BensonAIR 90 · CSE 2017 · 246 wordsTheir whole copy
Opening
Sociology and political science share similarities and differences. They are:
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| Sociology | Political Science |
|---|---|
| Young discipline | Old discipline |
| General study of society - all aspects of social life, institutions etc. | Particular study of society - state, government, power |
| Wide scope in subject matter | Narrow scope in subject matter |
Yet sociology first evolved from political science as seen in Kautilya's Arthashastra, Plato's The Republic etc.
Sociology studies political institutions and its relation to other institutions, hence needs data and literature from political science books.
Power is a relational aspect and not held in isolation. Therefore it has a social aspect and is linked to sociology.
Moreover Marx showed how economic aspects of society are basis of political power.
Weber via bureaucracy and authority exemplified how institutionalized power is rational legal action and which is basis to industrial society.
Political sociology is the meeting point of the two disciplines and we see how psephologists study election voting pattern based on social aspects of caste, gender and tribe.
Political Science analyses how social change gave rise to state etc: Communist Russia and vice versa in Islamic Iran, where state has theological basis.
Therefore the two sciences inspite of being separate disciplines impact and exchange and borrow from each other.
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This makes it all the more relevant in today's world as globalization increases, forms of power are changing and they impact far off areas.