Nature and Scope of Comparative Government and Politics PDF

Nature and Scope of Comparative Government and Politics  At the end of the lesson, the students should be able to: a. discuss the study of Comparative Government and Politics including its birth and development, goals and importance,...

Nature and Scope of Comparative Government and Politics  At the end of the lesson, the students should be able to: a. discuss the study of Comparative Government and Politics including its birth and development, goals and importance, scope and concepts; b. explain the meaning of State, Nation, Sovereignty, and Government; c. identify and discuss the elements and inherent powers of the state; and Intended d. explain the kinds of sovereignty. Learning Outcomes (ILOs) 1. The study of Comparative Government and Politics Comparative government and politics provide an introduction to the wide, diverse world of governments and political practices that currently exist in modern times. Although the course focuses on specific countries, it also emphasizes an understanding of conceptual tools and methods that form a framework for comparing almost any governments that exist today. Additionally, it requires students to go beyond individual political systems to consider international forces that affect all people in the world, often in very different ways. What is Comparative Government? Comparative government as a course of study in colleges and universities is ordinarily directed toward acquaintance with governmental forms, structures, and politics. Jacobini, H. B. (1955). The Study of Comparative Government. Social Science, 30(1), 23–25. http://www.jstor.org/stable/41886586 What is Comparative Politics? Comparative politics is about classifying, comparing, and sometimes even choosing, except that the “things” that are of interest to comparative politics specialists are the really big ones: states, societies, ideologies, political systems, countries, regions, time periods, worlds, and so on. https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/courses/ap-comparative-government- and-politics/classroom-resources/comparative-politics-made-simple Birth and Development of Comparative Government and Politics In its earliest incarnation, the comparative study of politics comes to us in the form of studies done by the Greek philosopher Aristotle. Aristotle studied the constitutions of 150 states and classified them into a typology of regimes. His classification was presented in terms of both descriptive and normative categories i.e., he not only described and classified regimes and political systems in terms of their types e.g., democracy, aristocracy, monarchy, etc., he also distinguished them on the basis of certain norms of good governance. https://www.analogeducation.in/al- major/uploads/728526948Comparative%20Government%20and%20Politics%20-%20I.pdf Birth and Development of Comparative Government and Politics On the basis of this comparison, he divided regimes into good and bad - ideal and perverted. These Aristotelian categories were acknowledged and taken up by Romans such as Polybius (20 1 - 120 B.C.) and Cicero (1 06-43 B.C.) who considered them in formal and legalistic terms. Concern with comparative study of regime types reappeared in the 15th century with Macqiavelli (1469- 1527). https://www.analogeducation.in/al- major/uploads/728526948Comparative%20Government%20and%20Politics%20-%20I.pdf Birth and Development of Comparative Government and Politics The late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries signified the period when liberalism was the reigning ideology and European countries enjoyed dominance in world politics. The "rest of the world" of Asia, Africa, and Latin America were either European colonies or under their sphere of influence as ex-colonies. https://www.analogeducation.in/al- major/uploads/728526948Comparative%20Government%20and%20Politics%20-%20I.pdf Birth and Development of Comparative Government and Politics Comparative studies during this period (James Bryces's Modern Democracies (1921), Herman Finer's Theory and Practice of Modern Governments (1 932) and Carl J. Friedrich's Constitutional Government and Democracy (1 937), Roberto Michels, Political Parties (1 9 1 5) and M.Duverger, Political Parties (1950)) were largely concerned with a comparative study of institutions, the distribution of power, and the relationship between the different layers of government. These studies were eurocentric i.e, confined to the study of institutions, governments and regime types in European countries like Britain, France and Germany. https://www.analogeducation.in/al- major/uploads/728526948Comparative%20Government%20and%20Politics%20-%20I.pdf Goals and Importance of Comparative Government and Politics The goal of comparative politics is to encompass the major political similarities and differences between countries. The task is to understand the mixture of constants and variability which characterizes the world’s governments, bearing in mind the global, regional and national contexts within which they operate. https://eclass.ekdd.gr/esdda/modules/document/file.php/KST- KF127/%CE%95%CE%BD%CF%8C%CF%84%CE%B7%CF%84%CE%B5%CF%82%201-2/ Hague-Harrop-comparative-government-and-politics_-an-introduction-2001_ch.