 Welcome to this lecture on the unit titled traditional approaches to political analysis with special reference to the philosophical approach and the historical approach. This particular unit is from the paper or course titled Political Theory Part B from the BA Second Semester Program in Political Science under KK Hendrick State Open University. I am Dr. Avijit Muiya, assistant professor in the discipline of political science, KK Hendrick State Open University. In the field of political science, there exists a number of approaches with the help of which political phenomena are sought to be studied and explained. As a matter of fact, the approaches to political analysis can be broadly classified as traditional approaches and modern approaches. In this lecture, we shall be focusing on the traditional approaches with special reference to two traditional approaches namely the philosophical approach and the historical approach. The traditional approaches to political analysis were widely prevalent till the outbreak of the Second World War. The traditional approaches were mainly related to the traditional view of politics which largely emphasized the study of the state and government. Traditional approaches are primarily concerned with the study of the organization and activities of the state and the principles and ideas which determine political organizations and their functioning. The traditional approaches were predominantly normative and idealistic in nature. The political thinkers advocating these approaches therefore raised questions like what should be an ideal state. According to them, the study of political science should be confined to the formal structures of the government, laws, rules and regulations. Thus, the advocates of the traditional approaches emphasized various norms in terms of what ought to be or should be rather than what is. Now, there are certain characteristics of the traditional approaches. Let us try to examine some of these characteristics. Firstly, traditional approaches are largely normative in nature and they laid stress on the values associated with politics. Secondly, traditional approaches seek to analyze politics and institutions within the legal and constitutional framework. As a consequence, the traditional approaches laid emphasis on the study of different formal political and judicial structures. Then thirdly, traditional approaches used both the deductive method leading from a general principle to a particular inference of conclusion and the inductive method whereby broad generalizations are drawn from observed instances. Fourthly, the traditional approaches made very little attempt to relate theory and research. The traditional approaches, fifthly, are descriptive in nature as they seek to describe political institutions and historical data. Sixthly, in the traditional approaches, facts and values are closely interlinked. Accordingly, traditional approaches are value laden and not scientific in nature. Now, what are the various types of traditional approaches? The various types of traditional approaches can be subdivided into the following. The philosophical approach, the historical approach, the institutional approach and the legal approach. Let us now discuss two traditional approaches namely the philosophical approach and the historical approach. The philosophical approach. When we talk about the philosophical approach, we find that the philosophical approach is regarded as the oldest approach to the study of political phenomena and political science. The emergence of this approach can be traced back to the times of Greek philosophers like Plato and Aristotle. In the writings of Plato and Aristotle, we find philosophical concerns such as proposition of an ideal state, principle of justice, etc. German American political philosopher, Leostras was one of the main advocates of the philosophical approach. He believes that the philosophy is the quest for wisdom and political philosophy is the attempt truly to know about the nature of political things in the right or good political order. Leostras was the view that initially political philosophy was identical with political science. It was an all embracing study of the affairs of the human society. There could not be a non-philosophical political science or non-scientific political philosophy. The philosophical approach firmly believes that values cannot be separated from the study of politics. Therefore, its main concern is to judge what is good or bad in any political society. It is mainly an ethical and normative study of politics and thus idealistic in nature. The philosophical approach deals with the problems of the nature and functions of the state, citizenship, rights and duties, etc. The advocates of this approach firmly believe that political philosophy is closely linked with political ideologies. The advocates of the philosophical approach are of the opinion that a political scientist must have the knowledge of good life and good society. Political philosophy helps in setting up a good political order. The philosophical approach was predominant in most of the classical political theory. The emphasis was on moral reasoning. The aim of the philosophical approach is to evolve the standard of right and wrong for the purpose of critical evaluation of existing institutions, laws and policies. Leo Strauss believed that values were an inseparable part of political philosophy and could not be excluded from the study of politics. Thus, in a nutshell, the philosophical approach aims at evolving standards of right and wrong. It is important for a political scientist to have the knowledge of good life and good society. Classical conceptions of individual rights, freedom, equality, justice and conditions of state intervention in the lives of the individuals were all formulated on moral grounds. The political views of writers such as J S Mill, T H Green, Hobhouse, Lasky, Barker and others reflected the philosophical approach. There are certain limitations of the philosophical approach as identified by some critics. Now let us look at some of these limitations. The philosophical approach is considered as being normative in nature and ignores political realities. It is pointed out that concepts of what is ethical and what is not varies from situation to situation. Then again, the philosophical approach is considered idealistic in nature. And finally, in the philosophical approach, undue importance is given to inductive and deductive methods only. Now we shall discuss another important traditional approach which is the historical approach. According to the advocates of the historical approach, political theory can be only understood when the historical factors like the age, place and the situation in which it is evolved are taken into consideration. As the name of this approach is related to history, it emphasises the study of the history of every political reality to analyse any situation. Political thinkers like McCavely, Sabine and Dunning believe that politics and history are intricately related and the study of politics always should have a historical perspective. Sabine is of the view that political science should include all those subjects which have been discussed in the writings of different political thinkers from the time of Plato. The historical approach strongly upholds the belief that the thinking or the ideology of every political thinker is shaped by the surrounding environment. Moreover, history not only speaks about the past but also links it with the present events. History provides the chronological order of every political event and thereby helps in future estimation of events also. Hence, without studying the past political events, institutions and political environment, it would be wrong to analyse the present political scenario or events. The historical approach aims at understanding politics through a historical account of the past. Apart from the fact that the study of the old political institutions is important from the standpoint of the role in a particular period of history, their study is also important from the point of view of assessing their contribution to the political behaviour of society as a whole throughout the different stages of human history. Some important works where the influence of the historical approach is prominent include ancient law written in 1861 and early history of institutions written in 1874 by Sir Henry Main, introduction to political science written in 1896 by Sir John Sealy, the state and the nation written in 1919, etc. Critics have pointed out certain limitations of the historical approach. Lord Price has said that though historical comparisons may be eliminating, yet sometimes they may be misleading too. Historical facts may be influenced by socio-cultural orientations of those who document historical facts. Critics also point out ancient ideas may not be suitable in the contemporary times and historical events cannot help us in the contemporary times as the realities of political life have undergone vast changes. Thus, we have discussed in this lecture some important aspects with regard to the traditional approaches in the field of political science. We have in the process learned about the meaning and characteristics of traditional approaches. We have also learned about the different types of traditional approaches. Finally, we have been able to learn about two very important traditional approaches namely the philosophical approach and the historical approach. In the next lecture, we shall discuss two other traditional approaches namely the institutional approach and the legal approach. Thank you.