Читать книгу Political Science For Dummies - Marcus A. Stadelmann - Страница 48

Grand theories are the most prestigious and sought after. They claim to provide explanations or predictions over time and space. In other words, they claim to be universal in nature. The concept of grand theory comes from the natural sciences such as physics and chemistry. A good example is the mixing of two chemicals. After you mix the two, a certain result occurs. The result will be the same whether you mix the chemicals in Africa or Europe (space) or whether you mix the two today or in two years (time).

It’s tougher to create such theories in the social sciences such as political science or sociology. However, a few grand theories have been created in political science, and one of the most famous ones, the theory of the civic culture, states that only one specific culture can sustain democracy in the long run, and unless you create it, democracy will collapse in a country. As soon as the culture is created, democracy is here to stay in a country. It doesn’t matter where you create it (space) or when you create it (time). Therefore, it’s universal in nature and can be used to predict whether democracy can succeed in a country. See Chapter 3 for more details.