Comparative Politics Chapter 1

What is Comparative Politics?

• Comparative politics is the study and comparison of domestic politics across countries
• Topics include: regimes, elections, culture, economic development
• Comparative politics is related to international relations, which studies relations between countries

Core Comparative Concepts

• Politics: the struggle in any group for power that will give one or more persons the ability to make decisions for the larger group
• Power: the ability to influence others or impose one's will on them
• Institutions: organizations or activities that are self-perpetuating and valued for their own sake

The Comparative Method

• A means by which social scientists make comparisons across cases
• Examples: studying democracy development in different countries, comparing political institutions across nations

Evidence and Theories

• Inductive reasoning: generating hypotheses from cases
• Deductive reasoning: testing hypotheses with cases
• Approaches: qualitative method, quantitative method, game theory, rational choice

Challenges Comparative Researchers Face

• Difficult to control variables
• Data-gathering limitations
• Multicausality, endogeneity, selection bias
• Area studies may overemphasize Europe

From Philosophy to Comparative Politics

• Early thinkers: Aristotle, Machiavelli
• Other major comparative thinkers: Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, Marx, Weber
• Their contributions to political thought:

Approaches to Comparative Politics

• Modernization theory
• Behavioral revolution
• Critiques of traditional approaches

Guiding Concepts: Institutions

• Political institutions: organizations or activities that are self-perpetuating and valued for their own sake
• Formal institutions: based on officially sanctioned rules, e.g., citizenship, electoral systems
• Informal institutions: unwritten and unofficial rules, e.g., legislative norms, societal rules, and culture

Guiding Ideal: Reconciling Freedom and Equality

• Freedom: an individual's ability to act independently, without fear of restriction or punishment by the state or other individuals or groups in society
• Equality: a shared material standard of living shared by individuals within a community, society, or country

In Sum: Looking Ahead and Thinking Carefully

• Comparative politics is a constantly changing field of study
• Core debates: institutions, freedom, and equality
• Importance of thinking carefully about the complexities of politics

This quiz covers the introduction to Comparative Politics, including the guiding concepts and principles of political inquiry. Based on the sixth edition of Patrick H.O'Neil's book Essentials of Comparative Politics.