Final answer:
Political scientists accept that their discipline is probabilistic, recognizing that human behavior and political events cannot always be predicted with complete accuracy. They use empirical evidence to make informed predictions and understand that political science findings are tentative and subject to change.
Step-by-step explanation:
Most political scientists accept a framework in which it is not necessary to explain or predict a phenomenon with 100 percent accuracy. This approach recognizes that human behavior and political events are inherently probabilistic rather than deterministic. By seeking patterns and employing theories, political scientists are better equipped to make general predictions about political interactions and outcomes.
For instance, knowing the rules of an election and the preferences of different voter groups can help political scientists predict the election's outcome. However, this prediction is subject to change based on various unpredictable factors such as whether people voted as they said they would or whether they told the truth about their preferences. This reflects that political science, like other disciplines, works with probabilities and tends to provide estimations rather than certainties.
It is crucial to understand that the findings of political scientists and other scientists are tentative. New data, improved theories, or changes in political behaviors can all result in different outcomes, further emphasizing the probabilistic nature of political science. Empirical political science is fact-based and descriptive of actual behavior, distinguishing it from normative political science, which focuses on prescriptive analyses of how politics should be rather than how it is.