Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 16.djvu/236

* POLITICAL SCIENCE. 200 POLITICAL SCIENCE. The statistical mctliod luniislii's much valuable and trustworthy material to political science; and for the knowledge of the physical body of the State population statistics and detailed accounts of the economic products are indispensable. Sim- ilarly the effect of certain modes of legislation and of political action can best be tested by a study of their numerical results; such as, for instance, the operation of the liquor laws and of laws to foster agriculture, irrigation, etc. But also the more specifically political activities may be approached by the statistical nielhod, as when we study the attendance upon elections, the votes upon constitutional amendments, and the various groupings of political power. We nivist not, how- ever, overlook the limitations of the quantitative method. An attempt to reduce political action entirely to quantitative form, and thus to trace it back to the working of physical causes, would result in failure, because the complex force of sen- timent, sympathy, tradition, and of other ])sycho- logical factors cannot be quantitatively measured nor reduced with exactness to quantitative causes in the physical world. Scientific experimentation is not possible in politics, because we cannot use a society purely as a subject of demonstration. Moreover, we are not given the opportunity of studying the in- fluence of any one cause by carefully excluding the operation of all others, as we may do in phjsical experiments. While, however, the sci- entific experiment pure and simple is by the na- ture of things excluded, practical experiments are constantly being made in politics, i.e. courses of action are tried without a knowledge of the exact results to be produced by them, but in the hope that certain improvements will be efiVcted : as, for instance, in changes of the criminal law, or in the methods of nominating and electing pub- lic officials. Such action, although not under- taken purely as an experiment, is ex]icrimcnlal in the sense that the nature of its consequences can be definitely ascertained only through experi- ence, and that the action is undertaken with a knowledge of the possibility of varying results. Therefore, while politics as a science cannot set aside certain social factors for experimental pur- poses, as an art it is constantly making experi- ments in practice which in turn furnish the most valuable kind of material to scientific political study. The importance of the analytical method has already been indicated above. .s in the inves- tigation of political and legal institutions the juristic bias is naturally very strong, there is constant danger in political science of resting sat- isfied with mere analysis of structural forms. A scientific method, while it must make use of the trenchant instrument of analysis, must also extend its range so as to embrace the real motive forces that lie back of institutional forms. The natural law theory has always favored a purely juristic interpretation of institutions, and the scientific study of politics has been much re- tarded by the one-sided use of analytical methods which lead to disputes about fine-drawn but un- important distinctions, while apparent definiteness of the results obtained often causes men to OA-er- look the powerful forces operating in political life. The deductive method is thus explained by Pro- fessor Sidgwiek in his Elements of Politics: "We assume certain general characteristics of social num and we ciin>iilcr what law3 and institutions are likely to conduce most to the welfare of an aggregate of such beings." While this method is perfectly legitimate and has been fruitfully employed by most of the great political writers, it would be a mistake to suppose that it is the sole or even the principal reliance of sci- entific politics. In fact, if employed alone and unassisted by the study of concrete facts, it opens the door to hasty generalization and to the profit- less expounding of threadbare tlicories. In itself it is sterile. It simplj- analyzes, develops, and applies cevtain facts assumed to be axiomatic. It takes on the .subjective coloring of the writer's mind and it does not in itself furnish a stable basis for the scientific pursuit of political investi- gation. Politics is made a science through the use of inductive processes. The careful study of political experience and of the ever-varying forces of political life provides the rich harvest of ob- servation upon which general principles and maxims may be founded with a certain amount of warranted assurance; and though it may not as yet |)rovide a large number of exact generaliza- tions and rules for practice, it still is recognized as leading to a fuller mastery tlian does deductive reasoning, by giving the mind an insight into the wealth of incident and the dramatic action of politics. The deductive method is of value in the matter of applying knowlciige to |)olilieal action, when after a careful study of jiolitical forces and institutions their general nature and operation is understood. .Such knowledge may then well be applied by a deductive process to concrete politi- cal action. The BBANCUE.S of Political Science. In ac- cordance with the general division of jjolitieal science which has been indicated above, wc may group the various branches of the subject as follows : Political Ihnamics — 1. Diploniacv and International Politics. 2. Party Politics. 3. Comparative Legislation. 4. Governmental and Administrative Policies. Political Statics— 1. Constitutional Law. 2. International Law. 3. Administrative Law and Technique. 4. Comparative Study of Institutions. 5. Jurisprudence. General and Normative Politics — 1. Political Theory. 2. Political Ethics. It would, of course, be impossible to deal with the living forces of public life without paying regard to the settled institutions, or. on the other hand, to investigate the latter without giving .at- tention to the motive forces by which they are sup- ported ; and, no matter what subject in politics may be under consideration, generalizations be- longing to political theory or ethics can never be excluded. While these various subjects are thus intimately interrelated, each of them nevertheless forms the centre for a group of specific considera- tions and preser-es in the main its own point of view. But their mxitual relations ought never to be overlooked. A study of the public law of any State without attention being given to political forces and their modes of action fails to convey a just conception of political life. In a State like the American Union, founded upon the theory of government by law deduced from a vritteii