POLITICAL SCIENCE Chapter Notes - Chapter BEHAVIOURAL APPROACH: Arthur F. Bentley, David Easton, Behavioralism
24 Oct 2021
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Document Summary
With the beginning of the 20th century there was a drastic change in the study of political science. Social sciences began to adopt the methods of natural sciences like observation, survey and measuremen. The notable exponents of this scientific politics" were charles merriam, Harold d. lasswell, george catlin and arthur bentley. They looked especially to statistics and psychology as relevant tools for politics. To give an anti-marxian orientation to political analysis in the post-war political context was their motive force. The behavioural approach based on the assumption that political institutions and nature of political events are largely determined by the nature and behaviour of people -both elites and masses. Behaviouralists, although the central theme of political science is the state, exclusive attention to it tends to make political analysis static, formalistic and institutional. Thus the essence of behaviouralist approach is its central focus on political behaviour.
