INTRODUCTION 4
CHAPTER1. THE PLURALISM OF POLITICAL SCIENCE 5
CHAPTER 2. THE MAIN DIRECTIONS OF THE ANGLO-AMERICAN POLITICAL SCIENCE OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY 6
CHAPTER 3. POLITICAL SCIENCE IN WESTERN COUNTRIES IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY 7
CHAPTER 4. POLITICAL SCIENCE IN THAILAND 9
CONCLUSION 10
SOURCES 11
TERMINOLOGY 12
As demonstrated, political circumstances which are imposed by recurrent abrupt changes, restriction of expression, and, at times, full censorship do not provide the best climate for the study of political science to develop healthily and steadily. No one doubts that political science remains a major discipline in the world social science studies. But its status as a discipline depends on the presence of a variety of factors and conditions based primarily on the political freedom to conduct research and the possibility of addressing the issues with a political impact on society. The political context is crucial in this process, and therefore there should be no prohibitions, restrictions, or red lines. The researcher’s freedom is currently also limited by the difficulty in acquiring empirical information and data, which is heavily influenced by the trends and ideologies of the ruling powers. With such restrictions, and without the ability to study all issues and substantive matters openly and logically, there will be almost no prospect for growth in the development of theories and analytical frameworks in the study of political science.
These characteristics of political science have given rise to a number of tendencies. First, the discipline is weak in its methodological conceptions and seems to have lost its sense of a purpose concentrated on the pursuit of testable knowledge and scientific validity. Much of the published work produced by scholars has tended to be journalistic and characteristically unconcerned with structural questions. Second, because of their descriptive nature they have been mostly concerned with domestic issues without the epistemology and the logic of inquiry necessary in political science. Scholars have been too occupied with national politics, local administration, and social movements, perhaps due to their characteristic concern with day-to-day descriptions of events and their corresponding lack of interest in theory building.
The field of political science is still trying to construct and reconstruct a new sense of identity, looking for a novel drive and a fresh sense of purpose. As a discipline, political science is obviously in a transition stage, and it is hard to foresee what direction we will take and where we will end up.
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