Introduction: The Nature of Politics Comparative Politics
Politics “A science of politics”
- “The human activity of making public - One of the 3 branches/ subfields of polsci focusing on
authoritative decisions” studying and comparing different political systems
● “Public”: they may concern every globally
aspect of a society’s life ● Comparative Politics
● “Authoritative”: the government ● Political Theory
that makes decisions is invested ● International Relations
with the power to make them - Like a detective who examines how different countries
binding organize their governments, how people participate in
- Affects all aspects of society politics, and how decisions are made
● Applies to everyone who is part of a - Deals with empirical questions
given citizenship and/ or living in a - It investigates which forms of participation people
specific territory and to every area choose to use, why young people use more
- Decisions are public and binding, supported unconventional forms than older age groups, and
by the government’s legitimate power to differences in how much groups participate
enforce compliance through coercive means - Deals with interactions between political systems
- Involves conflict, conflict resolution, and - Concerned with power relationships between
compromise between multiple sectors of individuals, groups and orgs, classes, and institutions
society within political systems
Nature of political power Focus
- Politics involves the exercise of power to - Looks at how countries organize their
make decisions and the acquisition and governments, how people are involved, and
maintenance of that power how decisions are made
- Ex: who makes political decisions, how they Goal
acquire that authority, the effects of these
decisions on society - Wants to understand why political systems
are similar or different, both within a country
Importance of political decisions or between 2 countries
- Political decisions impact everyday life (ex: - Similarities and differences in political
taxation, welfare benefits, military systems
intervention, energy investment) - Also studies global trends and aims to
- Process through which these decisions are understand how different countries handle
made varies across different political systems politics
(which must include compromise to reach a Methods
decision wherein all actors are involved, thus
solidifying the political system) - Uses different tools to analyze data, including
a single or a few countries in detail or looking
Involvement of citizens at many countries at once
- Citizens are directly involved in decision- - Can also look at how politics changes over
making through elections and referendums time
- They can express dissatisfaction through Importance
protests or voting differently in subsequent
elections - Helps us understand how politics works in
- Authoritarian regimes: exclude individuals different parts of the world and how it is
from this process influence by global trends
Influence of various groups Comparative politics helps us understand how different
- Different demographic groups and pressure countries “of politics” and why they might be similar or
groups different
- Complexity of power dynamics in political
decision-making
What is comparative politics?
- Ex: elderly vs. youth regarding pension
systems, environmental activists
Conflict and competition for power Montesquieu and the Enlightenment subject
- Decisions are made by individuals or groups - Right government as a matter of sociology
who have acquired power (either peacefully and ecology (social laws) approach
or violently) - Inductive, logical, observational
● The stages of development of CP did not unfold in an
orderly and episodic manner
● It is a field acutely in dissent because it is in transition
What is the subject and object of comparative politics
from one style of analysis to another
● CP existed long before it became recognized subfield - Subject: the analysis of political systems and
of the modern discipline—
processes, with a focus on understanding differences
- A field of specialty within the academic study of pol and similarities across various polities
sci; method or approach to the study of politics
- Study of foreign countries or a plurality of countries it - Object: the range of political phenomena that are
pertains to the family of strategies and techniques
with advance understanding within the field compared, such as;
- A “master strategy” for drawing inference about ● political institutions
causation in any area of study by uncovering the - Electoral systems, legislatures,
relationship of cause and effect executive politics (?)
- Has seen renewed interest in broad scale ● Political actors
comparisons, encompassing a wide view of politics ● Political processes
and focusing on mid-range theories explaining ● Political outcomes
political behavior and institutions
- While it leans towards scientific research
(methodological focus), it cannot rely on the
Types of CP
Country study
comparative method for causal explanations (this
method depends on pre-existing theoretical
frameworks) - Study of individual countries
- Centers on comparing and explaining political - Reflecting a historical approach where
phenomena within states, societies, countries, or political systems were analyzed in isolation,
political systems. Utilizes a comparative analytical often resulting in case studies that lack
method comparative perspectives
- Progress requires recognizing both its humanistic - Cons: case studies have a useful purpose,
roots and scientific ambitions to overcome internal but only when they are put in comparative
divisions hindering the field’s —- perspective and generate hypotheses to be
tested in analytical studies involving more
than 1 case, such as
● Implicit comparisons
Comparative politics as a science of politics ● The analysis of deviant cases
- Distinction from International Relations: ● And proving grounds for new
● CP focuses on interactions within political techniques
systems of different countries or within a
Methodological focus
country (ex: govt decisions and party
dynamics) rather than interactions between
nations - Establishment of rules and standards for
● International relations: focuses on comparative analysis
interactions between nations - Addresses the question of how comparative
- Power relationships analysis should be carried out in order to
● Relationships among individuals, groups, enhance their potential for the descriptive
orgs, social classes, and institutions within cumulation of comparable information, causal
political systems explanations and associations between key
- Acknowledgement of external variables, and prediction
influences - Seeks to enhance the description, causal
● It does not ignore external influences on explanations, and predictive capabilities of
internal structures comparative studies
● Its ultimate concern is power configurations - Focuses on method (ex: to enhance the
within systems description), causal explanation, etc.
