Political Science/ Pre law is my declared major. Political science is basically the study of people, organizations and groups, and it is evident that those things are ever changing and evolving, also political views change with environment and other factors that relate to evolution. As far as variability, depending on location, growth and development both mentally and physically views and attitudes can create a different standard of government, living and political views.
A political science major looks at evolution focusing on the way behaviors have changed overtime. The way people over the millions of years have went from surviving like “animals” to the point where some humans now have everything from food and water to jets and jet skis at the snap of their fingers. PLS majors are looking at the way that life for humans have changed and how that change in life has brought about circumstances that in order to be under control require power and rules. For example, at one-point food was not something easily obtainable for people. For people to have meat that had to hunt it, which was no easy task. Hunting animals was exhausting on the body, dangerous, could sometimes take days meaning it was time consuming and left little room for another task. As humans evolved and utilized new ways of living because they created what is known today as agriculture. Know that animals were captured to produce the food people needed things changed. Humans had more time and could focus their energy on developing other skill because they did not have to spend all day hunting, and families and communities grew bigger because food was easy to access, and less people died due to injuries. With an evolution like growth population and mass boredom because food was right there the political system is bound to change, because now there are things to be regulated such as produce, social relations and activities.
Variations in the eyes of political science looks at the different factors such as agriculture, or population has an effect on the political system. The difference in those variating factors in relation to the world of politics can create major change for politics. Factors like this can variety based on sex, race, physical and mental differences in politics. One example of variation could be race. In a country evolved in slave trade that would bring darker skin people to slave for them. This shows an aggressive mentality, a stronger mental and physical rather is be through the use of body and weapons and can result a greater population, as well as a race mixed population. A country like this would deal with conflict between races, power differences, opposition and extreme violence, this could result in a more stern and powerful government or a very corrupt one to keep order, for example Jim crow laws. Where in contract a country who never introduced slavery would have different political system, no, or different division and violence therefore resulting in variation. The readings and videos where interesting and thought provoking but did not make me look at my filed in different light.
7 thoughts on “Blog week 2 Poli Sci”
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Hi Marnise! Similar to you, my majors lie outside of the more science-y fields. I find the way you describe how political science views evolution very interesting! It is amazing to think about how people have gone from hunters and gatherers to obtaining law and order, as well as unequal distributions of power. In hunter and gatherer ‘societies’, everyone was equal because they lived on their own and provided for themselves, without keeping extra. However, when agricultural society took over as the predominant way to live, power distribution changed. With people hoarding more food and other supplies, many were able to gain power, which obviously plays a large role in politics. It’s fascinating to think of the evolution of rules and laws that become contingent on the evolution of people, but it is so important. To think of society thousands of years ago to now really shows how the laws have reflected these changes. Lastly, I really like the point you made about slavery being introduced or not in different countries and how that can affect the political systems and whether there is division/how that would come to be.
Hey!
I used to be a political science major until I switched to history (with my emphasis being on political history), and reading your post makes me miss the department!
I think that this week’s posts didn’t make me really view my own major in a different light, but it is interesting to understand evolution and human variability in the context of our own fields. You put your own context on human evolution in terms of power structures and changing human dynamics, which is something that I also study from a historical perspective. Your example about countries who have developed a system of slavery was interesting in that it can be compared to how evolution works and how humans and systems of government end up in the present time. We can see a lot of similarities, but every single political system is unique, much like how different species have evolved.
Hello, Marnise! I really liked your blog post because it is very easy for me to relate to. I am also studying Political Science and Prelaw, so I can understand the difficulty of connecting a very science-based course to (a non-science) politics and law. Although our posts are very similar, you seem to have touched based on specific aspects that I did not. Your explanation on the connection between how political scientists study political behavior and how evolution affects behavior really cleared up a lot of confusion. After reading, I can see that you really understand the importance of DNA and evolution in your major. It is fascinating that subjects that seem to be so opposite are actually a lot more similar than we thought.
At a first glance, it might seem fairly difficult to tie in two seemingly different fields of study into one. However, as you demonstrated in your post, it can be quite simple. I also think that being given prompts like this allows us to be more insightful. That, all in all, is the intention of going to school while we of course learn new things. I think you managed to tie in the study of evolution with your political science studies quite well. Its also a bit fun to think about how we can evolve as people on the social and mental level, not only biologically speaking as our anthropology course has centered around. As a history major, I can appreciate the viewpoint you have on this topic since we both share a field of study that isn’t scientific in the traditional sense. Its cool to see how people can interpret different topics.
Hi! I am a Political Theory major in James Madison College so I relate on the point about being from a major not as directly linked with the physical sciences mentioned and discussed this week. However, I found your explanations about how Poli Sci views evolution and variability very interesting. It is true that the way our world and environments have evolved have had a large impact on the political system, just like it has had on all social systems. I did not think of it that way, however. I chose to apply “variability” to the variability of thoughts and opinions within a certain population. I guess this shows that even within the same field, there are bound to be different applications and interpretations of the same concept.
Hello!
As a History major, I can relate to being more on the side of social sciences rather than straight up science! I thought that the way you tied in evolution and how political science can study it was super interesting, and a lot of that is the same for with history! Understanding evolution can help us understand why and how different societies and groups act the way they do, and it also can show an interesting perspective on the topics of wars, forced migrations, and inequalities that specific groups have faced due to the way they evolved.
Hello Marnise! I can relate to your post a lot because as a psychology major (especially a bachelor’s of arts) it can be difficult to relate to a very specific science when we do not have as much of a traditional science background. I thought it was really cool how you talked about the way political science studies our behavior. I think it would be intriguing to study law throughout the ages, and how it has grown and changed, especially in European cultures. I would be interested to see how political party/ political ideals have changed throughout time. I also can relate to how you mentioned that using mental strength has topped using physical strength. I wonder if any psychologists have studied that change within history. Thank you for sharing.