The Political Institutions and Theories of the Hindus: A Study in Comparative Politics c6.s1.17

c6.s1.17

These secular achievements of ancient India, the Hindu political institutions and theories, are virtually new data of comparative politics. But they are not calculated to pin sociology down to the past. For, comparative politics is not necrology, — the science of dead matter and tombstones, not archeology, — the study of fossils and paleontological phenomena. It is the science of *l'élan de la vie*, that one touch of Nature which makes the whole world kin. Its material is "humanistic" and thoroughly vital, as it deals with the creative endeavors of mankind, — the organizations and ideals that the human will and intelligence have invented in different lands in order to promote social happiness. And its message is equally fruitful and life-serving.