RELATION BETWEEN POLITICAL SCIENCE AND PRACTICAL POLITICS. 41 



In order to comprehend this relation it is necessary to have a clear 

 conception of what is meant by i)olitical science on the one hand and 

 practical ])olitics on the other. Political science, like the physical 

 sciences, has for its function the investigation of phenomena with a 

 view to ascertaining the general principles underlying and producing 

 them. " Science" is not mere knowledge of facts; it is a knowledge 

 of facts as explained by princi})les, or of principles as they explain 

 facts. It is the part of chemistry to explain the phenomena of 

 compound bodies, of geology to explain the facts of the earth's crust, 

 of biology to explain the phenomena of life. ' So it is the part of 

 political science to explain the facts and phenomena of organized 

 political society. Moreover, the method of pi-ocedure is similar to 

 that of the j^hysical sciences. The facts of political society have to be 

 analysed, classified, and made the basis of generalizations, just as the 

 facts of the physical world are. The method by which ])olitical princi- 

 ples are I'eached from political facts is the inductive method, and 

 when the connection is established between facts and principles, the 

 work of the scientific investigator is done. It is no part of his func- 

 tion as a scientific enquirer to act as the adviser of th-; practical 

 statesman, or attempt to show that a particular change either should 

 or should not be ruade. When he does this he leaves the domain of 

 ])olitical science and enters that of practical politics. His investiga- 

 tions may be the means of throwing light on the statesman's path, for 

 sometimes the best way to ascertain in what direction we are drifting 

 is to enquire how we have anived at the point of observation ; but 

 to shed that light is no necessary part of the scientific enquirer's func- 

 tion. What has been done he may endeavor to explain ; what ought 

 to be done he is not called upon to decide or even suggest. This 

 distinction between political science and political politics was illus- 

 trated by a number of instances selected from various departments of 

 sociology. For example, the scientific enquirer may endeavor to get 

 at a satisfactory explanation of the fact that in this and other coun- 

 tries the I'ight of a person to issue promissory notes has been 

 limited by legislation, so that only chartered banks can put such notes 

 into circulation. It is the part of the practical politician to say 

 whether any or what changes should be made in the laws which con- 

 trol and regulate the currency of the country ; it is the jiart of the 

 political scientist to search for the causes which have brought such a 



