I am always fascinated by my educational trajectory and the curiosity it instilled in me to keep digging into the basis of my disciplines—political science, public administration, public policy—and how they enable me to make sense of contemporary realities. Readers are familiar with my narration of the educational trajectory that I hoped would have taken me through philosophy, but which did not come to pass because providence had a different course: political science. This raises a crucial query: does it make pedagogical sense to differentiate philosophy from political science?
When I began my undergraduate studies in political science at the University of Ibadan, I had not abandoned my love for philosophy. The course system allowed me to take critical electives from the Department of Philosophy, but not enough to gain the full pedagogical benefits of philosophy. However, my first immersion in Plato's Republic left an indelible memory that feeds my institutional reform imagination, especially regarding transforming Nigeria's institutional framework to make democratic governance work better.
My inquiry serves two objectives. First, to push the boundaries of political science's relevance, resisting neoliberal capitalism's support for STEM as the preeminent development-enabling curriculum without denying the logic of that claim. Second, from a mentoring imperative, I owe it to younger generations of political scientists to show how I made solid personal and professional capital from being a political scientist.
Aristotle: The First Political Scientist
Why is Aristotle considered the first political scientist? Plato's Republic is founded on an idealistic, utopian aspiration of what Athens could be—a speculative exercise to prevent the murder of Socrates. Aristotle switched the methodological dynamic from idealism to systematic analysis of political phenomena based on empirical observations. His research on the constitutions of 158 city-states demonstrates a fascination with real-world political dynamics and the significance of comparative analysis.
For Aristotle, politics is the "master science"—the framework by which we measure the stability, harmony, and flourishing of any human society. It determines who gets what, when, and how. He insists that this master science is inevitable because humans are political animals, wired to live and flourish within political communities. Political science is concerned with the systematic interrogation of these communities to scientifically determine how governance frameworks achieve the "good life."
Machiavelli's Realist Turn
Political science had to wait for Niccolo Machiavelli to harden its disciplinary borders. Machiavelli rejected political morality, arguing that the search for imaginary republics serves no purpose. The best methodological way is to study how people live politically and how rulers safeguard their territories. In The Prince, he captures the essence of a realist understanding of power: a ruler must learn to be both feared and loved, mostly feared. The founding of a principality or republic is not a matter of morality; many political communities begin through illegal and immoral means, sustained by cruelty and violence.
From the 19th century onward, political science firmed up its realist methodology through empiricism and positivism, jettisoning its connection to political philosophy and history. Its disciplinary boundary shifted toward descriptive, scientific investigation of politics, power, government, policy, institutions, constitutions, political processes, citizenship, political behavior, elections, and protests.
The Enduring Relevance of Aristotle
I doubt political science can ever be free of Aristotle's shadows. Separating Aristotle from Machiavelli would diminish the discipline. Aristotle embodies the relationship between philosophy (ethics) and politics (political science). This relationship between the actuality of politics and its end fascinates me and illustrates my engagements with Nigeria's political development.
If I had studied philosophy, I would have gravitated to political theory—almost the same thing. It possesses the theoretical wherewithal to pursue my desire to make Nigeria better. Nigeria is a political laboratory that would fascinate Aristotle and Machiavelli. The search for national integration since 1960 has generated vast materials on realpolitik, informing my interrogation of Awolowo's blueprint for Nigeria's reconstruction—from Thoughts on the Nigerian Constitution to The Strategy and Tactics of the People's Republic of Nigeria.
I have investigated political figures like Olusegun Obasanjo and Bola Ahmed Tinubu within their balancing of Yoruba and national politics. All this has been critical to my search for an institutional reform philosophy that would position the civil service as an optimal institution for Nigeria's emergence as a developmental state.
The Future of Political Science in Nigeria
My sensibility as a political scientist makes me concerned with the fate of the discipline in a postcolonial context. Higher education is set on a path of searching for meaning and relevance. No discipline can survive if it fails to determine its relevance to students or a postcolonial state grappling with national integration and development amid acute insecurity.
This reflection speaks to the need for rigorous gatekeeping that monitors political science scholarship. How should the discipline attend to growing hyper-specialization and the tendency to fragment critical political knowledge? The National Political Science Association faces a generational challenge to convene a national summit on the future of political science in Nigeria. A key question is how to make political science scholarship more public-facing and accessible. It is the responsibility of political scientists to define the agenda for public discourse on Nigeria's political challenges. The political science of the future must connect with new methodological orientations and research focus, allowing aspiring political scientists to see how to reform Nigeria while making professional and academic progress.
Prof. Olaopa is the Chairman, Federal Civil Service Commission and Professor of Public Administration.
