Glossary for Political Science

Glossary

Inquiry the act of inquiring or of seeking information by the method of questioning or interrogation.

Political Systems Various Forms of governments with different types of Constitutions

Arthashastra It is a work on political economy and administrative governance written by Kautilya in 3rd century BCE.

City- State A community oriented small state with the governance of small population centered around a city.

Political Behaviour It may be defined as any action regarding authority in general and government in particular. An obvious example of an act of political behaviour is the act of voting.

Class Conflict Conflict between different classes in a community resulting from different social or economic positions and reflecting opposed interests.

Authority Ability of a person or an institution to use its power and influence with legal sanction. It can also be called as legitimate use of power.

Elitism It is the belief or attitude that individuals who form an elite — a select group of people with a certain ancestry, intrinsic quality, high intellect, wealth, special skills, or experience — are more likely to be constructive to society as a whole, and therefore deserve influence or authority greater than that of others.

Tryst It is an appointment to meet at a certain time and place, especially one made somewhat secretly.

Destiny The things that will happen in the future

Political Dynamics The continuously changing and moving in political institutions from one stage to another stage.

Public Policy The fundamental policy of the Government on which laws rest, especially policy not yet enunciated in specific rules.

Comparative Analysis The item-by-item comparison of two or more comparable alternatives,processes,products,qualifications, sets of data, systems, or the like.

Politics It is the art or science of government or governing, especially the governing of a political entity, such as a nation, and the administration and control of its internal and external affairs.

Political Science It is the branch of knowledge that deals with the state and systems of government and the scientific analysis of political activity.

Behaviouralism It stressed on objective and quantified approach to explain and predict political behaviour.

Post-Behaviouralism It is a reaction against the behavioural orthodoxy and the emphasis was on relevance over precision.

Monarchy It is a political system based upon the undivided sovereignty or rule of a single person who achieves his position through heredity.

Aristocracy It is the government by a relatively small privileged class consisting of those felt to be best qualified to rule.

Democracy Democracy refer to a popular government based on the will of the people.

Totalitarianism It refers to the subordination of all aspects of human life to the authority of the state.

Oligarchy It is a government by the few, especially despotic power exercised by a small and privileged group for corrupt or selfish purposes.

Imperialism The policy of extending the rule or authority of an empire or nation over foreign countries, or of acquiring and holding colonies and dependencies.

Colonialism The control or governing influence of a nation over a dependent country, territory, or people.

Metaphysical Traditionally, the word ‘Metaphysics’ comes to us from Ancient Greece, where it was a combination of two words Meta, meaning over and beyond-and physics. Thus, the combination means over and beyond physics. It can be also called as a Speculative Philosophy.

Normative It is relating to a norm, especially an assumed norm regarded as the standard of correctness in behaviour, speech, writing, etc.

Feedback It refers to a reaction or response to a particular process or activity.