● Primary focus of — remains on power - Concerned with rigorous conceptual, logical,
configurations within political systems and statistical techniques of analysis
- Convergence of disciplines - Involves issues of measurements and case
● Globalization = increasing interdependence selection
and diffusion processes between countries
Analytical approach
Comparative Politics - Combines empirical substances (related
a. Core of political science studies and existing theories) and method
- (ex: qualitative or quantitative)
b. Historical significance - Aims to explain differences and similarities
- between countries through systematic
c. Recognition as a subdiscipline comparison, aspiring to identify law-like
- explanations
- Body of literature under this is concerned with
the identification and explanation of
differences and similarities between countries
Explanation and hypothesis testing
& their institutions, actors, and processes
through systematic comparison
- Principal goal: explanatory - CP seeks to explain the similarities and differences
- Aims to go beyond ideographic descriptions observed
and aspires to identify law-like explanations - Involves formulating hypotheses to account for specific
events or trends
- These hypotheses are tested using empirical data to
Implications of CP determine their validity and infer causality
Research design flexibility
Prediction and theory development
- The analytical tradition can utilize large-N and
small-N research designs - Aims to make predictions about future political
- Employs quali and quanti data outcomes based on existing knowledge and tested
- Applies logical or statistical techniques to test theories
hypotheses - CP uses systematic comparison–
- Theory development is done through cross-examining
data, existing theories, etc. to formulate new theories
Goal of causal explanation
- Ultimate
Session 2: Jan 22, 2025
Integration of substance and method
Why do we compare and the importance of
Elements of CP comparing? (GOALS)
Study of foreign countries
Understanding Commonalities and Distinctions
- Often in isolation from one another
- Comparing helps to identify shared features and
differences, revealing patterns that might not be
Systematic comparison between countries apparent when studying isolated cases (Griffins, 2017)
- We compare to control
- Identify and explain differences and
similarities
Developing Theories and Explanations
Method of research - By comparing systems, we develop hypotheses and
theories about the underlying causes of those patterns,
- Levels of analysis, limits, and possibilities of
whether they’re generic (historical) or functional
comparison
(contextual) (Griffins, 2017)
Testing and Refining Hypotheses
Why Compare?
- Comparison allows for testing and refining hypotheses,
a. Contextual description (knowledge-building) as we can assess the validity of our explanations
b. Classification across multiple cases (Griffins, 2017)
c. Explanation and hypothesis testing
d. Prediction and theory development Note:
● Examine real and virtual cases
Contextual Description - To see if results from statistical analyses and
the theoretical accounts apply to the world
- Describe the political process of a particular country
- Scholars escape ethnocentrism by studying other ● Use comparisons as a way to check
countries - Verify or falsify
- Background info about foreign governments helps to - Whether our claims or assertions about
interpret new developments and enables us to view our phenomena are valid by controlling for or
own country in a fresh light holding constant certain variables
- Ex: the reason behind why a country has a deeper
rooted corruption
Why CP is called CP?
Classification
- Emphasizes the analytical, scientific and quasi-
- Effectively provides researcher a “data container” into
experimental (cause and effect) nature of the discipline
which empirical evidence is organized - Highlights the importance of systematic comparisons
- The classification of executives into presidential and for developing robust theories
parliamentary types, allows to look—
- Without classification of governments, no comparisons
can be made
The “beginning” of everything
Historical context
-
- An awareness of diversity provided the starting point
- Awareness of the need for systematic for comparative inquiry
comparisons in political analysis increased in - Comparison is inherent in all science, including the
the 50’s to 60’s social sciences (Lor, 2011)
- Led to the addition of the comparative label to - Without comparisons: the mind does not know how
underscore methodological rigor to proceed (Tocqueville, 1830)
- Not observing or being observant does not allow you
Implicit comparisons
to make inquiries
- Comparison opens up another avenue for knowledge
- Single-case studies can still be considered and new discoveries that help us aim for developments
comparative – implicit manner (ex:
Tocqueville’s “Democracy in America”)
How and why is CP interdisciplinary? (Griffins,
Systematic comparison in historical studies 2017)
- Books on individual countries published in the Shared History and Methods
60s and 70s often included systematic albeit
hidden comparisons to better known political - CP shares a common historical linkage with
cases (ex: US and Britain) other disciplines like comparative philology,
anatomy, and sociology
- Borrows and adapts methods from them
Evolution of the discipline
- The comparative label served as a crucial Interdisciplinary Exchange
point of emphasis in establishing discipline,
which has evolved to generally accept that - CP draws insights and tools from other fields
political analysis inherently involves (ex: statistics, economics, anthropology,
comparative elements history) to enrich its own analytical
approaches
Synonymous with political science
Testing and refining hypotheses
- CP is argued to be synonymous with the
scientific study of politics - Allows for testing and refining hypotheses as
- It encompasses all aspects of domestic we can assess the validity of our explanations
politics, making it fundamentally comparative across multiple cases
Note:
Scope of CP What should CP be relevant for?
