Political Science: Nature and Scope

Politics (from Greek: Πολιτικά, politiká, ‘affairs of the cities’) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations between individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The academic study of politics is referred to as political science. It may be used positively in the context of a “political solution” which is compromising and non-violent,[1] or descriptively as “the

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What is Philosophy?

Philosophy (from Greek φιλοσοφία, philosophia, literally “love of wisdom”) is the study of general and fundamental questions about existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. The term was probably coined by Pythagoras (c. 570 – 495 BCE). Philosophical methods include questioning, critical

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The Nature and Scope of Philosophy

Philosophy literally means ‘love of wisdom’. It is an attempt to arrive at a rational conception of the reality as a whole. It enquires into the nature of the universe in which we live, the nature of the human soul, and its destiny, and the nature of God or the Absolute, and their relation to one another. Philosophy consists of three parts: Epistemology; Ontology and Metaphysics, and

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The Nature and Scope of Sociology

Sociology is a discipline in social sciences concerned with the human society and human social activities. It is one of the youngest social sciences. Auguste Comte, a French social thinker, is traditionally known as the ‘Father of Sociology’ as he coined the term ‘Sociology’ in 1839. Sociology is the study of social life, social

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What are Social Theories?

Social theories are analytical frameworks, or paradigms, that are used to study and interpret social phenomena.[1] A tool used by social scientists, social theories relate to historical debates over the validity and reliability of different methodologies (e.g. positivism and antipositivism), the primacy of either structure or agency, as well as the relationship between contingency and necessity. Social theory in an informal

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What are Political Theories?

Political philosophy, also known as political theory, is the study of topics such as politics, liberty, justice, property, rights, law, and the enforcement of laws by authority: what they are, if they are needed, what makes a government legitimate, what rights and freedoms it should protect, what form it should take, what the law

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List of Political Theories and Concepts

All Political Theories are alphabetically sorted by

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Nature and significance of political theory

As stated above, political theory is the study of the phenomena of the state both from philosophical as well as empirical points of view. In this context, certain similar terms are also used such as political thought, political philosophy, political science. Although all of them are concerned with explaining the political phenomena, yet political

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The Nature and Scope of Economics

Economics is defined as the social science that deals with the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. Evolved in the 19th century, the economic studies have become one of the most significant studies of modern days. From a small shop to a country, Economics plays a crucial role in the efficient running of

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List of Philosophical Theories and Concepts

All Philosophical Theories are alphabetically sorted by

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List of Social Theories and Concepts

All Social Theories are alphabetically sorted by

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Abba P. Lerner

Abba P. Lerner (1903-1982) was born in Russia, raised on the London East End and worked as a machinist, a capmaker, a Hebrew teacher, a Rabbinical student and tried his hand at business before enrolling in 1929 at the London School of Economics. It was his early association with the plethora of socialist movements

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Abandonment (existentialism)

Concept central to atheistic existentialism. According to such existentialists as Jean-Paul Sartre, God does not exist and life therefore has no intrinsic purpose or meaning. Man has been ‘abandoned’ in the universe and must create his own morality and code of values without the assistance of any divine being. Abandonment, in philosophy, refers to the

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Absolutism (political system)

Absolutism, the political doctrine and practice of unlimited centralized authority and absolute sovereignty, as vested especially in a monarch or dictator. The essence of an absolutist system is that the ruling power is not subject to regularized challenge or check by any other agency, be it judicial, legislative, religious, economic, or electoral. King Louis XIV (1643–1715) of France furnished the most

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Action theory

Action theory is a theory of social investigation presented by the American theorist Talcott Parsons. The social investigator cannot and should not be indifferent to what he/she studies. People are always both subjects and objects of research, and thus investigation should involve principled stands on the problems studied, and principled intentions of changing them. Talcott

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What are Economic Theories?

Economic theories try to explain economic phenomena, to interpret why and how the economy behaves and what is the best to solution - how to influence or to solve the economic phenomena. They are comprehensive system of assumptions, hypotheses, definitions and instructions what should be done in a certain economic situation. In principle, the approach to economic theory is divided into positive and

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List of Economic Theories and Concepts

All economic theories and concepts are alphabetically sorted by name.

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Ability-to-pay principle

Taxation should be levied according to an individual’s ability to pay; that is, the more prosperous will meet a proportionately higher percentage of the national tax demand. In other words, individuals who earn more income pay more tax, not because they use more government goods and services but because taxpayers who earn more have

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Absolute advantage theory

Absolute advantage theory of Scottish economist Adam Smith (1723-1790) was an international trade history theory that asserted individuals or nations trade because they have superior productivity in particular industries. Nations should produce and export goods for which they possess an absolute advantage and import others which other nations possess an absolute advantage for. Governments

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Absolute income hypothesis (1936)

Proposed by English economist John Maynard Keynes (1883-1946) as part of his work on the relationship between income and consumption, absolute income hypothesis was much refined during the 1960s and 1970s, notably by American economist James Tobin (1918-2002). Keynes’ General Theory in 1936 identified the relationship between income and consumption as a key macroeconomic relationship. Keynes asserted that real consumption (ie adjusted for inflation)

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