political behaviour

political behaviour

any individual or collective participation or nonparticipation in the POLITICAL PROCESS. The term is most associated with the approach within American political science known as behaviouralism or the behavioural approach, which, rather than being concerned with formal political institutions, focuses especially on the empirical study of political behaviour, POLITICAL PARTICIPATION and nonparticipation, POLITICAL ATTITUDES and public opinion (see also POLITICAL SCIENCE, POLITICAL SYSTEMS). While it is credited with the introduction of a more empirical sociological approach within political science, its weakness has sometimes been a narrow empiricism and a focus on the ‘measureable’ at the expense of theoretical relevance.

Collins Dictionary of Sociology, 3rd ed. © HarperCollins Publishers 2000