KSLU Solved Question Papers
Political Science (Theory and Thought)
Previous Year Question Paper with Solution
B.A. LL.B. (Five Years) · Sem 1
2024 Aug Examination
munotes.in
Mumbai
B.A. LL.B. (Five Years) Sem 1 Political Science (Theory and Thought) 2024 Aug Question Paper with Solutions
First published on munotes.in on 21 October 2026.
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The question paper reproduced here is the paper as set by Karnataka State Law University at the 2024 Aug examination.
Contents
The questions below are the paper as Karnataka State Law University set it at the 2024 Aug examination, in the order it was set.
MarksPage
MarksPage
The Paper as Set
The questions in this volume are the questions asked at the 2024 Aug examination, reproduced as Karnataka State Law University set them, in the order it set them. Long reading passages are shortened to their first and last lines and our summary; the original paper prints them in full. Only the answers are ours. See the original question paper.
Duration 3 hours · Total marks 80 · 20 questions answered
Instructions printed on the paper
- N.B. (1) Answer all five Units. (2) One essay type question and short note is compulsory from each Unit. (3) Figures to the right indicate marks. (4) Answer should be written either in English or Kannada completely.
How to use this volume
Solve the paper first, under exam conditions and against the clock. Then read the answers here and mark your own. Reading a solution before attempting the question feels productive and teaches very little, because recognising an answer is not the same as being able to write one.
Q1
Unit I
(a)Whether Political Science is an art or Science ? Discuss.[10]
Answer
For full marks, cover: the meaning of political science; what a science is (Garner's test); the case against calling it a science (Comte's three objections, Buckle); the case for it (Aristotle, Pollock, Garner); why it is not an exact science; political science as an art; how the two fit together; and a conclusion that answers the question.
Introduction
Political science is the systematic study of the state and government. The word "politics" comes from the Greek polis, the city-state. Whether this study is a science or an art is one of the oldest questions about the subject. The answer depends on what we mean by a science and by an art.
What is a science?
Garner gives a working test. A science is "a fairly unified mass of knowledge relating to a single subject, acquired by systematic observation, experience, or reason, the facts of which have been coordinated, systematized, and classified."
On this test, what makes a study a science is its method, not its subject. Garner adds that the scientific method "is applicable to social as well as to physical phenomena".
The case against: political science is not a science
- No agreement among experts. Auguste Comte denied politics the rank of a science. As Garner states his objections, there is "no consensus of opinion among experts as to its methods, principles, and conclusions".
- No continuous development. Comte's second objection was that politics "lacks continuity of development". Physics builds on settled results, while political thought keeps returning to old debates.
- No power to predict. His third objection was that it lacks a basis of "prevision". No one can predict a revolution or an election result with certainty.
- No laboratory. A chemist can repeat an experiment under controlled conditions. A political scientist cannot experiment on nations.
- The human factor. People act from will, emotion, habit and values. These cannot be measured like weight or temperature.
- Values enter. Political questions often ask what ought to be. Such questions are not settled by observation alone.
- Buckle's verdict. Writing in 1857, Buckle said that "in the present state of knowledge politics so far from being a science is one of the most backward of all the arts". Garner notes that Buckle did not deny that a political science was possible. He only lamented how little it had been developed.
The case for: political science is a science
- It meets Garner's test. It is a unified body of knowledge about one subject, the state, built up by observation and classification.
- Its method is scientific. Aristotle described politics as "the master science", and he applied scientific methods to the Greek states. He and his school studied more than one hundred and fifty Greek constitutions before he classified governments.
- Cause and effect can be traced. Garner says authorities agree that political phenomena show "a certain connection or sequence which is the result of fixed laws". He adds that these laws are "less immutable, to be sure, than those of the physical world". For example, unchecked power tends to be abused, and a large middle class steadies a state.
- History is its laboratory. The experience of many states over many centuries gives material for comparison, in place of experiment.
- Pollock's answer. Garner reports Sir Frederick Pollock's reply to the doubters. If they mean that no rule tells a prime minister how to command a majority, they are right on the fact. But they show "a rather inadequate notion of what a science is". Pollock concluded: "There is a political science in the same sense that there is a science of morals."
- The weight of authority. Garner concludes that "both reason and the weight of authority justify the claim of politics to the rank of a true science."
- Modern methods. Surveys, statistics and comparative studies of elections now give political science more precise data than ever before.
Not an exact science
Garner himself admits the limit. As a science it "falls short, of course, of the degree of perfection attained by the physical sciences". The facts are more complex, and the causes are harder to control and are "perpetually undergoing change". So political science is a social science: scientific in method, but inexact in prediction. It can state tendencies and probabilities, not certainties.
Political science as an art
An art is the practical use of knowledge to achieve an end. Sir G. C. Lewis divided the study into the "science of politics" and the "art of politics", that is, pure and applied politics. The art, he said, consists mainly of maxims of political practice. Some writers, Garner notes, hold that politics as a science studies what is, while as an art it "looks to the future and aims at that which ought to be".
Political science is an art in five ways:
- Statesmanship. Leaders apply political knowledge to govern, keep the peace and win support.
- Law-making. Legislators draft laws to meet social needs.
- Administration. Civil servants turn policy into action.
- Diplomacy. States manage their relations through negotiation and treaties.
- Constitution-making. The framers of the Indian Constitution studied many constitutions and chose what suited India. They took the parliamentary system from Britain, a bill of rights and judicial review from the United States, and directive principles from Ireland.
Science and art together
The two sides need each other. The science supplies knowledge of how states work; the art uses that knowledge to govern well. Garner says the science "renders practical service by deducing sound principles as a basis for wise political action". Science without art stays in the library. Art without science is guesswork.
| As a science | As an art | |
|---|---|---|
| Question | What is, and why? | What should be done, and how? |
| Method | Observation, comparison, classification | Judgment, skill, practice |
| As a science | As an art | |
|---|---|---|
| Example | Studying why governments fall | Building a stable coalition |
| Result | Principles and tendencies | Laws, policies, decisions |
Conclusion. Political science is not an exact science like physics, as Comte and Buckle pointed out. But it is a science in Garner's sense: systematic, classified knowledge about the state, built by observation and comparison. Garner gives it the rank of "a true science", though an incomplete one. It is also an art, because statesmen, legislators and administrators apply its knowledge to real problems. So political science is both a science and an art: a social science in method and an art in practice.
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