Understanding Political Theory: Approaches and Debates

Code: PLS-A-CC-1-2-TH+TU

MODULE I
TOPIC: APPROACHES I

BEHAVIOURAL APPROACH TO POLITICAL SCIENCE

The Behavioural approach to political science emerged in a nascent form in the 1920s
under Charles Merriam and became a dominant approach to studying political science
by the 1940s. Charles E. Merriam is considered to be the intellectual godfather of
behavioural political science. He was responsible for propagating the interdisciplinary
character of political science as he wanted political science to make full use of the
advances in human intelligence which the social and natural sciences had introduced
to the world.

According to Robert Dahl, “the Behavioural approach to Political Science is a

movement in Political Science which analyses only the observable behaviour of
political actors.”

FACTORS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE EMERGENCE OF THE

BEHAVIOURAL APPROACH
i. Widespread dissatisfaction among political scientists with the descriptive
nature of political science.
ii. Migration of European social scientists to the United States in the 1930s and
1940s
iii. The political and ideological impact of the emergence of the former Soviet
Union as well as the United States of America as super powers
iv. Refinement of survey techniques
v. Availability of research grants for extensive research in the area of
behavioural political science.
PRINCIPLE TENETS
David Easton, who was associated with the foundation of the behaviouralist
movement laid down certain assumptions and objectives which could be regarded as
the “intellectual foundation stones” of behaviouralism. They consist of-

• Regularities: the behaviouralists believe that there are certain observable

uniformities in political behavior which can be expressed as generalisations or
theories, capable of predicting political phenomena
• Verification: Further according to behaviouralists, knowledge in order to be
valid should consist of propositions that have been subjected to empirical tests
and that all evidence must be based on observation.
• Techniques: Behaviouralists attach a great deal of importance to the adoption
of correct techniques for acquiring and interpreting data and the use of
research tools or methods which generate valid, reliable and comparable data.
• Quantification: the behaviouralists believe in taking recourse to measurement
and quantification, as much as possible. Unless qualitative judgements are
replaced by vigorous measurement it would be impossible to obtain precise
knowledge about the complexities of political life.
• Values: Ethical evaluation in the opinion of the behaviouralists is different
from empirical explanation. Values and facts are two separate things and must
be kept analytically different. They may be studied separately or in
combination but should not be mixed up.
• Systematization: Behaviouralists claim that research in political science
should be systematic by which they mean that it must be “theory oriented and
theory directed”. According to them research and theory should be closely
inter-related parts of a systematic body of knowledge
• Pure science: Behaviouralists insist on a “pure science” approach. They agree
that theoretical understanding may lead to the application of knowledge to
problems of life, and both theory and applications are part of the scientific
enterprise.
• Integration: the behaviouralists agrees that man is a saocial animal and while
one may attempt to draw a line between social, political, cultural and
economic activities, none can be understood unless placed in the wider context
 of life. Similarly the understanding of political phenomena requires an
understanding of how social, economic and cultural phenomena unfold in
society.

STAGES OF GROWTH OF BEHAVIOURALISM

First Phase- preceded the outbreak of the Second World War. Increasing use of
quantitative methods (quantitative data, statistical tables). In spite of these
developments political science continued to run through traditional channels.

Second Phase- after the Second World War. Real empirical and quantitative thrusts
started. Writers like David Easton, Robert Dahl, Gabriel Almond and others evolved a
large number of theoretical schemes and research designs and tried to build up an
empirical or causal theory. Greater use of content analysis, surveys and experiments
as research tools.

Third Phase- from the sixties there was a growth of mathematical techniques, multi
variate analysis and quantitative strategies to such an extent that theoretical equipment
was left far behind and a split emerged within the behaviouralists itself.

ACHIEVEMENTS AND LIMITATIONS*

The achievement of behaviouralists can be seen in two fields- theory building and
techniques of research (content analysis, case analysis, interview, observation,
statistics)

*(Limitations and criticisms do be discussed in class, post analysis of the topic)