With their objectives of addressing human problems and finding solutions, both the disciplines of sociology and political science share common theoretical approaches. The goals of conflict theory are to address the repression and exploitation of people by social organizations and overcome these problems by creating an alternative paradigm for genuine interaction (Young, 1975). While conflict theorists from the disciplines of sociology and political science share this fundamental objective, they deal with this issue on a different level and scope. Sociologists are concerned with individuals' interaction with society. Political scientists are interested in the relationships between larger entities such as social organizations and states.
From the sociological perspective, the conflict theory is concerned with social organizations and their interaction with the public. One of the principal elements of conflict theory is to devise a set of strategies to elicit important information from hostile social organizations that view themselves as oppositional to the public interest. Especially in the case of dictatorial organizations, their objective is to prevent the rise of alternative sources of information to threaten their supreme position in the society. In direct opposition to these organizations, conflict theorists believe that the larger population is entitled to have access to information about these organizations whose purported existence is to serve them (Young, 1975).
In the political science discipline, conflict theorists have applied the theory to the role of peacekeeping in dealing with violent conflicts around the world. One of the key issues raised by conflict theorists is the need to understand the nature of the conflict (Woodhouse & Ramsbotham, 1996). Similar to conflict theorists from the discipline of sociology, political scientists are concerned with the individuals who are not included in the negotiation process...