1. Introduction

Politics: The process by which human communities make collective decisions

Political science: The systematic study of politics and power

Political science studies governments in all their forms and aspects, both theoretical and practical.

Comparative politics: A major subfield of political science

Comparative politics focuses on power and decision making within national boundaries

International relations focuses on the interactions between national governments

Can focus on the politics of one specific country (at the national or local level)

Can focus on comparing several places Can focus on comparing issues and

processes in one or more places through time

To understand political issues in various countries

To generate lessons from one place to apply in another

Overall, the goal is to develop generalized understandings of political activity through the development of broad theories about how politics works

Theory: An abstract element that provides a systematic explanation of some phenomena

Empirical theory: An argument explaining what actually occurs

Normative theory: An argument explaining what ought to occur rather than what does occur

Single case studies: One country or community to generate theories or test existing ones

The comparative method: A comparison of states that are similar on most issues but differ on a key question

Quantitative statistical techniques: used to systematically compare a large number of cases

What explains political behavior? Who rules? Where and why?

Why do political actors act as they do in the political arena?

Political actor: Any person or group engaged in political behavior

Three broad approaches focus on:• Individual motivation• Culture and ideology• Underlying structures

Rational choice theory• Assumes that people are rational, have self-

defined interests and the knowledge and ability to pursue them

Psychological theories• Look for nonrational explanations: individuals’

psychological experiences or dispositions

Political culture theories: Widely held values and beliefs help explain political behavior • Modernists believe clear attitudes, values, and

beliefs can be identified within a political culture

• Postmodernists see culture as sets of symbols that political actors can use

Political ideology: A systematic set of beliefs about how a political system ought to be structured

Political behavior is influenced and limited, perhaps even determined, by socioeconomic or political structures• Marxism: Economic structures largely

determine political behavior• Rational-choice institutionalism:

Institutions are the products of the interaction and bargaining of rational actors

Pluralist theory• Power dispersed among various political

groups in society Elite theory

• Societies ruled by elite with effective control over virtually all power e.g., Marxism, neocolonialism, patriarchy

Particular focus and contribution of comparative politics

Comparison across multiple cases to understand why political phenomena occur in certain places and times and not in others

Useful in generating broad theories of political behavior

Political development Regime type and change Participation and representation Policy-making processes Political economy

Focus is on why and how did modern nations and states arise

• Nations: groups with a shared identity

• States: administrative apparatuses that control territory and monopolize the use of force

Modernization: The transformation of poor agrarian societies into wealthy industrial societies

Some countries achieve rapid economic transformation and establish electoral democracies (e.g. South Korea)

Some poor countries are democratic (e.g. Ghana)

Some nondemocratic countries achieve great economic change (e.g. Vietnam)

What types of regimes are there and how do they differ?• Examples: Democratic, authoritarian, semi-

authoritarian Under what conditions do regimes

change from one type to another?

Democracy: A regime in which citizens have basic rights of open association and expression and the ability to change the government through some sort of electoral process

Authoritarian regime: A regime lacking democratic characteristics, ruled by a single leader or small group of leaders

Why and how do people participate in the political process?

How do strong “identity politics” affect the stability of democracy?

What is the role of civil society, interest groups, and political parties?

Civil Society: The sphere of organizes, nongovernmental, nonviolent activity by groups larger than individual families or firms

How do different regimes decide on which policies to pursue?• What role do political institutions play?

Who is most influential in the policy-making process?

Do decisions reflect the will of the people?

Do some types of regimes produce better economic outcomes than others

Some authoritarian systems provide strong economic growth (e.g., China) and others do not (e.g., Nigeria)

Some democracies are capable of achieving beneficial economic outcomes, while others do not