Intro to Comparative Politics

• Comparative politics is a field and a method used in political science, characterized by an empirical approach based on the comparativemethod. In other words comparative politics is the study of the domestic politics, political institutions, and conflicts of countries.

What is political science?

• the study of governments, public policies, political processes, systems, and political behavior

States and Nations• Nation = a group of people with a common

identity, including a common history, ethnic, linguistic, religious bonds

• State = political system that has sovereignty based on a recognized right of self-determination

• Nation-states = when national identification and the scope of legal authority in a territory coincide

Nation

USANORWAYBELGIUM

U.S.S.R.CANADAJAPAN

SLOVENIABOSNIAYUGOSLAVIA

WHICH ONE IS A NATION?

Norway Japan Slovenia

AUSTRALIABRAZILKURDS

Kurds

Nation-state

CHEROKEEFRANCEPALESTINIANS

SWITZERLANDHAWAIIDENMARK

CHILEBARBADOSRWANDA

WHICH ONE IS A NATION-STATE?

France Denmark Barbados

Stateless Nation - Kurds: An ancient group with a distinctive language and culture, and concentrate in Turkey, Iran, and Iraq. Smaller numbers live in Syria, Armenia, and Azerbaijan.

A

Article: Future for US as No 2 economy.

• Get out the article.• How will the world change in your

lifetime?• What are the major trends of change?

Regime vs. Government

• Government – the people currently in charge– Ex.) Obama in the White House, Democrats in

the Senate, Republicans in the House

• Regime – institutions and practices that typically endure from govt. to govt.– Ex.) Democratic regime; authoritarian regime

• Regime change in Iraq different from change in government in US

Regime Types• Constitutional republic• Single party republic• Constitutional monarchy• Absolute monarchy• Theocracy• Dictatorship• Oligarchy• Totalitarian

Political and Economic Change

• Two major forces transforming political systems and nations:– Process of economic development

(marketization)– Political democratization

What causes democratization?

• Can democracies revert?– Historical examples

Corporatism vs. Pluralism

• Corporatism – economic policy is negotiated among elites in government, labor, and business– Usually outside of the regular electoral

legislative process• Patron-client relationship –

relationship b/w powerful people seeking support and less powerful people seeking benefits

• Pluralism – many different interests compete to influence government policy

Electoral Systems: Single Member Districts

vs. Proportional Representation

• Single Member District (First-Past-the-Post / Winner-Take-All) – only one representative is chosen from each constituency/district– Tends to produce two party system

• PR – parties receive a number of seats in legislature proportionate to their share of the vote– Tends to produce multiparty system

Copy and Respond to the quote

• “Today, however, we have to say that a state is a human community that (successfully) claims the monopoly of the legitimate use of physical force within a given territory. Note that "territory" is one of the characteristics of the state.”

• Max Weber

What is a State?

• Differentiating Terms– State

• Max Weber defines it as the organization that maintains a monopoly of violence over a territory

– Must have sovereignty – the ability to carry out actions or policies within a territory independently from external actors or internal riots

» Sovereignty requires power, physical and otherwise, to defend against these other actors

» Institutions are what we call actors which carry out the state’s responsibilities (i.e., executive branch, bureaucracy, military, courts, etc.)

Comparing State Power

• Strong States• Weak States• Failed States

– These are simplistic ways to express the power of a state

South Sudan

• What is type of state is South Sudan? Why

FSI: What is It?

• From Failed to Fragile:Renaming the Index

• When the Failed States Index (FSI) was first published in 2005, the use of the term ‘”failed state” was designed to highlight and draw attention to the very real risk that people faced if their state failed to address the factors and conditions that we were measuring. While we all agreed that the term “failed state” was fraught with issues, mainly that we were not calling any country on the list failed, we knew it would likely get attention.

Liberal vs. Illiberal Democracies

• What’s the difference?• Examples

Criteria for Liberal Democracies

• Civil liberties• Rule of law• Competitive, fair, free elections

– Possibility of alternation of parties in government

• Neutrality of judiciary• Open, strong civil society – web of

membership in political and social groups (voluntary associations)

• Civilian control of the military

Illiberal Democracies

• = Countries that have regular elections but are missing others of the above qualities

• Ex.) Russia and Nigeria

Substantive vs. Procedural Democracy

• Democracies may have elections (procedural) but may lack the rule of law and civil liberties (the substance of democracies)

• All substantive democracies are procedural, but not all procedural democracies are substantive– Ex.) elections but no independent judiciary +

no civil society allowed to exist

Democracy is NOT a Dichotomy

• Most countries cannot be easily categorized as absolutely democratic or authoritarian– There will often be characteristics of both

• It is better to think of democracies as existing along a continuum/spectrum

Democratic------------------Authoritarian

Where do each of the 6 core countries fall on the

continuum?Chart with a partner(s), give one justification for

each.Democratic------------------Authoritarian• China• Iran• Mexico• Nigeria• Russia• United States• United Kingdom

Role of Bureaucracies in Modern Nation-

States• Bureaucracies = agencies that implement govt. policy

• Size and number greatly increased throughout 20th century– Bureaucracies have assumed increasing

rule-making powers in most political systems

Fragmentation

Democratization