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Comparative Politics

This document provides an overview of comparative politics as a subfield of political science that involves comparing domestic political institutions, processes, policies, conflicts, and attitudes across different countries. It discusses how comparative politics analyzes similarities and differences between countries by focusing on specific institutions and processes. The key objectives of comparative politics are to better understand features that distinguish one country's politics from another and to make reliable statements by examining multiple cases rather than just one. Countries and their governing states are the primary units of analysis in comparative politics.

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Loojee Bayles
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371 views4 pages

Comparative Politics

This document provides an overview of comparative politics as a subfield of political science that involves comparing domestic political institutions, processes, policies, conflicts, and attitudes across different countries. It discusses how comparative politics analyzes similarities and differences between countries by focusing on specific institutions and processes. The key objectives of comparative politics are to better understand features that distinguish one country's politics from another and to make reliable statements by examining multiple cases rather than just one. Countries and their governing states are the primary units of analysis in comparative politics.

Uploaded by

Loojee Bayles
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We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Meaning and Importance of Comparative Politics

MODULE 1

Excerpted from: Kesselman, M., Krieger, J. & Joseph, W.A. (2005). Introduction to
comparative politics. 4th edition. USA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning

This module clarifies not only the meaning and main concern of comparative politics
but also its importance. It also briefly describes the techniques used in making
comparisons between or among states.

After reading the excerpted materials, you should be able to:


a. explain the rationale for comparative politics
b. demonstrate your understanding of the techniques of comparison

Comparative politics is a subfield within the academic discipline of political


science as well as a method or approach to the study of politics. The subject
matter of comparative politics is the domestic politics of countries or peoples.
xxx Comparative politics involves comparing domestic political institutions,
processes, policies, conflicts, and attitudes in different countries; xxx
xxx Much of the world’s political activity continues to occur within state borders,
and comparisons of domestic politics, institutions, and processes enable us to
understand critical features that distinguish one country’s politics from another.
Furthermore, we believe that, despite increased international economic
integration (a key aspect of globalization), national states are the fundamental
building blocks in structuring political activity. Xxx

The comparative approach principally analyzes similarities and differences


among countries by focusing on selected institutions and processes. As students
of comparative politics (we call ourselves comparativists), we believe that we
cannot make reliable statements about most political situations by looking at
only one case. Xxx

Comparativists often analyze political institutions or processes by looking at two


or more cases that are selected to isolate their common and contrasting
features. The analysis involves comparing similar aspects of politics in more than
one country. For example, a comparativist might analyze the similarities and
differences in the executive branches of government in the United States,
Britain, and Canada.

Some comparative political studies take a thematic approach and analyze


broad issues, such as the causes and consequences of nationalist movements or
revolutions in different countries. Comparative studies may also involve
comparisons of an institution, policy, or process through time, in one or several
countries. Xxx

xxx Political scientists often compare developments in different cities, regions,


provinces, or states. Comparative analysis can also focus on specific institutions
in different countries, such as the legislature, executive, political parties, social
movements, or court systems, as well as specific processes and policies. xxx

Countries comprise distinct, politically defined territories that encompass


political institutions, cultures, economies, and ethnic and other social identities.
Although often highly divided by internal conflicts, countries have historically
been the most important source of a people’s collective political identity, and
they are the major arena for organized political action in the modern world.
Within a given country, the state is almost always the most powerful cluster of
institutions. But just what is the state? xxx in comparative politics, the state refers
to the key political institutions responsible for making, implementing, enforcing,
and adjudicating important policies in a country. Thus, we use phrases such as
the “German state” and the “Mexican state.” In many ways, the state is
synonymous with what is often called the “government.”

The most important state institutions are the national executive—usually, the
president and/or prime minister and the cabinet—but in some cases, the
executive includes the Communist Party leader (such as in China), the head of
a military government (as in Nigeria until 1999), or the supreme religious leader
(as in the Islamic Republic of Iran). Other key state institutions include the
military, police, administrative bureaucracy, the legislature, and courts.

States claim, usually with considerable success, the right to issue rules—notably,
laws, administrative regulations, and court decisions—that are binding for
people within the country. Even democratic states—in which top officials are
chosen by procedures that authorize all citizens to participate—can survive only
if they can preserve enforcement (or coercive) powers both internally and with
regard to other states and external groups that may threaten them. A number
of countries have highly repressive states whose political survival depends
largely on military and police powers. But even in such states, long-term stability
requires that the ruling regime have some measure of political legitimacy; that
is, a significant segment of the citizenry (in particular, more influential citizens
and groups) must believe that the state is entitled to command compliance
from those who live under its rule. Political legitimacy is greatly affected by the
state’s ability to deliver the goods through satisfactory economic performance
and an acceptable distribution of economic resources. Moreover, in the
contemporary period, legitimacy seems to require that states represent
themselves as democratic in some fashion, whether or not they are in fact. xxx
The fact that states are the fundamental objects of analysis in comparative
politics does not mean that all states are the same. Indeed, the organization of
state institutions varies widely, and these differences have a powerful impact on
political, economic, and social life. Hence, the country studies in this book
devote considerable attention to variations in institutions of governance,
participation, and representation—along with their political implications.

xxx Because countries are the basic building blocks in politics and because
states are the most significant political organizations and actors, these are the
two critical units for comparative analysis. The comparativist seeks to measure
and hopefully explain similarities and differences among countries or states. One
influential approach in comparative politics involves developing causal
theories—hypotheses that can be expressed formally in a causal mode: “If X
happens, then Y will be the result.” Such theories include factors (the
independent variables, symbolized by X) that are believed to influence some
outcome (the dependent variable, symbolized by Y) to be explained. For
example, it is commonly argued that if a country’s economic pie shrinks, conflict
among groups for resources will intensify. This hypothesis suggests what is called
an inverse correlation between variables: as X varies in one direction, Y varies in
the opposite direction. As the total national economic product (X) decreases,
then political and social conflict over economic shares (Y) increases. This
relationship might be tested by statistical analysis of a very large number of
cases, a project facilitated in recent years by the creation of data banks that
include extensive historical and contemporary data. Another way to study this
issue would be to focus on one or several country cases and analyze how the
relevant relationships have varied historically. Even when explanatio n does not
involve the explicit testing of hypotheses (and often it does not), comparativists
try to identify similarities and differences among countries and to discover
significant patterns. xxx

(copied from: Sodaro, M.J. (2008). Comparative politics: A global introduction. 3rd
edition. NY: McGraw-Hill)

The purposes of studying comparative politics xxx:


► to widen our understanding of politics in other countries
► to increase our appreciation of the advantages and disadvantages of our
own political system and to enable us to learn from other countries
► to develop a more sophisticated understanding of politics in general,
including the nature of democracy and non-democratic governments, the
relationships between governments and people, and other concepts and
processes
► to help understand the linkages between domestic affairs and international
affairs
► to help us see the relationship between politics and such fields as science,
technology, the environment, public health, law, business, religion, ethnicity,
culture and others
► to enable us to become more informed citizens, so that we can more
effectively develop our own political opinions, participate in political life,
evaluate the actions and proposals of political leaders, and make our own
political decisions and electoral choices
► to sharpen our own critical-thinking skills by applying scientific logic and
coherent argumentation to our understanding of political phenomena

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