Lecture
Reasons for the growing role of political knowledge in the contemporary world:
- the accelerating pace of the economic, political, social and cultural development of the advanced countries, which widens the gap between them and the so-called third world countries (countries of catch-up development). The imbalance in development leads to contradictions and fierce competition, and therefore the task of political science is to work out effective mechanisms for mobilizing resources, narrowing the gap in the level of development and resolving contradictions.
- political practice has shown that at present a democratic form of government is the most effective and provides the individual with the greatest range of opportunities, and therefore a process of transition from authoritarian and totalitarian regimes to democratic ones is under way, one that must be deliberate and managed – hence the need for theoretical elaboration of the methods, variants and possible consequences of such a transition.
- over the past decade tension has been mounting in the world in the sphere of interconfessional, interethnic and interstate relations. One of the causes is Islamic fundamentalism. The task of political science in this case is to study the political specifics of the Arab world and the influence of the Muslim substratum in European countries, to set out a detailed picture of what is happening and to seek ways of solving the problem.
- under any political system, the participation of citizens in the sphere of politics is difficult or impossible if they lack initial knowledge about politics and the current situation in society, and if basic models of behaviour in the sphere of politics have not been formed in them.
Thus political science, as the science of power and politics, makes it possible on the one hand to find more effective mechanisms for solving the problems facing society, and on the other gives the citizens of a state basic knowledge about politics, forms models of behaviour and promotes more active involvement in politics.
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