ABSTRACT
Political science is an eclectic discipline: the methodology used by political scientists is, of course, also eclectic. The mathematically inclined political scientist sees that it is difficult to apply mathematics to many of the problems that interest him; historically minded students of politics recognize the inadequacies of historical techniques in many aspects of their inquiries. The typologies that we have mentioned are static, in the sense that they utilize fixed elements of systems, political parties of values. The case is more than just an example in the ordinary sense, because it incorporates a number of characteristics – indeed a number of highly complex characteristics. Typologies are the backbone of political thinking. Almost all works of political science use either classifications or typologies – though the latter, despite their development, are often partial or contrived. Concept-building in political science bears a certain resemblance to cartography.
