Introduction to Comparative Politics (POLSCI 6)

Course Description: Introduction to Comparative

Politics
•This course will prepare the students to comparative
study and approach in dealing with the political system
and form of government of several countries of the world.
To provide a general yet substantial information on the
politics of major countries, the socio-cultural, economic,
military, and transnational issues of countries will be
discussed.
Questions to answer
•Why do some countries have democratic regimes
whereas others experience authoritarianism?
•Why and how do regimes change?
•Why do some countries experience affluence and
growth, but others endure poverty and decline?
Introduction
•To compare and contrast is one of the most common
human mental exercises, whether in the classroom study
of literature, politics, or animal behavior, etc…
•Comparative politics is an integral and significant sub-
discipline, and one of the three major fields of political
science, alongside political theory and international
relations.
•Comparative politics, as a field of study, provides us
with a ready array of conceptual and analytical tools that
we can use to address and answer a wide range of
questions about the social world (Lim, 2010: 2).
• Comparative politics is the study of politics within
states (Fabbrini, Molutsi, 2011).
• As a subject of study, comparative politics focuses on
understanding and explaining political phenomena that
take place within a state, society, country, or political
system. In other words comparative politics focuses on
internal political structures (like parliaments and
executives), actors (voters, parties, interest groups),
processes (policy-making, communication, political
culture) and analyzing them empirically by defining,
describing, explaining and predicting their variety
(similarities and differences) across political systems – be
they national political systems, regional, municipal, or
even supranational political systems (Caramani, 2011: 2).
•As Sodaro noted, it is ‘scientific’ when it engages in the
following operations: definition, description, explanation,
prediction, and prescription. This might be done through
the intensive analyses of one or few cases as well as
extensive analysis of many cases, and can be either
synchronic or diachronic. The comparative politics uses
both qualitative and quantitative data and research
methods (Sodaro, 2011: 1).
•Comparison particularly of politics has been practiced in
the ancient world by Greek Philosopher Aristotle when he
analyzed and compared 158 Greek city-states in the 4th
Century BC whether they are ruled by single individual, a
few people, or all citizens.
•Of these, only the Constitution of Athens is still existent..
Why we need to study comparative politics?
• According to Sodaro (2008: 28–29) the main purposes
of studying comparative politics are as follows:
1. widen our understanding of politics in other
countries;
2. increase our appreciation of the advantages and
disadvantages of our own political system and to enable
us to learn from other countries;
3. develop a more sophisticated understanding of
politics in general e. g., the relationships between
governments and people, and other concepts and
processes;
4. help us understand the linkages between domestic
and international affairs;
5. help us see the relationship between politics and
such fields as science and technology, the environment,
public health, law, business, religion, ethnicity, and
culture.
6. enable us to become more informed citizens: form
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;
7. sharpen our critical thinking skills by applying
scientific logic and coherent argumentation to our
understanding of political phenomena.
What is politics?
•Politics is often defined as the struggle in any group for
power that will give one or more persons the ability to
make decisions for the larger group.
•This group may range from a small organization up to an
entire country or even the entire global population.
•“Politics is further the struggle for the authority to make
decisions that will affect the public as a whole.”
• It is therefore hard to separate the idea of politics from
the idea of power, which is often defined as the ability to
influence or impose one’s will on others.
•Politics is thus, about the competition for public power,
and power is about the ability to extend one’s will.
International Relations vs. Comparative Politics
•International relations is the study of the economic,
military, and political interactions among states,
international organizations, and transnational actors.
•Comparative politics studies the varied forms of political
institutions and behaviors within states around the world.
Definition of Comparative Politics
What is comparative politics?
•Comparative politics is a subfield within the academic
discipline of political science as well as a method or
approach to the study of Politics.
•a subfield that compares this struggle for power across
countries.
•Or the field within Political Science that focuses on
domestic politics and analyzes patterns of similarity and
difference among countries.
•The line between comparative and international politics
is often blurred.
•For example, because many violent antistate
movements receive support from abroad, it is hard to
categorize the study of revolutions, terrorism, and civil
war as being solely in the domain of either comparative
or international politics.
•According to LaPalombara and Morgenthau simply
saying that comparative politics is the study of political
phenomena that are predominantly ‘within country’
relationships and that international politics is the study of
political phenomena that are predominantly ‘between
countries’ relationships. Source: Clark et al, 2009: 5
•‘Comparative politics involves the systematic study and
comparison of the world’s political systems. It seeks to
explain differences between as well as similarities among
countries.
•Comparative politics is particularly interested in
exploring patterns, processes, and regularities among
political systems’ (Wiarda 2000, p. 7).
•‘Comparative politics involves both a subject of study –
foreign countries – and a method of study – comparison’
(Wilson 1996, p. 4).
Popular Definitions of Comparative Politics
• According to M. G. Smith, ‘Comparative politics is the
study of the forms of political organizations, their
properties, correlations, variations and modes of change.’
Popular Definitions of Comparative
Politics
• According to Roy C. Macridis and Robert Ward,
‘Government is not the sole concern of students of
comparative politics.’ Comparative politics has to be
concerned with the government structure but at the
same time it has to take note of the following:
Society, historical heritage and geographic and
resource endowed
Its social and economic organizations
Its ideologies and value systems
Its political style
Its parties, interests, and leadership structure
• According to M. Curtis, ‘Comparative politics is
concerned with significant regularities, similarities and
differences in the working of political institutions and
political behavior.’
•According to E. A. Freeman, ‘Comparative politics is
comparative analysis of the various forms of government
and diverse political institutions.’

•The main goal of comparative politics is to gain insights

into the similarities and differences between political
systems around the world, in order to develop theories
and explanations for various political phenomena.
• It analyzes diverse political systems and regimes,
including democracies, authoritarian regimes,
monarchies, and hybrid systems. Governmental systems,
power dynamics, and methods of political authority
exercise are all studied by researchers.
• Political institutions, such as legislatures, executive
branches, courts, and electoral systems, are the primary
subject of comparative politics.
(It focuses on the study of political institutions, including
legislatures, executives, judiciaries, electoral systems,
political parties, and bureaucracies.)
•Researchers explore how these institutions function,
their roles in governance, and their impact on policy-
making.
• Comparative politics is the study of political parties
and electoral processes.
•Researchers examine the origins of parties, as well as
their ideas, tactics, and effects on governing.
•The impacts of various electoral systems on political
representation and stability, including first-past-the-post,
proportional representation, and mixed systems, are also
investigated.
• Political Culture and Ideology involves examining the
beliefs, values, attitudes, and political behaviors of
citizens in different countries. Comparative politics seeks
to understand how cultural factors and ideologies shape
political participation, voting patterns, and public opinion.
It explores the role of civil society organizations, non-
governmental organizations (NGOs), and interest groups
in shaping political processes and advocating for various
issues.
• Comparative politics considers the concept of
political development, which involves understanding how
countries transition from less developed to more
developed political systems. Factors like economic
development, democratization, and the rule of law are
studied in this context. It investigates the processes of
democratization and de-democratization. This includes
analyzing factors that contribute to the rise and
consolidation of democracies, as well as the mechanisms
through which authoritarian regimes maintain power.
• Finally, comparative politics seeks to provide insights
into the diversity of political systems and the factors that
shape them.
•It helps us understand the challenges and opportunities
faced by different countries and contributes to the
development of theories that can explain political
phenomena across borders.