Modern approaches
The Behavioural Approach
University of Calicut
With the beginning of the 20th century there was a drastic change in the
study of Political Science. Social Sciences began to adopt the methods of natural
sciences like observation, survey and measuremen.
The notable exponents of this ‘scientific politics’ were Charles Merriam,
Harold D. Lasswell, George Catlin and Arthur Bentley. They looked especially to
statistics and psychology as relevant tools for politics. To give an anti-Marxian
orientation to political analysis in the post-war political context was their motive
force.
The behavioural approach based on the assumption that political
institutions and nature of political events are largely determined by the nature
and behaviour of people -both elites and masses. According to the
Behaviouralists, although the central theme of Political Science is the state,
exclusive attention to it tends to make political analysis static, formalistic and
institutional.
Thus the essence of Behaviouralist approach is its central focus on political
behaviour
The goal of behavioural Political Science is not the achievement of good life
but to understand political phenomenon realistically and to predict things. That
means the creation of a systematic casual theory and not value theory
According to Robert A. Dahl, behavioural approach in Political Science is “an
attempt to make the empirical content of Political Science more scientific”. The
‘intellectual foundations’ for this attempt, according to David Easton is based on
regularities, verifications, techniques, quantification, values, systematization, pure
science and integration.
The important criticism against behaviouralism is that it has preferred to
work within the limits set by the established institutions and values. Thus C.
The Behavioural Approach
University of Calicut
With the beginning of the 20th century there was a drastic change in the
study of Political Science. Social Sciences began to adopt the methods of natural
sciences like observation, survey and measuremen.
The notable exponents of this ‘scientific politics’ were Charles Merriam,
Harold D. Lasswell, George Catlin and Arthur Bentley. They looked especially to
statistics and psychology as relevant tools for politics. To give an anti-Marxian
orientation to political analysis in the post-war political context was their motive
force.
The behavioural approach based on the assumption that political
institutions and nature of political events are largely determined by the nature
and behaviour of people -both elites and masses. According to the
Behaviouralists, although the central theme of Political Science is the state,
exclusive attention to it tends to make political analysis static, formalistic and
institutional.
Thus the essence of Behaviouralist approach is its central focus on political
behaviour
The goal of behavioural Political Science is not the achievement of good life
but to understand political phenomenon realistically and to predict things. That
means the creation of a systematic casual theory and not value theory
According to Robert A. Dahl, behavioural approach in Political Science is “an
attempt to make the empirical content of Political Science more scientific”. The
‘intellectual foundations’ for this attempt, according to David Easton is based on
regularities, verifications, techniques, quantification, values, systematization, pure
science and integration.
The important criticism against behaviouralism is that it has preferred to
work within the limits set by the established institutions and values. Thus C.
