The term “political science” is a walking, talking joke. Read on and I’ll explain.
First, to get perspective, let’s take a quick look at medical doctors. They are schooled for many years in extremely technical and scientific subjects. They have much time spent in internship. And, once they are full-fledged doctors, they are literally responsible for life and death. So what does a medical doctor say he does? He says that he “practices the art of medicine.”
Now, let’s take a gander at a “doctor” of political “science.” He spends six or seven years in school. And, in his college major, political “science,” the primary requirement for getting a good grade is to agree with his professor because the courses are completely subjective. Note here that I am not saying that all professors automatically give an “A” for “Agreement.” But it is tempting with subjective testing and an ideological professor. (Note here that I have experience in this, as explained in another post.)
I obviously have a problem with the way politics and other social studies are taught in most colleges and universities, but I deal with that problem in other places. Here, I am talking about “stupid thinking.” So let’s get back to “stupid.”
Anyway, when this “doctor” graduates, he proudly claims to be a “scientist.” What a bunch of nonsense. An alchemist was more of a scientist than a “doctor” of political “science.”
Calling politics a science is akin to calling a garbage man a sanitation engineer. It’s all about “feel good” and nothing about the truth.
Note here that I’m not saying that the study of politics is a bad idea; I’m just saying that politics is not a science. I will admit that polling and statistics are sciences used by political “scientists” but they do none of the science; that is done by others. All a political “scientists” does is to interpret, usually with a bias, what scientists or, more appropriately, mathematicians and statisticians produce.
One last point. Regardless of logic, the “political scientist” have won the game because even the most Conservative journalists call them “political scientist.” I think that it’s rather like calling all tissues Kleenex: Once the name is established, it’s used.
The same goes for social “science.”
So, where is all of this going? Beats me.
