and the physical sciences is enlarged the relations of government with allied fields of knowledge will become more intimate.

THE METHODS OF THE STUDY OF POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT

The subject matter of politics and government may be approached from four main points of view-namely, the historical, the comparative, the analytical, and the philosophic or idealistic.

The Historical Method.-A search for the origin of society and of the political phenomena which accompany its development has engaged the attention of mankind since the union of men into social groups and the emergence of social consciousness. The beginnings of the family and the state, the evolution of custom and law, and the growth of the complex organizations under which we now live in our political life have claimed the attention of many historians and social scientists. A guide to the interpretation of the present is furnished by the past, and government can be understood only through a systematic study of the successes and failures of preceding races and past ages.

The historical method not only renders invaluable contributions to the origin of human social and political institutions through the avenues of archæology and allied sciences, but also constantly sheds new light upon the psychic forces which move men in social groups. It is history which supplies an analysis of the forces-geographic, economic, and psychic, which give form and shape to all political institutions. Furthermore, a more careful and exhaustive analysis of ancient customs, laws, and government agencies is giving a better basis for comparison, analogy, and criticism of present political forms and practices. As the psychologist formulates a better method of analysis of social purposes, motives, and thinking processes, and as the historian enriches our knowledge of

past ages, a basis for scientific inference and prognostication will be attained which will render political affairs amenable to more exact methods and to more certain rules of guidance.

The Comparative Method. It is the nature of man to be provincial in his outlook and to conclude that his own community and its habits are well-nigh perfect. What exPresident Eliot described as American "bumptiousness" is a characteristic not confined to Americans. To live in a small community, to become accustomed to its ways, and to conclude that these ways are superior to those of any other community is a characteristic which is common to mankind. To counteract this trait, man's imitative nature has been a redeeming feature. When through war, the chase, or the exchange of products, new ways of doing things were discovered and a daring innovator brought into the home camp the idea of a better method of doing things, its adoption frequently followed, despite the opposition of tradition and inertia. It is a late development indeed when the narrow provincialism of community life gives way consciously to an open search for the new and the better. Yet this is what has come to pass in the introduction of the comparative method in the study and practice of government. With the historical and analytical study of many governments rendered available, and with opportunities for the observation of these governments at work, there has come a deliberate effort to reconstruct and to improve existing political institutions in the light of the study of foreign practices.

Thus Canada, Australia, and Switzerland mold their constitutions in the light of the experience of our own federation, and other nations use our experience in developing the judicial review of legislative acts. France sends a commission to the United States to study the separation of church and state. For guidance in improving our law, we send commissioners to England, France, and other European countries. And to remodel our local government and municipal administration, we find our

chief inspiration and guide in the more successful experience of European neighbors. The comparative study of political institutions has now come to be a feature of our educational system. Moreover, in the Continental Legal History Series, in the American Legal Philosophy Series, and the Criminal Science Series efforts have been made to encourage the exchange of legal ideas with a view of enriching legal studies and of rendering easier and more certain the necessary steps in law reform.

The Analytical Method. As a biologist examines a beetle, taking it apart, placing each part under special analysis and scrutiny, observing one part in relation to another, considering the composition and make-up of each portion and attempting to discover the work or function which each part of the organism performs, so may the student of government approach his subject from the analytic point of view. Though it is not advisable to urge the analogy too far, for the state does not exhibit all of the characteristics of an organism, it is nevertheless true that the method of the biologist may be followed, with necessary variations, in the study of government. Thus, it is possible to examine the organs through which government is conducted; the departments, the divisions and bureaus may be analyzed in detail, and the organization and powers of each division defined. The relation of the departments and their subdivisions one to another, the functions performed by each of the departments and divisions, and finally, the general purpose and methods of functioning of the entire government, may be critically analyzed.

In approaching government from the analytic standpoint, it is possible to take the entire government of a nation and to define the large divisions, such as legislative, executive, and judicial, to analyze and describe the foundation of the government in constitutions and in laws, and to discuss the powers which the state exercises. But another approach under this same method is to take some division or bureau, such as the Census Bureau or the Public Health

Service, and to study completely the organization of such a unit, its methods of doing work, the purpose which it aims to accomplish, and the effectiveness with which it performs these services. The latter is, of course, the more thorough and more satisfactory, but is unfortunately too little used in comparison with the customary superficial analysis of large government departments.

To the historical and comparative methods, the analytic method furnishes the minute and laborious analysis of existing government agencies, on the basis of which alone relatively adequate judgments may be formed.

The Philosophic or Ideal Method. The search for ideals and the attempt to peer into the future where visions and dreams may be realized seem to parallel the conscious life of man. At least as far back as records go, there are found in art, architecture, and bits of poetry the age-long efforts to depict the ideal conditions for the future.

But the philosophic or ideal method has been made immortal by its presentation in the great work of Plato, The Republic, where a master intellect undertook to describe the conditions under which an ideal state might be formed and in accordance with which man might attain his highest development, material, intellectual, and moral. Since the appearance of The Republic there have been numerous attempts to construct imaginary ideal states. Notable among these attempts are More's Utopia, Campanella's City of the Sun, and Bellamy's Looking Backward. Interesting as these attempts at prophetic glimpses into the future are, none of them approaches the symmetry and suggestiveness of The Republic.

The philosophic or ideal method is evidenced not only in the efforts to picture an imaginary ideal state but also to render more clear the object which rulers and people set before them as a goal. As each individual of necessity formulates and lives a philosophy of life, so those intrusted with public power act upon a philosophy or philosophies and aim to attain certain ideals. This

philosophy may be, as in Greece, an attempt to give free play to the social, intellectual, and æsthetic capabilities of select groups, or, as in Rome, an effort to secure mastery and unity and through the power thus acquired to spread doctrines of reason, justice, and equity. The divine-right monarchs, conceiving that their mandate to rule came from God, developed a philosophy to support the concentration of all public interests and public powers in their hands, whereas, according to the ideal of popular sovereignty, the government is conceived as the agent of the people to carry out their wishes and to exercise those powers only which the popular mandate sanctions. It may be a philosophy of individualism in which the theory prevails that Jefferson epitomized in the precept "that government is best which governs the least" and which Tolstoy describes as the ideal state when the selfishness of man is banished from the earth. Or it may be a philosophy of socialism in which all public services of man are cared for, protected, and performed by a single, all-embracing organization of society. Be it socialistic, individualistic, or one of the numerous variations between, those who govern are influenced by their social philosophy. The attainment of ideals underlies the individual acts of public servants and determines the trend of the public affairs of a nation. As individual ideals are combined in the social group, there is formed that complex entity known as the social ideal. Such pregnant concepts as patriotism, nationalism, and militarism represent ideals which crystallize into a sentiment or a policy for which the group will strive and contend. The philosophy of government and governmental methods has indeed a great influence upon political practice and thus upon the lives of men in society.

None of the methods-historical, comparative, analytical, or philosophical-can be pursued singly with much profit. It is when all are combined that the best results are secured in government study. And in proportion as the art of government is enlivened and enriched by the