What is Behavioural Revolution? By Andrew Oforma Eze

BEHAVIOURAL REVOLUTION

     This is the hallmark of scientific origin of political science which started in the 1920s in Europe and North America.  According to Gerardo L. Munck, “the first turning point in the evolution of US political science can be conveniently dated to the 1921 publication of a manifesto for new science of politics, which implied a departure from the history embraced by many founders of political science in the US, by the University of Chicago professor, Charles Merriam (1874 – 1953).’’ This publication led to the convention of National Conferences on Science of Politics which was an important event to the discipline (political science). According to Munck, it was also followed by the formation of Social Science Research Council (SSRC), the world’s first national organization of all social sciences.

What this connotes is that new crop of scholars in political science and new methods of political analyses which emerged in late 1920s refuted the traditional approaches of analyses of political phenomena or events.

According to Roskin et al (1988: 16):
Most of the Greek, Medieval, and Renaissance political thinkers took a normative approach to the study of government and politics. They sought to discover the “ought” or “should” and were often rather causal about the “is”, the real-world situation. Informed by religious, legal, or philosophical values, they tried to ascertain which system of government would bring man closest to the good life, often as defined by the prevailing wisdom of that time. Although sometimes dismissed by behavioral thinkers as hopelessly speculative, the ideas  of Aristotle, Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, and many others still provide us with tremendous insights, which, ironically, are sometimes confirmed by the latest “scientific” research.

     The traditional approaches or methods of investigation, analysis and prediction of political phenomena were based on subjectivity, dogmatism, parochialism, bias and Euro-centrism. On the contrary, behavioural revolutionists or behaviouralists believed in the objective, systematic, empirical and unbiased approach to political enquiries and analyses.

     However, the origin of behaviouralism has been attributed to the erudite professor of political science Charles Edward Merriam of the University of Chicago in the 1920s and 1930s. Merriam emphasized the need to study the political behavior of individuals or groups via scientific method. He was the founder of the “Behaviouralistic Approach to Political Science’’. Note that behavioural revolution started in 1921 and ended in 1966 which led to the paradigm shift – emergency of the post-behavioral period.
Post-Behavioural Period.

    This is relatively the same as behavioural school only that post-behaviouralist brought state into political system or arena. In other words, the attentions of political scientists shifted from institutionalism or structuralism of political system to other political phenomena like revolution, democracy, political party, dictatorship, communism, state etc. Roskin et al [1988: 18] rightly opined that” behaviouralism came under heavy attack … by many young political scientists, some of them influenced by the radicalism of anti-Vietnam war movement, complained that the behavioural approach was static, conservative, loaded with its practitioners’ values, and irrelevant to the urgent tasks at hand.” The quest for more pragmatic approach to the study of political science is what led to the emergency of post-behavioural school of thought.

    Also note that Post-behavioural revolution which started in 1967 and ended in 1988 led to the paradigm shift – the Second Scientific Revolution.
Second Scientific Revolution, 1989-Present.

    This is an attempt to unify science of politics with other sciences. The emphasis is now based on the unit of science, systematic methods of political enquiry, quantitative data analysis and theories like rational choice theory, game theory etc. The second scientific revolution is also based on the study or analysis of failed state, civil disobedience, civil conflict, political socialization, democracy, social movement, citizenship, policy formation and implementation, rule of law, capitalism etc.