Relations of political science with other social sciences

•All subjects are interlinked with each other. Study has become comprehensive and complex.

•Every subject cannot stand alone. They are interlinked in vastness of modern society.

•Political science is neither dependent not independent, but it is interdependent with other social science. In the way to achieve purpose and function, there is always interconnection. But they are different from each other.

•According to Paul Janett, “political science is closely connected with economy or the science of wealth; with law, either natural or positive which occupies itself principally with the relations of citizens to one another; with history, which furnishes the facts of which it has need; with philosophy, and especially with morals which gives to it a part of its principles.

Relationship of political science with history

•Intimately connected: without political events, history is only a literature and without history, political science is only a theory. History is past politics and politics is present history.

•According to Seeley, “history without political science has no fruits, political science without history has no root.

•History provides raw materials to political science

•Study of political science is possible in the foundation of history.

•History is the laboratory of political science. They are interlinked, they are interdependent and interrelated.

•Difference between history and political science

•In their method of treatment, history is narrative with chronological orders, but political science particularize the political events, depicts (describes) and analyze.

•In scope, history is comprehensive dealing economy, religions, military, social and all aspects but political science deals with state, government authority and political relations.

•History deals with concrete fact whereas political science deals with ideal and abstract fact.

•Relation between political science and economics

•Closely related. All economic activities are carried on within the state and all political activities are related to state and government.

•Political movements can be influenced by economic causes and economic upheavals can be prevailed by political instability.

•As main subject, political science is the state, concerning subject of economics are tariff laws, labor legislation, national planning and government ownership, etc., which are under the state laws.

•Economic achievement can be possible by good administration and political performance in a political system.

•The burning question of present day politics is government control of industries, the relations of the state to industries, its attitude towards labor and capital and etc.

•All economic questions are intertwined in the political issue.

•Difference between political science and economics

•Economics is concerned with things while political science concerns with people, one deals with prices and other with values and virtues.

•Political science is normative science while economics is descriptive science.

•Relation between political science and sociology

•Sociology is parent science of all social sciences so sociology is the fundamental social science.

•Political science is subdivision of sociology—former originated after the origin of organized society and sociology originated even in the era of unorganized society—even in pre-social life.

•Political science has widened its scope to a good understanding of both the nature of society and the behavior of the individual which is merely a subject of sociology.

•According to Prof. Giddings, “to teach the theory of the state to men who had not learned the first principles of sociology is like teaching astronomy or thermodynamics to men who have not learnt the Newtonian laws of motion.” 

•Revolution and social upheavals occur in society which affect political system, but to solve such social problems, government actions are to be regulated.

•Political science and ethics (based on conduct and morality)

•Political science is the science of political order and ethics is the science of moral order—one is incomplete without other.

•Plato considers politics as subdivision of ethics, the state to him should train men in a life of virtue.

•According to Aristotle, political questions should be solved by man’s highest moral judgment based on ethics.

•Politics divorced from ethics rests on a foundation of shifting sand, it leads to commercialization and vulgarization of values and virtues.

•According to Ivor Brown, “ethical theory is incomplete without political theory because man is an associated creature and cannot live in isolation.

•Political theory is idle without ethical theory because its study and result depends fundamentally on the scheme of moral values, our conception of right and wrong.

•Mahatma Gandhi’s version of spiritualization of politics, his application of moral principles are truth, love and non-violence and achievement of God.