Pages 2 7 Comp Poli Notes The Study of Comparative Politics WHAT IS COMPARATIVE POLITICS All countries are interdependent on one another thus we cannot ignore what is going on in the world Comparative Politics The search for knowledge about underlying political forces and processes by comparing political phenomena in one country with those of other countries Poli scientists compare political goings on between countries since they cannot duplicate anything in a laboratory Allows them to make predictions but not as accurately as science scientists Comparative Analysis 1 Political institutions forces and practices are examined in several different settings in order to discover similarities and differences E g comparing British parties to US ones 2 Attempt to explain why similar phenomena vary slightly between institutions E g Britain s parties are different because they are parliamentary and we are federal 3 Examine the consequences of these differences American parties are more internally diverse so people can t always just say I m a democrat Political scientists search for continuity and predictability Journalists center on current political developments Tools and Approaches to Comparative Politics 1 Historical analysis 2 Institutional analysis focuses on descriptions of political parties and groups and on the operation of the legislature executive and bureaucracy in the political process Compares structure and org of these institutions in a variety of settings 3 Cross national opinion survey research such as the Civic Culture Expensive and hard to equivalent values across countries E g Would you care if your kid married someone from the other party measured partisanship well in the US but measured class differences more in the UK 4 Use of quantitative data and stats Doesn t always work because correlation doesn t prove causation 5 Rational Choice Theory the belief that political actors are purposeful in their actions and are assumed to be rational and driven by their own self interests Game theory E g since most voters tend to be in the center parties should move away from being far left or far right to attract the most voters Some think this is sketchy and prefer the above practices 6 Case Study Scholars look at a specific political feature in a single country Usually compare to other countries The most common method of study Political System An early effort to integrate the growing body of knowledge of comp poli Involved applying systems to political science Not used by poli scientists much anymore Popular in 1950s 1960s Systems Goal seeking entities with complex but interrelated parts Social Systems Enduring patterns of human relationships such as those found in international relations between states Such systems pursue goals and perform tasks to meet human needs
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