Moreover the researcher being a human being is not

Moreover, the researcher being a human being is not always value neutral as believed by the
behaviouralists.
CHECK YOUR PROGRESS
1. Mention the names of three behaviouralists.
....................................................................................................................
....................................................................................................................
....................................................................................................................
2. Who is regarded as the father of Behavioural Revolution?
....................................................................................................................
....................................................................................................................

....................................................................................................................
3. List out four features of behaviouralism.
Post- behaviouralism
The growth of behavioural movement in Political Science is one of the important landmarks in the
history of Political Science. The rise of behaviouralism clearly introduced a scientific vigour in the study
of political phenomena. However, after sometime, it began to be realized that unlike natural sciences,
generalizations could not be made in the field of social sciences, as the study of man in the societal
context was a far more complex pursuit than the study of objects in the natural sciences. Therefore, a
new thinking emerged among the behaviouralists for modifying behaviouralism.
David Easton who was a staunch supporter of behaviouralism later became a strong critic of
behaviouralism. In his presidential address to the Annual Convention of the American Political Science
Association held in 1969, David Easton declared that he felt dissatisfied with the political research and
teaching made under the impact of behaviouralism. He further said that because of too much use of
mathematics, Political Science looked more of mathematics than of social science and that it had lost
touch with the current and contemporary world. Behaviouralism also dissatisfied people as it failed to
offer solutions to many social and political problems. Such dissatisfaction has led to the emergence of
post- behaviouralism. This new approach believed that mere use of sophisticated techniques and
research tools would not solve the social and political problems of the world. Therefore post
behaviouralists opposed the idea of behaviouralists to make Political Science a value-free science like
other natural sciences. Therefore, post-behaviouralists made an effort to make Political Science relevant
to the society. However, it must be remembered that post-behaviouralism cannot be separated from
behviouralism as it has emerged out of behaviouralism. Through using different techniques and methods
post-behaviouralists try to overcome the drawbacks of behaviouralism and make the study of Political
Science more relevant to the society.
LET US KNOW