Introduction to Comparative Politics PDF

INTRODUCTION TO COMPARATIVE POLITICS Maam Ria Rozul | BAPS 70 - Aristotle defined the state & politics by its end goal, purpose Topic Outline: Meaning...

INTRODUCTION TO COMPARATIVE POLITICS Maam Ria Rozul | BAPS 70 - Aristotle defined the state & politics by its end goal, purpose Topic Outline: Meaning Natures/features MEANING OF COMPARATIVE POLITICS Major Approaches Comparative Politics covers the study of political experience within more than one INTRODUCTION nation-state for the purpose of making systematic comparisons. Within comparative politics, there are two main approaches, the Comparative Politics cross-national approach and the area studies - The study of foreign governments and politics in approach. other countries – democracies and autocracies, Comparative politics is the study of domestic elections and revolutions. politics, political institutions, and conflicts between the two countries. Aristotle (Father of Political Science) Comparative politics combines the study of - “Politics is the master science of the good. “…end the comparison of political experience, of politics is good for man. For even the good is the institutions, behavior, and processes of the same for the individual and the state, the good of systems of government in two or more different the state is the greater and more perfect thing to countries. attain and to safeguard.” The main motive of comparative politics is to - “Man is by nature a political animal” improve the ongoing condition of any state or country. The improvement can be implemented MEANING OF POLITICS on the present system of an ant state or - Politics (from Greek: politiká, 'affairs of the cities') country by adopting the already successful and is the set of activities that are associated with proven system of other countries. making decisions in groups, or other forms of Comparative politics is also used to reduce the power relations between individuals, such as the tensions or the resolution of conflicts between distribution of resources or status the two countries. Comparative politics is not - Politics is the way that people living in groups defined only by the object of its study, but by make decisions. Politics is about making the method it applies to study political agreements between people so that they can live phenomena. CHARACTERISTICS OF COMPARATIVE POLITICS 1. Descriptive Studies: To compare (similarities and differences) of the politics of different countries, it’s essential to have a descriptive study of them. Historical-Legalistic-Institutional Approach: - Through Historical approaches, we can together in groups such as tribes, cities, or compare the evolution of the French countries Parliament or the German Representative - The art or science of government Assemblies. KLOY | 1  - Through a legalistic approach, we can study the legal power of various branches of 3. 1. Philosophical approach: government and their relationships with -Oldest approach to the study of politics is reference to the existing constitutional and philosophical legal prescriptions. - It also tries to establish standards of good, Parochial: Most of the studies on right, and just. comparative politics have been done on -The main aim of the philosophical approach is Western European institutions. So it is to evaluate the consequences of events in a essentially parochial. logical and scientific manner Static: in traditional comparative politics study, dynamic factors like growth and Characteristics of Traditional approaches: change are ignored. 1. Traditional approaches are mostly normative Monographic: The most important studies and stresses on the values of politics. of foreign political systems have taken the 2. Prominence is on the study of different political form of monographs that have concentrated structures. on the study of political institutions of one 3. Traditional approaches made very little attempt system or the discussion of a particular to relate theory and research. institution in different systems. 4. These approaches consider that since facts and values are closely interlinked, studies in Political SCOPE OF COMPARATIVE POLITICS Science can never be scientific. 2. All Political Structures: A complete knowledge 2. Historical approach of political structure is essential for comparative It states that political theory can be only politics. This study includes the study of all the understood when the historical factors are taken formal and informal, governmental, and into consideration. It highlights on the study of extra-governmental institutions and their history of every political reality to analyse any structure. situation. Functional Studies: the knowledge of how all From history, researchers come to know how the formal and informal institutes work within the man was in the past and what he is now. History country includes in comparative politics. is the store-house of events. From the profiles, Study of Political Behaviour: Another autobiographies, descriptions by authors and important part of the scope of Comparative journalists investigators know what event Politics is the study of voting behavior, political occurred in the past. participation, leadership recruitment, elite behavior, mass politics, etc. 3. Institutional approach: Study of Similarities and Differences: How two It deals with the formal aspects of government countries are similar and how are they different and politics. from each other is the main topic of study on It is concerned with the study of the formal comparative politics. political structures like legislature, executive, Study of all Political Systems: the political and judiciary. system of any country defines its nature and the It focused on the rules of the political system, voting culture. There is a huge difference in the powers of the various institutions, the thinking between a democratic country’s citizens legislative bodies, and how the constitution and a nondemocratic