Politics, Psychology and Ethics

Political science is primarily concerned with the laws governing political situations. The {general} terms power. They are defined by the number and relative strength of the power units, their given interests and alignments. In the field of foreign affairs, these units are usually independent States, in the field of municipal politics the units may be represented by the most various groups, sections or parties.

Obviously, except for the purpose of study, these fields canot be neatly separated. The governmental power resulting from the political situation at home, is a datum in the political situation abroad. And vice versa, changes in the political situation abroad, e. g. a realignment of the Great Powers, may result in a shift in the data of the political situation at home. Apart from the national and international field, there are also numerous other fields of power, partly overlapping with the former ones, such as religious, economic or cultural interests, ranging from schems in the Church of Rome down to the squabbles in a local football team. This need however cause no difficulty, {as} lone as in a analyzing political situations, we distinguish sharply between the various fields of investigation, dependent variable in the one being data in the other.

It follows that political science deals both with political situations and with the manner in which they may changeas a result of changes in the broader situation of which they form part. The power units may cooperate or conflict or never balance with one another; according to the change in the situation, relations may change in a definite way. Political science propo{wds} the laws that govern such changes.

Practical politics is, of course more an art than a science, since the closer we draw to actual events, the less is a separation of interconnected political situations possible, and the [2]

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Reference:
Date:
KPA: 19/20, 1-6 (6 typed p. and crossed out)