an important part of every political system, every advance in poli-
tical knowledge is potentially available to the members of the
systems we study. The knowledge we produce by analysing political
systems becomes potentially a part of those systems and may, of
course, upset any predictions we make about them (Popper, 1960, and
see Chapter 5).
Such considerations often lead to an emphasis on more qualitative
methods of investigation, for example participant observation, in-
depth interviews, case studies, textual deconstruction and focus
groups. The emphasis in such investigations is often on contex-
tualising and understanding the meaning of events to participants
(see Devine, 2002). Such methods are more frequently applied by
traditional or radical scholars – especially postmodernists.
Schools of political science
Some of the problems of establishing a social science of politics
become evident if we examine the writings of some of those most
committed to the enterprise. It quickly becomes evident that there is
no consensus on the concepts and methods to be employed, or the
theories which can be assumed to have been already established.
Perhaps the most influential group of ‘political scientists’ are those
stemming from Gabriel Almond and the deliberations of the
Committee on Comparative Politics of the American Political Science
Association in the 1960s. Although much criticised on theoretical
grounds, the terminology and approach adopted by these ‘func-
tionalist’ writers is still widely prevalent in empirical studies of
American, British and comparative politics.
In a vastly influential early work, Almond and Coleman (1960)
argued that we should speak of:
‘Political System’ instead of ‘State’
‘Functions’ instead of ‘Powers’
‘Roles’ instead of ‘Offices’
‘Structures’ instead of ‘Institutions’
‘Political Culture’ instead of ‘Public Opinion’
‘Political Socialization’ instead of ‘Citizenship Structure’.Their argument was that by studying the processes necessary to
maintain any political system in a variety of environments, rather
POLITICS 15