongside the practitioners of politicsApproachesBehaviouralism: The belief that social theories should be constructed only on the basis of observable behaviourIt is appropriate to start with the behavioural approach since the behavioural revolution can be seen as constituting the key development in the establishment of modern political science against which all other approaches have to situate themselves.ON INSTITUTIONALISM: Eschews a narrow focus on formal organisation for a wider definition of institution in terms of stable and recurring patterns of behaviorAll empirically oriented political science shares with the behaviouralists a concern with the way politcs operates in practiceRational Choice: This approach involves building up models based upon procedural rules, usually about the rationally self-interested behaviour of the individuals involvedIt too claimed to bring a revolutionary new approach to the disciplineSeen by others as an one among a variety of paths that can be taken in order to deliver a political science that is cumulative in its knowledge productionRational Choice, as argued by Hugh Ward, could better be seen as a toolkit from which a variety of approaches could drawInstitutionalismAs pointed out in one of the future chapters, those interested in institutional studies may have found themselves out of favor as first behavioralists and then rational choice advocates looked to blaze a trail for a new political science that is not weighed down by the old institutions; a new institutionalism has emerged, as a check to the underocialised accounts of political action offered by the first two approaches, that shaers a core view tha institutions significantly structure political relationships7Scope of Political StudiesUnderstanding of the scientific claimAttitude to normative political theoryRelationship to the practice of politicsFeminismA broad process definition that recognizes that personal can be politicalA mixed range of responses to this issue but with strong tendencies towards anti-foundational and critical realist perspectivesNormative theory, like all aspects of political studies, needs to take gender issues seriouslyPolitical engagements is strongly part of the feminist impulseAnti-foundationalism (Interpretive Theory)Politics is a narrative contest that can take place in a wide variety of settingsClaims to knowledge are always provisional and contested. Understanding of human activity is inherently different to that of the physical worldTendS to the view that there is a fusion between all types of theorizing. Political analysis is essentially contested and has necessarily normative contentA mixed range of responses but tendency is towards wry commentary on the narrative battles of the political worldMarxismPolitics is a struggle between social groups, in particular social classesCritical realist: a focus on the discovery of unobservable structures that guide, but do not determine, historical eventsNormative theory The key to understandingis at its most useful when it provides a guide to action: the point is to change the worldCommitted to engagement in struggles of oppressed social groups or classesFeminist Analysis has challenged political science on two fronts: 1. It calls for a fully rounded account of the role of women in politics, and 2. It raises fundamental questions about the way that politics is conceptualised, including the conventional distinction between public and private, and as such has major implications for the scope and boundaries of political science as a disciplineAnti-Foundationalism Such sense of challenge also emerges in the anti foundational literature that has come to increased prominence within the discipline and is viewed later on as part of a broader account of the interpretist pproach to political science, they are anti-foundationalist in that they oppose the view that there are foundations to the real world that can be discovered; instead, they assert that the challege is to present the world as it is interepreted by human thought and practice. The key to understanding politics is the world of diverse meanings and understandings in which it operates. These writers share in a commitment to focus on interpreting politics through narrative, through the beliefs, ideas, or discourses held in society.Marx strove to uncover the driving force of historical development. This enabled him to make predictions about the future based upon 'laws' that had the same status in terms of proof as laws in the natural sciences. The pbroad political economy approach offered by this form of analysis is, at the beginning of the 21st century, out of fasion. Yet there remains within Marxism a powerful set of analytical tools and ideas that will perhaps in a revised form most likely gain prominence in political analysis again, especially in the context of the continuing impact of global capitalism

8There is no one best way to undertake political scienceWe should celebrate diversity Normative Political Theory continues to play a key role in political scienceFirst: We have identified six main approaches, but recognize that others could identify moreSecond: and enable the different elements of political science to understand one another better9