THE STUDY OF POLITICAL SCIENCE
Written by Balqees
Edited by Michael Adejumo
May 1, 2025 | 4 MINS READ
Political science is a social science discipline concerned with the study of state, government and politics. It focuses on the theory and practice of government, policies and the analysis of political systems at all levels (from grassroot to global realm). In discussing political science as a discipline, it is very crucial to understand how politics, which birthed political science, originated.
Since the inception of man, politics has been part of human activities, as it tends to deal with human behavior regarding how he aggregates his interests and achieves his goals through deliberation, interaction, and arriving at logical conclusions with other individuals. It can be rightly said when we have two or more individuals interacting, such interaction can be seen as politics.
Political science emanated from politics, which was coined from the Greek word POLIS, meaning "city-state." Since politics deals with human interaction to arrive at a conclusion, another word was coined—again from Greek, POLITES, which means "citizens." The citizens of the city-state need to interact and deliberate on issues that affect them, which birthed the third Greek word, POLITIKOS, meaning "the interaction between the citizens and the city-state."
In a nutshell, politics basically involves interaction, deliberation, and arriving at a conclusion on a particular cause. However, politics as a term has been described by many scholars according to their era, which has made politics a concept with numerous definitions.
According to philosophers like Plato and Aristotle, they define politics as the organization and administration of an organized human community.
According to Ernest Baker, he defines politics as the execution and implementation of government policies and programs.
David Easton defined politics as the authoritative allocation of scarce resources in society.
To Harold Lasswell, he described politics as "who gets what, when, and how." This conception of politics is the most widely accepted.
With the definitions above, it can be inferred that politics is defined by scholars according to their views and era. As long as the definition involves deliberation and interaction in society, it is an acceptable definition.
Having understood politics, government is another important term to define, as it is a tool used by the state in which politics takes place.
Basically, government can be defined as an instrument or machinery used by the state to achieve its aspirations.
Government can be defined in three ways; as an institution of the state, as an art of governing and as an academic field of study.
Government is an institution through which the state administers its functions and duties. In other words, government is the instrument used by the state to make and execute its policies and programs, as well as to achieve its aspirations through the arms of government, which are the executive, the legislature, and the judiciary.
As an art of governing, government refers to the body vested with the power of legitimacy to manage and administer the state in accordance with its constitution.
Finally, government as an academic field of study refers to a specific discipline in tertiary institutions such as universities, polytechnics, and colleges of education. It involved the study political institution, ideas, values on what constitute the welfare of the people. It is refereed to differently in various institutions as political science, politics, political philosophy, and government.
Political science was defined by N.F. Salaam and S.A. Usman (2019) as: "The systematic, scientific, comprehensive study and analysis of the state, its agencies, and institutions." The field of political science is divided into a number of subfields which include:
Comparative Politics, International Relations, Public Administration, Local Government, Political Philosophy or Political Theory, Political Economy, Foreign Policy, International Relations, etc.
In addition, political science is the foundation of the listed subfields. One would choose an area of specialty at a certain stage in tertiary education.
Political science is broad social science discipline and it offers a wide array of job prospects for political scientists across diverse sectors. The study of political science open doors to numerous job opportunities for political science graduates, including: Public Administrators, Diplomats, Political Journalists, Campaign Strategists, Political Researchers, Political Consultants, Political Commentators, Lobbyists, Public Policy Analysts, Lecturers, Human Rights Advocates, Data Analysts, Intelligence Analysts, Legislative Affairs Assistants, Non-Profit Sectors.
Political science professionals who are regarded as Political scientist, are invaluable for their ability to think logically and evaluate political systems and doctrines. They play crucial roles in shaping public policies, conducting research on pressing issues, and providing informed insights on political developments. It is only a layman who thinks studying political science is only for individuals interested in taking up a position in the state. Studying political science does not necessitate one becoming a politician.
The study of political science exposes us to the workings, dynamics and complexities of our day-to-day interaction towards achieving our interests while providing adequate and vast understanding of the those who govern us and the machinery of governance. It provides proper account of past political events that gave rise to movement and current happens and also helps us make prediction for the future.
