Social Sciences Demystified: Understanding Political Science and Economics

By Elizabeth FosterLast Updated April 23, 2025

Understand social sciences: beyond common misconceptions

Social sciences comprise a family of academic disciplines dedicate to examine human society and social relationships. Two prominent fields within this domain are political science and economics. Nevertheless, misconceptions about these disciplines oftentimes lead to confusion about their scope, methodologies, and classifications.

Political science: more than historical study

A common misconception suggest that” political science is the study of past events. ” tThisdefinition importantly mischaracterize the discipline. While political science surely examine historical political developments, it eextendsfar beyond mere historical analysis.

The true scope of political science

Political science investigate power dynamics, governance systems, political behavior, and public policies across time and space. Preferably than focus entirely on the past, political scientists analyze contemporary political phenomena, predict future trends, and develop theories to explain political processes.

The discipline employ various methodologies, include:

Quantitative analysis of voting patterns and public opinion
Qualitative case studies of political institutions
Comparative research across different political systems
Theoretical modeling of political behavior
Experimental approaches to understand decision make

Key subfields of political science

Political science encompass several specialized subfields that demonstrate its comprehensive scope:

Political theory

This area examine fundamental questions about politics, justice, liberty, and authority. Political theorists analyze concepts like democracy, rights, and legitimacy, draw from philosophical traditions while address contemporary challenges.

Comparative politics

Comparative politics study political systems across different countries and regions. Scholars in this field identify patterns, similarities, and differences in how societies organize their political institutions and processes.

International relations

This subfield focus on interactions between nations, international organizations, and non-state actors. Topics include diplomacy, war, peace, global governance, and transnational issues like climate change and migration.

Public administration

Public administration examine how government policies are implemented and manage. Scholars analyze bureaucratic structures, public service delivery, and administrative reforms.

Public policy

This area investigate how governments address societal problems through policy formulation, implementation, and evaluation. Policy analysts study issues range from healthcare and education to environmental protection and economic regulation.

Historical perspective in political science

While political science is not but historical study, historical analysis remain a valuable component of the discipline. Political scientists oftentimes examine historical developments to understand contemporary political phenomena. For example:

Analyze the evolution of democratic institutions to identify factors that strengthen or undermine democracy
Study past conflicts to inform current peace build efforts
Examine historical social movements to understand modern political activism

This historical dimension complements quite than define political science’s broader scientific inquiry into political phenomena.

Economics as a social science: understand the classification

The second question ask why economics is considered a social science. This classification reflect economics’ fundamental focus on human behavior, social institutions, and collectivdecision-makingng.

Define characteristics of social sciences

Social sciences study human society and social relationships use systematic methods. They share several key characteristics:

Focus on human behavior and social interactions
Application of scientific methods to social phenomena
Analysis of patterns and regularities in social life
Development of theories to explain social processes
Consideration of cultural, historical, and institutional context

Economics meet social science criteria

Economics firm qualify as a social science for several compelling reasons:

Human behavior at its core

Economics studies how individuals, households, businesses, and governments make decisions about resource allocation. These decisions essentially involve human choices, preferences, and behaviors. Economic theories like utility maximization, prospect theory, and behavioral economics direct address human decision make processes.

Social institutions and structures

Economic analysis examines markets, firms, governments, and other social institutions that organize economic activity. These institutions represent social constructs that facilitate exchange, production, and distribution. Economics investigate how these institutions function, evolve, and shape economic outcomes.

Methodological approach

Economics employ scientific methods to study social phenomena, include:

Data collection and statistical analysis
Model building and hypothesis testing
Experimental methods to observe behavior under control conditions
Case studies and historical analysis

These approach parallel methodologies use in other social sciences, albeit with greater emphasis on mathematical modeling and quantitative analysis.

Social context and outcomes

Economic processes occur within broader social contexts and produce social consequences. Economists study how economic policies affect income distribution, social welfare, and quality of life. Fields like development economics, labor economics, and public economics straight address social issues and outcomes.

Economics’ distinctive features among social sciences

While firm establish as a social science, economics possess distinctive characteristics that differentiate it from other disciplines in this category:

Mathematical formalization

Economics employ sophisticated mathematical tools and models to a greater extent than many other social sciences. This mathematical orientation has sometimes leaded to perceptions that economics resemble natural sciences like physics. Nevertheless, thsubjecter remairemainsntially social.

Policy relevance

Economics maintain especially strong connections to policymaking. Economic analyses direct inform monetary policy, fiscal policy, trade policy, and regulatory frameworks. This practical application distinguish economics from more strictly theoretical social sciences.

Methodological individualism

Traditional economic analysis oftentimes begin with individual decision makers and build toward understand aggregate phenomena. This methodological individualism contrast with sociological approaches that emphasize social structures and collective phenomena as primary units of analysis.

The interrelationship between political science and economics

Political science and economics, while distinct disciplines, share significant overlap and complementarity. Their intersection has give rise to specialized fields that bridge both domains:

Political economy

Political economy examine how political institutions, political environment, and economic systems influence each other. This interdisciplinary field analyze how political factors shape economic policies and outcomes, and how economic conditions influence political processes.

Public choice theory

Public choice theory apply economical methods to study politicadecision-makingng. Iexaminesne how politicians, bureaucrats, and voters pursue their interests within political institutions, analyze politics through the lens of economic rationality.

Development studies

Development studies integrate political and economic analysis to understand processes of social, economic, and political change in develop countries. This field examines how political institutions and economic policies interact to promote or hinder development.

The broader social science landscape

Political science and economics exist within a broader ecosystem of social sciences that jointly study human society from different angles:

Sociology

Sociology examine social structures, relationships, and institutions. While economics focus on resource allocation and political science on power and governance, sociology investigate social norms, stratification, and collective behavior.

Anthropology

Anthropology study human cultures, beliefs, and practices across time and space. It provides cultural and historical context that enrich economic and political analysis.

Psychology

Psychology examine individual mental processes and behavior. Its insights inform both political science (through political psychology )and economics ( (rough behavioral economics ).)

Geography

Human geography analyze spatial dimensions of social phenomena, include economic activities and political territories. It provides spatial context for understand economic and political processes.

Conclusion: the value of social scientific perspectives

Understand political science and economics as social sciences help clarify their true nature and contributions. Political science extend far beyond historical study to analyze contemporary political phenomena use scientific methods. Economics qualify as a social science through its focus on human behavior, social institutions, and systematic methodology.

These disciplines offer complementary perspectives on human society, with political science illuminate power dynamics and governance while economics reveal resource allocation and decision make processes. Unitedly with other social sciences, they provide a multifaceted understanding of the complex social world we inhabit.

The social scientific foundation of these fields underscore their value in address contemporary challenges. By apply rigorous methods to social questions, political scientists and economists generate insights that can inform policy solutions to press societal problems, from economic inequality to democratic governance.