TITLE:
Political Science and the Scientific Enterprise
AUTHORS:
Babajide Adetunji Tella
KEYWORDS:
Political Science, Scientific Enterprise, Validity, Deviations
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Access Library Journal,
Vol.12 No.9,
September
19,
2025
ABSTRACT: The substance of politics generally attracts more interest among political science students than the methodology of studying it. This study assesses the scientific status of political science as an academic discipline by examining the debate surrounding the core of the field and the establishment of scientific standards within it. The study further identifies existing threats to the scientific endeavor in political science and evaluates the effectiveness of current control mechanisms for combating fraud and deviations by political scientists, alongside an analysis of whether the outcome of political analysis should prioritize explanation or prediction. The study, which adopts a qualitative approach and an explanatory research design, finds that political science is a mature scientific discipline by all standards. However, it is a type of science that does not solely focus on prediction, as seen in the natural sciences. The objective of political science, like other social science disciplines, is to be less wrong over time. The study concludes by affirming the validity of the scientific method as the most rigorous path to knowledge, despite the uncertainties inherent in political science research, and reiterates the need for scholars to uphold ethical standards in conducting political science research.