3. Read the text quickly and put the following items in order as they appear in the text.

1. Career opportunities for political science students

2. The role of politics in our lives

3. Origins of political science

4. Definition of political science

5. The key theme in the early studies of politics

6. Similarity between political science and ‘hard’ sciences

7. Branches of political science

8. Why do people obey the state?

Text a. Political science: an introduction

Political science is a branch of the social sciences that is the analysis, description, and prediction of political behavior, political systems and politics. Like the other social sciences, political science is a "soft" science, meaning it revolves more around subjective interpretations than hard data. The object of political science courses is to groom a student for a career in politics, or give them an awareness of the political process that might be useful in some other career. Politics is complicated, both in terms of the rules and the strategies to be used.

Political science is the study of governments, public policies and political processes, systems, and political behavior. Political science subfields include political theory, political philosophy, political ideology, political economy, policy studies and analysis, comparative politics, international relations, and a host of related fields. Political scientists use both humanistic and scientific perspectives and tools and a variety of methodological approaches to examine the process, systems, and political dynamics of all countries and regions of the world.

Political science as a discipline is relatively recent. Political science has clear antecedents stretching back to ancient civilisations: moral philosophy, political philosophy, political economy, history, and so on. Clearly, many of the leaders of history were aware of the ins and outs of politics, although circumstances tended to be more chaotic, and military prowess alone may have been sufficient to gain control of a nation or empire. With the more recent establishment of stable states and the suppression of corruption, politicians have had more incentive to work within the system as it exists, leading to the discipline of political science.

Early study of politics took place in small communities. The ancient Greeks who asked many of the important questions (and answered some of them well enough to satisfy many people today) lived in the city states where rulers and decision-making were not remote. Their primary concern was with the nature of the good and just society and what the attitude of the citizen should be towards authority. The nature of our obligation to our rulers became an important theme in the early study of politics. Why do we obey the state?

The easy answer to this question is that people obey out of habit. It does not occur to them to disobey. In modern times the question might be answered by anthropologists studying primitive societies, or by psychologists studying small groups of people and their response to leadership in laboratory situations. The ancient philosophers believed the answer lay in the nature of man. Aristotle perceived man as an animal of the polis: outside society people could not attain true happiness. The real nature of man could only be realised by associating with others. He assumed that the good life lay in the polity and that legally constituted government was the natural form, so that corruptions of good government were aberrations. Hence harmony was more natural than conflict. Neither Plato nor Aristotle seems to have conceived that disagreement could be irreconcilable. Christian philosophers believed that authority came from God and, therefore, should be obeyed. Later dynastic rulers transformed this into the claim that hereditary rulers were appointed by divine law and so disobeying them was unthinkable.

Once the acknowledgement of basic disagreement arose the question of political obligation either disappeared or became far more complicated. The Scientific revolution, the Renaissance, the Reformation and finally the eighteenth-century Enlightenment removed many of the old certainties.

Although political scientists are prone to debate and disagreement, the majority view the discipline as a genuine science. As a result, political scientists generally strive to emulate the objectivity as well as the conceptual and methodological rigor typically associated with the so-called "hard" sciences (e.g., biology, chemistry, and physics). They see themselves as engaged in revealing the relationships underlying political events and conditions. Based on these revelations, they attempt to state general principles about the way the world of politics works. Given these aims, it is important for political scientists' writing to be conceptually precise, free from bias, and well-substantiated by empirical evidence.

Political science students can gain a versatile set of skills that can be applied in a wide range of exciting careers in federal, state and local governments; law; business; international organisations; nonprofit associations and organisations; campaign management and polling; journalism; precollegiate education; electoral politics; research and university and college teaching.  

Politics affects everyone. It is through politics that the future of the world we inhabit is shaped. Aristotle called politics the master science because he recognised how wide and pervasive politics is. The interests of political scientists are diverse. They may include conflict at city hall or in the courtroom; the arguments and processes through which our national existence might be preserved; the collapse of Communism and the struggle to establish new political arrangements in its place; the role of pressure groups in shaping public policy; electoral reform; the control of civil servants; the rule of law among nations; the place of moral principle and national interest in the conduct of foreign policy; or how far any citizen might have the right or duty to disobey an unjust law.

Political Science offers us the opportunity to become freer human beings and citizens because, whatever the subject of our immediate inquiry, the focus is always upon the ideas, institutions and processes that shape our lives.