%205.pdf Scope and Concepts of Comparative Government and Politics 1. All Political Structures: The scope of Comparative Politics includes the study of all the formal and informal, governmental and extra-governmental, which are directly or indirectly involved in the struggle for power taking place in each state. It is not confined only to the study of the three formal governmental organs-legislature, executive, and judiciary. Along with these, Bureaucracy, Interest Groups, Pressure Groups, Elites, Political Parties, and all other political groups of human beings form a part of the scope of Comparative Politics. https://www.politicalsciencenotes.com/politics/scope-of- comparative-politics-12-subjects-political-systems/1390 Scope and Concepts of Comparative Government and Politics 2. Functional Studies: Comparative Politics seeks to study politics less from the point of view of the legal institutions in terms of their powers, and more from the point of view of the functions which constitute the political process and their actual operation in the environment. It studies the functions of interest articulation, interest aggregation, political communication, rule-making, rule-application, rule-adjudication, socialization, decision ­making, policy-making and the like. https://www.politicalsciencenotes.com/politics/scope-of- comparative-politics-12-subjects-political-systems/1390 Scope and Concepts of Comparative Government and Politics 3. Study of Political Behavior: Another important part of the scope of Comparative Politics is the study of the actual behavior of the people in the process of politics. Voting behavior, political participation, leadership recruitment, elite behavior, mass politics, populism etc. form an integral part of Comparative Politics. https://www.politicalsciencenotes.com/politics/scope-of- comparative-politics-12-subjects-political-systems/1390 Scope and Concepts of Comparative Government and Politics 4. Study of Similarities and Differences: Comparative Politics also undertakes an analysis of the similarities and differences among political processes and functions. However, the approach is not descriptive, legalistic and formalistic. It is on the basis of the actual functioning of political structures and processes that the similarities and dissimilarities are empirically explained, analyzed, and compared. The objective is not to decide which is the best process or system. The objective is a systematic explanation, understanding, and theory-building. https://www.politicalsciencenotes.com/politics/scope-of- comparative-politics-12-subjects-political-systems/1390 Scope and Concepts of Comparative Government and Politics 5. Study of all Political Systems: Comparative Politics seeks to analyze the actual behavior and performance of political systems-Western as well as non-Western. Political Systems are analyzed and compared in terms of their structures, functions, capabilities and performances. Here again, the objective is not to decide which political system is the best. The actual working of various political systems is analyzed with a view to gather systematic knowledge for theory-building. https://www.politicalsciencenotes.com/politics/scope-of- comparative-politics-12-subjects-political-systems/1390 According to Edward Freeman, the main differences between "comparative politics" and "comparative government" are as follows: 1. Comparative government is concerned with the study of formal political institutions like the legislature, executive, judiciary, and bureaucracy alone while in comparative politics the other factors which influence the working of the political institutions are taken into account. In other words "comparative politics" makes a study of the formal as well as informal political institutions. Comparative Politics and Government Edited by Dr. Jav eed Ahmad Bhat of Lovely Professional University, Phagwara 2. Comparative government was chiefly confined to the study of the political institutions of western democratic countries. On the other hand, comparative politics concentrates on the study of the political institutions of all the countries of the world. It has laid special emphasis on the study of political institutions of the states which have emerged in the twentieth century. Comparative Politics and Government Edited by Dr. Jav eed Ahmad Bhat of Lovely Professional University, Phagwara 3. Comparative government involves only descriptive study of the political institutions and makes only formal study of the political institutions provided by the constitution. On the other hand, comparative politics concentrates on the analytical study of the various political institutions. Investigation and experimentation constitute prominent features of comparative politics. Comparative Politics and Government Edited by Dr. Jav eed Ahmad Bhat of Lovely Professional University, Phagwara 4. Comparative government concerns itself only with the political activities of the political institutions, while comparative politics also takes into account the economic, cultural, and social