Government is the institution that runs a country.

The exact purpose of a government is interpreted

differently by different people, but simply put governments are usually there to protect its people, and
to make laws that govern the way people can live their lives. Laws that prohibit criminal activity such as
murder, abuse, and theft. Some governments will also make laws that regulate the economy or socialise
healthcare, agriculture, or education. Basically, governments are usually responsible for the wellbeing of
its people, the economy, public education, upholding universal human rights, and providing basic
services such as fire services, hospitals etc…

Many governments, such as my own (NZ) as well as the U.S. government, have three branches of
government. There is the legislative branch, responsible for making laws, and for appropriating some
sort of budget. There is also the executive branch which is under most scrutiny in the U.S. which is
comprised of the head of state along with his/her cabinet (which in America’s case is the President and
his secretary’s). There is also the judicial branch which is responsible for interpreting laws. The judicial
branch consists of judges, and in many countries there is a Supreme Court which deals with
constitutional matters. Laws can be constitutional or statute. All statute laws must not contradict
constitutional laws. In other words you cannot draft a law which prohibit the selling of firearms in
America because it contradicts the 2nd Amendment of the Constitution. There are also different levels of
government. There is the centralised or federal government as well as state/district government and
then there are councils in cities/towns.

Politics is the workings of a government. A politician is generally someone who works as a part of the
government. Politics is not just referred to as being related to the government however. For example,
somebody in a Sports team who is working there way up to a better team may say that they don’t enjoy
the politics of the Sport. Usually, they are referring to being picked on who they know or who they train
with instead of purely on their talent. Politics can have a bad name, leading to many politicians liking
themselves to public servants instead of politicians.

Political science is exactly what the two words mean. Science meaning “a systematically organized body
of knowledge on a particular subject” (Google). Therefore, political science is all about the study of
politics, the state and systems that comprise government and the political activity and behaviour or
politics. Political science is all about studying how the government of a country operates and interacts. It
is very much the study of policy and how policy affects lives and entities as a whole.

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In the third century BCE, the Greek philosopher Aristotle was perhaps the first scholar to think
systematically about how different forms of government led to different political outcomes: such as
stability or rebellion in the city states in Ancient Greece. In fact, if science is the systematic building and
organisation of knowledge with the aim of understanding and explaining how the world works, then
Aristotle was probably the first ‘political scientist’.

The term 'Political Science' consists of two words, viz, political and science. The word 'politics' is derived
from the Greek word 'Polis' which means the city-state. In ancient Greece, the basic unit of political
organization was the city-state. It was the Greeks who first embarked upon the study of state as distinct
from the church. The foundations of political thinking were laid by the great Greek philosophers,
Socrates, Plato and Aristotle. Plato was the author of the book “The Republic”. Aristotle the father of
political science firstly used the term 'politics' and converted the subject into an academic discipline. He
published his book 'Politics' as a first systematic study of politics.

Science: is the systematic study of the structure and behavior of the physical and natural world through
observation, evidence and experiment. So political science is the branch of knowledge that deals with
systematic study of the structure and behavior of the state and political institutions through scientific
analysis. Politics refers to the subject matter of our study; science denotes the methodology or the way
of studying the process of politics. The first term seeks to answer the question “what is studied" and the
second term refers to “how is it studied". Therefore, the political phenomenon which should be studied
in accordance with a definite plan or system is called political science.

Definitions of Political Science:

It is difficult to give a precise definition to political science, because of its varying scope in different
situations. Let us examine some of those definitions.

Paul Janet - “Political science is that part of science which treats of the foundations of state and the
principles of government”.

H.J Laski- “The study of politics concerns itself with the life of man in relation to organized states”.

Lasswell- “political science is the study of shaping and sharing of power”.

David Easton-“Political science is the study of the authoritative allocation of values for a society”.

Garner - “Political Science begins and ends with the state"

Leacock - “Political Science deals with government only”

Aristotle – “Science of polis”

Gettle – “Science of state”

In the words of the French scholar, Paul Janet, political science is that part of social science which treats
the foundations of the state and principles of government.

From the above definitions we may conclude that the ‘state’ is the central theme of Political Science. It is
the study about the state, its origin, its nature, its structure, and its functions and so on.

Modern political scientists have also emphasized the element of power in the study of the subject.
Abraham Kaplan, Harold. D. Lasswell defined politics as the “study of shaping and sharing of power”. It
suggests that struggle for power is the subject matter of the study of politics.

Since this struggle takes place at all levels-domestic, local, regional, national and international – politics
becomes universal activity.Robert A Dahl uses the term ‘political system’ instead of ‘politics’ and he
defined it as any persistent pattern of human relationships that involves to a significant extent, control,
influence power or authority. So the study of political science or politics include not only state and
government but also an enquiry into the struggles for power that takes place at all levels beginning from
the household to the world at large. Hence a comprehensive view of the subject of political science
involves everything connected with the life of man in the process of making himself.

Source : Introduction to political science, Undergraduate study in Economics, Management, Finance and
the Social Sciences, London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE).