If we cannot pinpoint which factors contribute how much to politics, how can politics be a science? Part of the problem here is the definition of science. The original meaning of science, from the French, is simply “knowledge.” Late, the natural sciences, which rely on measurement and calculation, took over the term. Now most people think of science as precise and factual, supported by experiments and data. Some political scientists have attempted to become like natural scientists; they quantify data and manipulate them statistically to validate hypotheses. The quantifiers make some good contributions, but usually they focus on small questions of detail rather than on large questions of meaning. This is because they generally have to stick to areas that can be quantified: public opinion, election returns, and congressional voting.