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Directly or indirectly, all areas within the purview of sensory organs can be studied in a behavioural manner. Though limitations of time, resources, skill and technological advancement are there, yet according to Heinz Eulau, all segments of Political Science can be treated behaviourally.
Still, some specific areas preferred by the behaviouralists are:
1. Individuals engaged in face-to-face relationship.
2. Small groups and organisations.
3. Systems and subsystems like political parties, legislatures, pressure groups, etc.
4. Voting behaviour.
5. Concepts, such as the will, power, processes, decision, structures and functions, system, etc.
6. Processes.
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7. Policies and values.
8. Comparative politics.
9. New tools and techniques.
10. Theories, approaches, and other frameworks.
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Van Dyke has pointed out that behaviouralism (or behavioural sciences) is an all-inclusive term. It includes all those sciences which study the behaviour of man or other living creatures. In ‘political behaviour’, we include all political activities of man. It is not only the behavioural aspect of politics, but all political behaviour. Simple use of the term ‘behaviouralism’ usually means ‘political behaviouralism’. It involves all activities of man related to public decisions or distribution of power in society.
Behavioural approach aims at reaching empirical generalisations and developing a theory. Observation of behaviour leads us to certain uniformities or regularities of behaviour. Wider the uniformities, greater the validity of generalisations. These generalisations are to be testable or verifiable. In this sense, behavioural approach is more than a method.
Political behaviour analysis has four important characteristics:
(i) It studies individual person’s behaviour even while analysing groups, the elite, and movements, etc.;
(ii) Chooses a frame of reference, often taken from other disciplines;
(iii) Starts with theoretical propositions for the purposes of empirical research; and,
(iv) Adopts scientific methods and techniques.
Areas of political behaviour analysis can be broadly divided into two parts:
(a) Behavioural studies conducted in situational or institutional contexts, such as voting behaviour, legislative, judicial, or administrative behaviour, etc., and
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(b) Studies undertaken around specific organising concepts or the broader conceptual schemes.
They are generally known as approaches, but do not rise to the level of a general theory, e.g., system analysis, group approach, decision-making analysis, communication theory etc.
These centralising concepts obviously have two levels:
(i) Specific and lower, such as, group, power decision, conflict, etc., and
(ii) General and higher, such as system, field, process, communication, etc.