factors. In other words, it tries to examine the political institutions through interdisciplinary approach. Comparative Politics and Government Edited by Dr. Jav eed Ahmad Bhat of Lovely Professional University, Phagwara 2. Meaning of State, Nation, Sovereignty State - a territory with its own institutions and populations. Nation - a large group of people who inhabit a specific territory and are connected by history, culture, or another commonality. Sovereignty - a political concept that refers to dominant power or supreme authority. https://www.thoughtco.com/country-state-and-nation-1433559 https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/sovereignty 3. Elements of State 1. People – This refers to the mass of the population living within a state. Without people there can be no functionaries to govern and no subjects to be governed. 2. Territory – It is the fixed portion on the surface of the earth occupied by the inhabitants. It includes not only the land over which the jurisdiction of the state extends, but also the rivers and lakes therein, a certain area of the sea which abuts upon its coasts, and the air space above it. Thus, the domain of the state may be described as terrestrial, fluvial, maritime, and aerial. 3. Elements of State (cont.) 3. Government – This refers to the agency or instrumentality through which the will of the state is formulated, expressed, and carried out. 4. Sovereignty – It is the supreme power of the state to command and enforce obedience to its will from people within its jurisdiction, and corollarily, to have freedom from foreign control. Kinds of Sovereignty 1. Titular Sovereignty The titular sovereign is just only ruler by name, but in reality, is not capable of exercising any effective power. The Queen of Britain, the King of Japan, and the President of India – all of them are examples of Titular sovereignty. From the point of view of the law, they are described as the highest source of state power, a symbol of unity and tradition of the country, possessing the highest honor, etc. but the people belonging to the real sovereign power. https://schoolofpoliticalscience.com/meaning-and-types-of-sovereignty/ Kinds of Sovereignty 2. Internal and External Sovereignty Internal sovereignty means the sovereign power of the state by which the state exercises ultimate power over all persons, groups, and institutions within it. According to this law, the affairs of the state are governed. The state can impose severe punishment on the lawbreaker by calling it an internal sovereign. External sovereignty refers to the sovereignty of the state by which no foreign state will be attacked by a foreign state. The external sovereignty of the state means that the state is free from outside control of the external power or the dynamical state. One state is completely free from the will and control of another state. https://schoolofpoliticalscience.com/meaning-and-types-of-sovereignty/ Kinds of Sovereignty 3. Legal and Political Sovereignty Legal sovereignty is the ultimate power of the state by which the state legislates and enforces it. Legal sovereign power is the unrestricted power of the state; no one can disobey it. The legal sovereign is elected by the political sovereign. The will of the political sovereign transforms itself into a legitimate sovereign law. Influenced by public opinion and public reaction, the legal sovereign takes its decision. https://schoolofpoliticalscience.com/meaning-and-types-of-sovereignty/ Kinds of Sovereignty 4. De Jure and De Facto Sovereignty From French de Jure to legalism and from De Facto to real sovereignty came two. The difference between the two is this – in the view of the law, the ruler, in fact, the ruler may not be entitled to rule. That is, he may have virtually lost the right to state rule even though the rule of law is approved. The rule of law may not be authorized by law even if the powers of the governing body are occupied in reality or in the workplace. https://schoolofpoliticalscience.com/meaning-and-types-of-sovereignty/ Kinds of Sovereignty 5. Popular Sovereignty Popular sovereignty means that sovereignty lies in the hands of the people. The basis of the governing power of the government is public support. The call for the first populist sovereignty was reflected through protests against the monarchy in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. https://schoolofpoliticalscience.com/meaning-and-types-of-sovereignty/ 4. Inherent Powers of State 1. Police power – It is the power of the state to enact such laws or regulations in relations to persons and property as may promote public health, public morals, public safety, and the general welfare and convenience of the people. 2. Power of eminent domain – It is the right or power of the state or those to whom the power has been lawfully delegated to take private property for public use upon paying the owner a just compensation to be ascertained according to law. 3. Power of taxation – It is the power of the state to impose a charge or burden upon persons, property, or property rights, for the use and support of the government and to enable it to discharge its appropriate functions.