Aristotle described political science as a ‘master science‘ which made it perhaps the greatest contribution to the making of political science scientific. The term “Scope” refers to the subject or the boundaries of a particular branch of knowledge. There is no perfect agreement among the political thinkers as to the problems, which come under the study of political science.
Broadly speaking, there are three groups of writers holding different views on the scope of political science.
The first group of writers like Garies, Gamer, Goodnow, and Bluntschli restricted the scope of political science only to the study of the state.
The second group of writers like Prof. Sheley and Dr. Stephen Leacock said that political science deals with the government only.
The third group of writers like Gettell, Gilchrist, Paul Janet, and Prof. Laski maintained that the scope of political science extends to both state and government. Prof. Laski maintains that the state, in reality, means the government.
We may agree with the third group of writers that political science is a study of both state and government is the steering wheel of the ship of the state. There can be no state without a government, the state remains the central subject of our study, and the whole mechanism of government revolves around it.
Scope according to the UNESCO; the international Political Science Association at its Paris Conference in 1948 discussed the scope of political science and marked out its subject matter as follows:
Political Theory: Political Theory. History of Political Ideas.
Government: The Constitution, the Government-Regional and Local Government, Public Administration, Economics and Social functions of government, Comparative political institutions.
Parties, Groups and Public Opinion: Political Parties, Group and Associations, Citizen Participation in Government and administration, Public Opinion.
International Relations: International relations. International organization and Administration, International Law.
