independent_thinker2002 said:
Cognitive dissonance is a pre-conceived idea. Which is what the hypothesis was made on. I am going to laugh here when you say that politics is scientific. There is no empirical data which you can really say what is liberal and what is conservative. Tell me, how liberal was Richard Nixon?
lol the study of Politics is scientific I should know I'm a political
Science major if there is no empirical political information how is it that for my major an Empirical political analysis class (which I have taken) is a required course. As for Nixon one would have to use the agreed upon definition of liberalism and then examine his policies measured against the policies of the past here is the political spectrum in its entirety:
Now here are the definitions:
Radical: Seen as being on the far left of the political spectrum, radicals call for wide-sweeping rapid change in the basic structure of the political, social, or economic system. They may be willing to resort to extreme methods to bring about change, including the use of violence and revolution.
Liberal: Liberals believe that the government should be actively involved in the promotion of social welfare of a nation's citizens. Liberals usually call for peaceful, gradual change within the existing political system. They reject violent revolution as a way of changing the way things are, often called the status quo.
Moderate: Moderates may share viewpoints with both liberals and conservatives. They are seen as tolerant of other people's views, and they do not hold extreme views of their own. They advocate a "go-slow" or "wait-and-see" approach to social or political change.
Conservative: People who hold conservative ideals favor keeping things the way they are or maintaining the status quo if it is what they desire. Conservatives are usually hesitant or cautious about adopting new policies, especially if they involve government activism in some way. They feel that the less government there is, the better. They agree with Jefferson's view that "the best government governs least."
Reactionary: Sitting on the far right of the ideological spectrum, reactionaries want to go back to the way things were-the "good ol' days." Often reactionaries are willing to use extreme methods, such as repressive use of government power, to achieve their goals.
http://www.usnewsclassroom.com/resources/activities/act010604.html
Political science: a discipline that deals with the theory and practice of politics and the description and analysis of political systems and political behavior. It is academic, theoretical and research oriented.
Fields and subfields of political science include political theory and philosophy, civics and comparative politics, national systems, cross-national political analysis, political development, international relations, foreign policy, international law and politics, public administration, administrative behavior, public law, judicial behavior, and politics and public policy.
Approaches to the discipline include classical political philosophy, structuralism, and behavioralism, realism, pluralism, and institutionalism. Political science, as one of the social sciences, uses methods and techniques that relate to the kinds of inquiries sought: primary sources such as historical documents and official records, secondary sources such as scholarly journal articles, survey research, statistical analysis, and model building.
Herbert Baxter Adams is credited with coining the phrase "political science" while teaching history at Johns Hopkins University.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_science