- The expansive nature of comparative politics CP as a tool for the elite
allows any aspect of the political system to be
compared - Informing/ advice to political elite/ politicians/
- Leads to a broad scope of inquiry that aligns government agencies by providing insights
closely with the overall field of polsci into effective governance strategies
- Consultants, advisors or gre eminences to
politicians
What is the cooperative method and comparative analysis?
- Guidance on topics such as winning election
Comparative Method campaigns, building support for policies, and
managing relationships with interest groups
- Systematic approach to analyzing 2 or more systems - Faces challenges: politicians may not always
of relation (ex: societies, languages, texts, etc.) be receptive to advice that contradicts their
- It is to identify shared patterns and distinctions ideological convictions or specific interests
- These patterns are often explained through shared - The effectiveness of comparative political
genealogy or common origins, or shared responses to knowledge depends on its relevance to the
scientific historical conditions policy in questions; focus on uncovering the
- “Pamaagi” truth rather than supporting specific
ideologies or interests
Comparative Analysis
- Refers to the process of application the comparative CP and the general public
method to specific cases or objects of study - Engaging in public discourse through op-ed
- It involves identifying similarities and differences, then articles, lectures, and media commentary
attempting to explain those patterns - Aims to enrich public debate (public policies)
- “Proceso” ● Done by providing deeper insights
and alternative perspectives on
Comparative Inquiry political issues
- Faces criticism
- Polsci begins when an observer notes that another ● Public intellectuals’ opinions might
people is not governed as we are and asks the not always be grounded in verified
question, “Why?” research results
● Without normative theory empirical - It is the raw material that will eventually lead your
research conflicts human rights conclusions
● Political theory suggests policies - Local context guides you, thus it is important to get it
but for empirical research its right
impossible to implement - However: do not confine yourself to it so you may
- The partisan nature of politics may deter widen your scope and open opportunities for new
researchers from engaging in public discoveries
discourse fearing being perceived as
normative or paternalistic. Hinders many to Unity of Analysis
engage in issues - The “object”/ “focus” of your study
The capability approach and human well-being
- Framework to be used in studying a nation-state/
institution
(Amartya Sen’s capability approach to justice) Types of Unit of Analysis
- Providing individuals with necessary
resources to reach their full potential as
human beings
- Improved well-being depends on quality of
political institutions (measures of population
health, subjective well-being, and social
trust)
- Just society should ensure access to
essential resources (healthcare, education,
and social services, thereby promoting
human well-being)
- To improve human well-being by identifying
the institutional factors that promote it
Barkery & Parikh, 1991
Political institutions and human well-being a. Autonomy
- State’s ability to formulate interests of its own,
Shift in understanding independent of or against the will of divergent
- Well-being was non-political, but later it societal interests
became superficial reflections of the - Not necessarily a characteristic of the state in
underlying forces with little impact on its totality
prosperity b. Capacity
- State’s ability to implements strategies to
The institutional term achieve its economic, political, or social goals
in society
- New Institutionalism
- Acquire capacity through in institutions or
- In 1990s, scholars recognized the importance
through resources such as external ties to
of institutions (“the rules of the game”)
entrepreneurs and finance capital
- Variations in legal
Comparative evidence Kesselman et al, 2004
1. Making of the Modern State
The institutional turn and CP 2. Political Economy and Development
3. Governance and Policy-Making
- The institutional turn in CP shifted the focus from non- 4. Representation and Participation
political factors to the crucial role of political— 5. Current Issues
- —--
- Policy relevance of CP Third Unit of Analysis
● By identifying and analyzing the specific a. Legitimacy
political institutions that are most likely to b. Integrations
promote human well-being c. Identity
- Focus on human well-being d. Participation
e. Penetration
Session 3, Jan 27, 2025 f. Distribution
What should CP be relevant for?
Next meeting: Unit of Analysis
“Get the local context right, but don’t confine yourself to
the local context” -Little & Pepinsky, 2016
Note:
- There is a need to know the local context because it
is the foundation of your would-be analysis
