the scientific method by which hypotheses are verified by testing them against the available evidence, is therefore seen as a means of disclosing value-free and objective truth the scientific method by which hypotheses are verified by testing them against the available evidence, is therefore seen as a means of disclosing value-free and objective truth. Karl popper (1902-92),however,suggested that science can only falsify hypotheses,since 'facts' can always be disproved by later experiments. scientism is the belife that the scientific method is the only source of reliable knowledge, and Marxism, utilitarianism and racialism are scientistic in this sense.
political science can either be understood generally or more specifically.in general terms political science is an academic discipline which undertakes systematically to describe, analyse and explain the workings of government and the relationships between political and non-political institutions and processes. the traditional
subject matter of political science, so defined, is the state, although this has broadened during the twentieth century to include social, economic and other processes that influence the allocation of values and general resources. in this view political science encompasses both descriptive and normative theory:the task of describing and analysing the operations of government institutions has often been linked to evaluative judgements about which ones work best. More narrowly defined,political science sets out to study the traditionnal subject matter of political using onlythe methods of the natural sciences. from this perspective, political sciences refers to a strictly empilical and value-free approach to political understanding that was the product of positivism and reached its highest stage of development in the form of behaviouralism. this implies a sharp distinction between political sciences and political philosophy, reflecting the distinction between empirical and normative analysis. it may also, in its scientistic form, imply that the philosophical or normative approach to political understanding is, in the final analysis, worthless
Significance
although it is widely accepted that the study of politics should be scientific in the broad sense of being rigorous and critical, the claim that it should be scientific in the stricter sense, that it can and should use the methodology of natural sciences, is clear, most importantly, it promises an impartial and reliable means of distinguishing truth from falsehood, thereby giving us access to objective knowledge about the political world.the key to achieving this is to distinguish between'facts' and 'values'.facts are odjective in sense that they can demonstrated reliably and consistently; they canbe proved. values, in contrast, are inherently subjective, a matter of opinion
However, any attempt to construct a science of political confronts three difficulties. first,there is the problem of data .human beings are not tadpoles that can be taken into a laboratory or cells that can be observed under a microscope. we cannot get 'inside' a human being, or carry out repeatable experiments on human behaviour. what we can learn about individual behavious is therefore limited and superfical. in the absence of exact data we have no reliable means of testing our hypotheses.second,there are difficulties that stem from the existence of human values. the idea that models and theoriesof politics are entirely value-free is difficult to sustain when examined closely.facts and values are so closely intertwined that it is often impossible to prise them apart. this is because theories are inevitably constructed on the basis of assumptions about *human nature, society and the role of the state that have hidden political and ideological implications .third, there is the myth of neutrality in the social sciences. whereas natural scientists may be able to approach their studies in an objective and impartial manner, holding no presupposition about what they are going to discover , this is difficult and perhaps impossible to achieve in politics. how ever politics is defined, it addresses questions relating to the structure and functioning of the society in which we live and have grown up. family background, social experience, economic position, personal sympathies and so on thus build into each and every one of us a set of pre-condition about politics and the world around us scientific objectivity, in the sense of absolute impartiality or neutrality, must therefore always remain an unachievable goal in political analysis.