our. Thus a typical American-style curriculum presents political
science as one of a group of related social science disciplines, including
sociology and economics, all using modern quantitative/computer-
oriented methods of ‘analysing data’ scientifically.
‘Radical critics’, whilst not denying the need to produce useful
generalisations from the study of politics, have denounced the
conservative bias of US-dominated political science. Often their
primary allegiance has appeared not be to an academic discipline
but to a general doctrine calling for the radical change of existing
(Western) societies – most frequently some variety of Marxism, but
similar criticism can be produced from an ecological, theological or
feminist perspective.
The basis of the distinction being drawn is mainly in terms of what
writers see their task to be, the methods they employ, the level and
type of their analysis, and the values they espouse, rather than the
details of specific theories advanced. In addition, though, a com-
parison of the specific theories advanced by different schools and
approaches does show a concentration on different areas of human
experience, broad patterns of difference in their content, and a
tendency to draw upon similar models and to use the same concepts
within schools. On examination it will often be found that where
writers from different approaches and schools deal with what is
apparently the same topic (e.g. ‘democracy’, ‘elections’, ‘society’)
their concerns and assumptions are often so different that no real
dialogue can be said to have occurred. Table 1.1 offers an overview of
these major approaches and schools.
Traditional scholarship
The first academic writers on politics – Plato and Aristotle – whose
works are still studied in detail in most British universities – were
unaccustomed to the modern practice of compartmentalising know-
ledge into separate disciplines. Hence they combined insights from
history and current affairs with discussions on the big moral issues
such as ‘What is the best form of government?’ or ‘What is justice?’
This somewhat ‘eclectic’ approach (combining insights from various
different sources) was also adopted by some of the more readable
classic writers in the nineteenth century such as John Stuart Mill
[1806–1873], Bryce [1838–1922] and De Tocqueville [1805–1859].
POLITICS 9