KSLU Solved Question Papers
Political Science (Theory and Thought)
Previous Year Question Paper with Solution
B.A. LL.B. (Five Years) · Sem 1
2025 Jun Examination
munotes.in
Mumbai
B.A. LL.B. (Five Years) Sem 1 Political Science (Theory and Thought) 2025 Jun Question Paper with Solutions
First published on munotes.in on 21 October 2026.
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Contents
The questions below are the paper as Karnataka State Law University set it at the 2025 Jun examination, in the order it was set.
MarksPage
MarksPage
The Paper as Set
The questions in this volume are the questions asked at the 2025 Jun 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 for 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)Explain the meaning, nature and scope of political science.[10]
Answer
For full marks, cover: the meaning with two definitions; the nature, with the case for and against calling it a science, and its character as an art; the traditional and behavioural approaches; the scope in brief; and a conclusion that answers the nature question.
Meaning
Political science is the systematic study of the state, its government and the political life of its people. The word "politics" comes from the Greek polis, the city-state.
- Garner: "political science begins and ends with the state."
- Paul Janet: it is "that part of social science which treats of the foundations of the state and the principles of government."
Nature: is political science a science?
This question is the heart of the "nature" of the subject. Writers are divided.
Arguments that it is not a science
- No agreed conclusions. Comte argued that experts in politics do not agree on methods, principles or conclusions, as scientists do.
- No continuous development. Politics does not build steadily on settled results, as physics does.
- No power to predict. Political events, such as revolutions or election results, cannot be predicted with certainty.
- No laboratory. Political scientists cannot experiment on nations under controlled conditions.
- The human element. Human beings act from free will, emotion and values, which cannot be measured like matter.
Arguments that it is a science
- Systematic knowledge. Garner defines a science as "a fairly unified mass of knowledge relating to a single subject", acquired by systematic observation and classified. Political knowledge meets that test.
- Observation and comparison. Political facts can be observed and compared. Aristotle studied the constitutions of more than one hundred and fifty Greek cities before he classified governments.
- Cause and effect. Some general laws can be stated: for example, that absolute power tends to be abused, or that a broad middle class steadies a state.
- History as a laboratory. The experience of many states over centuries serves the purpose of experiment.
- Expert consensus. Garner concludes that "both reason and the weight of authority justify the claim of politics to the rank of a true science."
The balanced view. Political science is a social science. Its method is scientific, but it is not an exact science like physics or chemistry. It deals with probabilities and tendencies, not certainties.
Nature: political science as an art
Garner notes that politics is also used in the sense of an art, which "seeks solutions of concrete problems". A science tells us what is; an art tells us how to achieve an end. Statesmanship, administration and law-making are arts that use the knowledge political science gives. So political science is both a science and an art.
Nature: its relation to other social sciences
The nature of political science also appears in its close links with other subjects. It draws facts from history; Seeley said political science is the fruit of history and history its root. It shares questions of taxation and planning with economics, once called "political economy". It meets law in constitutional and administrative law. And it shares with sociology the study of groups, caste, class and religion. So it is a social science that cannot work in isolation.
Nature: normative and empirical
Political science asks two kinds of questions. Empirical questions ask what is: how parties win votes, how courts decide. Normative questions ask what ought to be: what makes a law just, when a citizen may disobey. A complete political science needs both. Facts without values cannot guide policy; values without facts cannot be put into practice.
Two approaches to its nature
| Traditional approach | Behavioural approach | |
|---|---|---|
| Focus | The state, law and institutions | The political behaviour of individuals and groups |
| Method | Historical, philosophical, legal | Observation, surveys, statistics |
| Values | Asks what the state ought to be | Tries to keep facts apart from values |
| Strength | Gives depth and moral purpose | Gives precision and testable findings |
| Weakness | May be speculative | May ignore values and big questions |
Today most political scientists combine the two.
Scope in brief
The scope includes:
- Political theory: the nature, origin and ends of the state, sovereignty, rights, liberty and justice.
- Political institutions: constitutions, legislatures, executives, judiciaries and forms of government.
- Political dynamics: parties, pressure groups, public opinion and elections.
- Public administration: the machinery that carries out policy.
- International relations: relations between states and international organisations.
Garner sums up the core in three problems: the nature of the state, the forms of political institutions, and "the laws of political growth and development."
Conclusion. Political science is the systematic study of the state and government. In nature it is a social science, scientific in method but not exact in its predictions, and it is also an art that guides government. Its scope covers political theory, institutions, dynamics, administration and international relations. So the best answer to the question of its nature is that political science is both a science and an art.
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