Comparative GovernmentWhat is comparative political science?- Study of politics within a country, central questions are related to causes and consequences of democracy and dictatorship, study of every country except for the one you reside in using the comparative methodWhat is science?- Science is a method for provisionally understanding the world, consistent learning pattern, politics can’t be studied through this manner, there is no proving a theory is right- Scientific statements must be falsifiable and testableResearch QuestionTheory- A theory is a set of logically consistent statements that tell us why the things we observe occur- Offers explanation to “why”- Can be formal or informal, simple theory of the world- Want the end result to be a unknown processHypothesis- Step of the scientific process requires that we deduce - Implications from the model other than those we set out to explain in the first placeScientific Process is tentative, objective, and publicComparative method is of agreement or disagreement that scientist useArguments- Argument is a set of logically connected statements, typically in the form of a set of premises and a conclusion- Premise is a statement that is presumed to be true within the context of an argument leading to a conclusionSyllogism- The major premise is typically a conditional statement such as “If P, then Q.” The “If” part is called the antecedent. The “then” part is called the consequent.- Minor premise consists of a claim about either the antecedent or the consequent of the conditional statement.- Conclusion is a claim that is to be supported by the premises.- 1. Arguments that affirm the antecedent. (VALID)-- 2. Arguments that deny the antecedent. (INVALID)-- 3. Arguments that affirm the consequent. (INVALID)-- 4. Arguments that deny the consequent.(VALID)Falsifibilty- There must be some imaginable observation that could falsify or Refute our theory. All scientific statements must be potentially testable. This does not mean that our theories will ever be falsified, just that there is a possibility that they could be falsified.Necessary Condition- If then x, then y. if no x, then no y. Y never happens unless X happensSufficient Condition- Y always happens if X happensWe accept an argument when you accept the premises and it leads us to accept the conclusionComparative Method-systematic search for necessary sufficient cond., must lead to specific outcome, identified everything and there independentGame theory- Situation in which an indiv. Ability to achieve goals depends on choices of others- Strategy for the game-complete plan of action that specifies what a player would do under possible circumstances- You have identify the strategies that a rational decision maker would make- When there’s change in your enviro, you use this strategy- The interests of each player are reflected in the payoffs associated with each outcome of the gameWhat do you do when there’s a change in your environ?Exit, Voice, Loyalty Model- Exit-alter your behavior best fit to change to your new enviro- Voice-protest- Loyalty-make no changes to your behavior even though there is changePrisoners Dilemma- Both prisoners are in separate cells, indiv. Pursuit of self-intrest leads to state of affairs less preferred by all players- EXIT VOICE LOYALTY MODELo Preference is to maximize their pay offo Transfer of some benefit from citizens to stateo Citizens must decide whether to: o Accept change and act the same way he or she always has remain loyal (L). Accept change, change one’s behavior, and exit (E). Try to get benefit back through use of voice (V).o State must decide whether to: Respond to the concerns of the citizens (R). Ignore the concerns of the people (I).o Citizens then decide whether to: Accept the change in spite of being ignored by the state ando Remain loyal (L). Accept the change, change one’s behavior, and exit (E).o citizen and state relationship= If the citizen does not have a credible exit threat, then she is a sitting duck! The state can take things from the citizen and the citizen can do nothing about it!o The model suggests that citizens use voice only when it will be effective.What is a state?- A state is an entity that uses coercion and the threat of force to rule in a given territory.- All states use the threat of force to organize public life. States never perfectly monopolize force. States never perfectly enforce their will.Contractarian State View- State of nature (what would life be like w/o states)- How would people behave if no one were punished?- It would be a war of every man-Hobbes- Be better to be the attacker than victim, no system of equality- Conflict of interest would be the same for the two in the game theory and that would be to stealo Hobbes’s solution to the state of nature was to create a sovereign with sufficient control of force that individuals would stand in “awe.”- Willing to transfer power and so on to the sovereign (government) in exchange for protection- The social contract should produce a sovereign that is strong enough to dole out punishments to individuals who “steal.”- Those who pay taxes will be protected, people then choose to forebear and those who steal are punished by the sovereign- If we give the state our weapons, what till make them use them against us?Predatory View of the State- Focuses on the conflicts of interest b/w citizens and the state- Concern for security leads state to use their power to extract resources from others- Organized crime and trade security for revenue- The state is key threat- Have to compete with external rivals, which enforces a revenue to create war- Eliminate internal rivalriesSomailia- Somailia is a failed state, switched from ussr to us- The battle led u.s. out and change in u.s. foreign policy- Emergence of the scicA social contract is an implicit agreement among individuals in the state of nature to create and empower the state. In doing so, it outlines the rights and responsibilities of the state and citizens in regard to each otherPolyarchy-dahl believed there were these instead of democracies, there were two dimensionsInclusion and contestationSubstantive view: classify political regimes in terms of the outcomes that they produceMinimalist view: classify them in terms of their institutions or proceduresThose who are governed are selected through contested electionsLegislature elected, one indiv elected, 2 parties running in the
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