Scientific Approach and Political Ideology

1) Is a scientific approach to the study of politics possible? Explain your REASONING carefully and in detail.

The scientific study of politics seeks to explain and predict the behavior of political actors and institutions. Political science is an empirical discipline that draws on data from experiments, surveys, and textual analysis to develop and test theories about political behavior. While the scientific study of politics has yielded important insights into the functioning of democratic societies, it has also faced challenges in overcoming the complexity of political systems (Cairney, 2012). In order to accurately understand and predict political behavior, scientists must contend with a dizzying array of variables, ranging from the number of political parties to the size of the electorate. And even when controlling for all of these variables, the results of scientific studies are often far from definitive. This is not to say that the scientific study of politics is futile; on the contrary, much progress has been made in recent years. However, it is clear that overcoming the challenges posed by complexity will require continued innovation and experimentation.

In addition, the scientific study of politics is often hampered by the difficulty of conducting controlled experiments on real-world phenomena. This is largely due to the fact that real-world political phenomena are complex and dynamic, making it difficult to isolate single variables and track their effects. As a result, political scientists must rely on observational data and statistical analysis to infer causality. Still, observational studies have played a key role, for instance, in researchers understanding of voter behavior and the impact of campaign messages. Yet, even here to arrive at any type of hypothesis or conclusion, one has to look narrowly or risk being overwhelmed by all the data and all the variables that could be considered.

As a result, some scholars have questioned whether a purely scientific approach to the study of politics is possible. The scientific process is about observing, collecting data, making guesses based on that data, and testing those guesses out through more observation and experimentation if possible. The scientific process, in other words, is a systematic method of investigating natural phenomena and acquiring new knowledge. Since the key features of the scientific process are observation, hypothesis, experiment, and conclusion, it is a process that can be applied to any field of study, including the study of politicsand it can be applied in a number of ways. For example, political scientists may use observational data to identify patterns in how political language is used by...

Conservatives might argue on the other hand that human nature is fallen and that it needs to be on guard against selfishness. Hobbes, for instance, argued that humans are naturally selfish and prone to conflict. In his view, government exists primarily to protect individuals from each other, and any attempts to change human nature are doomed to failure (Gert, 1965). This pessimistic view of human nature has informed conservative thought ever since, and it continues to shape conservative policies on a range of issues. For example, conservatives typically oppose social welfare programs, which they see as an attempt to artificially change human behavior. Instead, they favor policies that uphold traditional values and institutions, which they believe are more in line with our fundamental nature. The political ideology of classic liberalism, on the other hand, holds that individuals are naturally born with certain rights, including the right to life, liberty, and property. This view is based on the belief that humans are rational beings who are capable of making choices in their own best interests. Can all of these views be correct in reflecting some aspect of human nature? Yes, they can. But by themselves they cannot reflect the whole of human naturebut only parts, pieces, human natures potential…