Deck 3: Political Science: Components, Tasks, and Controversies

Question 1

According to the authors, the three major components of political science are ______.

A) governance, political economy, and political psychology
B) empirical, ethical, and prudential
C) ethical, empirical, and predictive
D) ethical, empirical, and choice

Answer 1

empirical, ethical, and prudential

Question 2

A philosophy that holds that human beings can know only that which is based on observable, scientific facts and data derived from experience is called ______.

A) existentialism
B) natural law
C) normative reason
D) positivism

Answer 2

positivism

Question 3

The four basic subfields of political science are ______.

A) American government, international relations, comparative politics, and political theory
B) American government, empirical theory, international relations and comparative politics
C) American government, international relations, comparative politics, and rational choice theory
D) American politics, international relations, political economy, and political theory

Answer 3

American government, international relations, comparative politics, and political theory

Question 4

Who argued that the quest for the "best political order" must be central to political science?

A) Leo Strauss
B) David Easton
C) Robert Dahl
D) Harold Lasswell

Question 5

Political empiricism is concerned with ______.

A) what has been, what is, and what will be
B) what can be
C) a hypothetical about the ideal world
D) what cannot be

Question 6

Many famous political thinkers have been concerned with developing theory that integrates political values, social scientific knowledge, and wise action. Which of the following individuals developed an integrated prescriptive theory concerned with the importance of making republican values central to his thinking in a large diverse country?

A) Plato
B) Alexander Hamilton
C) Karl Marx
D) James Madison

Question 7

The ethical component of political science has as its main focus ______.

A) political judgments
B) political values
C) political phenomena
D) political campaigns

Question 8

An early leader of the post-World War II behavioral revolution in political science was ______.

A) David Easton
B) Leo Strauss
C) Karl Deutsch
D) Bertrand de Jouvenal

Question 9

In the realm of political judgment, the prudential component of political science is concerned with ______.

A) which public policies should prevail
B) which public policies actually exist
C) which public policies can be formulated and sensibly implemented
D) none of these; the prudential component does not concern itself with public policy

Question 10

When a political scientist's research is most concerned with what ought to be, it is a reflection of which component of the discipline?

A) empirical
B) ethical
C) prudential
D) theoretical integration

Question 11

A postbehavioral approach to political science inspired by economics is ______.

A) empiricism
B) ethical recommendation
C) rational choice or "rat choice"
D) prudential judgment

Question 12

The gathering and analysis of voting results in an election to determine why citizens voted for particular candidates would be an example of which task of political science?

A) theoretical integration
B) ethical concern
C) empirical understanding
D) prudential or wise judgment

Question 13

Three of the following constitute what David Easton called the "intellectual foundation stones" of behavioralism. Which of the four is not a foundation stone?

A) a belief in regularities, uniformities of political behavior
B) a commitment to verification of such generalizations through testing
C) an emphasis on quantification where possible
D) an obligation to use empirical data to advise policymakers

Question 14

The title of Harold Lasswell's influential book defining politics is ______.

A) Politics: Who Gets What, When, How
B) A Theory of Justice
C) The Political System
D) Creative Breakthroughs in Politics

Question 15

The search for an empirical science of politics has been closely associated with a movement known as _________________, the belief that scientific method can be fruitfully applied to the social sciences.

Question 16

The concept of _____________________________ can be used to help define the well-being of a political community and is useful as an integrating concept for the discipline of political science.

Question 17

A postbehavioral model for understanding politics based on economics is called _______________________.

Question 18

When political scientists are focusing on what can be, that is, when they are exercising wise judgment about the practical tasks of politics, they are concerning themselves with the ______________ component of political science.

Question 19

Political scientists making recommendations on what actions by leaders, citizens, or other actors are right or wrong are focusing on the __________________ component of political science.

Question 20

The authors identify three major components of political science--ethical, empirical, and prudential. Which of these components, in your judgment, is the most difficult to deal with? Why? Which is the least difficult to deal with? Why?

Question 21

What position do you take on the continuing controversy in political science as to whether there really can be a "science" of politics? In this essay, be sure to address the issues raised by philosophy of positivism.

Question 22

Should political scientists be in the business of giving advice to leaders of state and to citizens, or should they confine themselves to gaining a better understanding of the political world? Explain your answer.

Question 23

The authors argue that, to do justice to their discipline, political scientists need to address four concerns:
(1) concern for the good life and the underlying ethical principles of politics;
(2) concern for a science of politics and an understanding of significant empirical phenomena;
(3) concern for political wisdom in the arena of citizenship and public policy; and, because these concerns are interrelated,
(4) concern for the integration of ethics, social science, and statesmanship. In a reasoned essay, indicate why you agree or disagree that students of political science should address all of these concerns.

Question 24

The use of scientific method requires the generation of data that are as objective and value free as possible. Discuss several of these types of data now used by political scientists.