country’s citizens. The worked. scopes mentioned above are just a few. In Main drawback of this approach was its narrow comparative politics, everything includes which focus on formal structures and arrangements. In has some relevance to the country or countries. far-reaching terms, an institution can be described as 'any persistent system of activities 2 CATEGORIES OF APPROACHES IN COMPARATIVE in any pattern of group behaviour. More POLITICS concretely, an institution has been regarded as 'offices and agencies arranged in a hierarchy, TRADITIONAL APPROACH 2  each agency having certain functions and done by the government. In majority of the powers. countries, public issues are economic issues and sometimes the only actors are the 4. Legal approach personnel of the government such as the prime It considers the state as the central organization minister, president and other ministers. for the creation and enforcement of laws. Therefore, this approach is associated with the 4. Quantitative approach: legal process, legal bodies or institutions, and ⚫ This approach is also known as statistical judiciary. In this approach, the study of politics is mixed with legal processes and institutions. approach. It is described as the use of It treats the state primarily as an organization for numerical data so as to impart exactitude to creation and enforcement of law (J. C. Johari, the process of describing and analysing 1982). political phenomenon. MODERN APPROACHES 5. System approach: ⚫ This approach describes the relationship of Characteristics of Modern Approaches: political life with other aspects of social life. The ⚫ These approaches draw conclusion idea of a system was initially borrowed from from empirical/factual data. biology by Talcott Parsons who first promoted the concept of social system. ⚫ These approaches go beyond the study ⚫ This approach signified that a political system of political structures and its historical analysis. operates within the social environment. ⚫ Modern Approaches believe in ⚫ Influences from the society, be it economic, inter-disciplinary study. religious or otherwise, do shape the political process. 1. Sociological approach: 6. Simulation approach: ⚫ The fields of sociological studies are human ⚫ Simulation means the study with help of image behaviour including the political behaviour, group behaviour and attitude of group, culture, construction or model building. Such facts are society. used in political communication, decision making and game theory. 2. Psychological approach: ⚫ According to this approach, politics and ⚫ Psychology studies the behaviour, attitude of government appear in essence as processes of the voter and after studying various aspects, steering and coordinating human efforts towards the researchers draw conclusions which very the attainment of some goals (J. C. Johari, often serve the purpose of political leaders. 1982). Presently, political scientists are eager to know ⚫ Decision Making Approach is another example how motives and emotions work in the field of of simulation approach. Decision making political activity. Sometimes, the psychologists approach explores the attributes of decision focus upon the group behaviour. makers as well as the type of influence the individuals have on the decision makers. 3. Economic approach: ⚫ When evaluating the economic approaches, it 7. Behavioural approach: is established that the policy formulations of ⚫ Behviouralism stresses scientific, objective and economic nature and determination of the value-free study of the political occurrences as principles of planning which has recently conditioned by the environment, firmly the become a part of the governmental activity are 3  behavior of the individuals involved in that ⚫ This approach treats the government phenomena. as the decision making system. According to ⚫ It focuses on the role of the behaviour of the Karl Deutsch, the four factors of analysis in individual at various levels and the scientific communication theory are; lead, lag, gain and analysis. load. ⚫ It is the development of methods against traditional political science which did not take STRIKING FEATURES OF BEHAVIORISM into account human behaviour as an actor in politics. 1. Regularities: This approach believes that there are certain consistencies in political be haviour which can be expressed in generalizations or theories in order to 8. Marxian approach: elucidate and predict political phenomena. ⚫ Miliband indicated that "a Marxist politics had 2. Verification: The behaviouralists do not want to to be constructed or reconstructed from the accept everything as established. Therefore, they stress mass of variegated and fragmented material testing and verifying everything. According to them, if which forms the corpus of Marxism." phenomenon is not verified then it will not be scientific. ⚫ According to Marx, Politics, economics, culture and ideology are all inseparably interwoven. 3. Techniques: The behaviouralists stress on the use of The 'forces of production' at a particular stage those research tools and methods which generate valid, of historical development, are harmonized by reliable and comparative data. A researcher must make definite 'relations of production' that use of refined tools like sample surveys, mathematical characterize the society. The relations of models, simulation. production taken together constitute the economic foundation of the society. The legal 4. Quantification: After collecting data, the researcher and political institutions stand on this "real should measure and quantify those data foundation" of economic structure. 5. Values: The behaviouralists have emphasized on 9. Structural functional approach: separation of facts from values. They believe that to do objective research, one has to be value free. It means ⚫ These approaches accentuate the that the researcher should not have any preconceived structures and functions. Gabriel Almond was idea or a prejudiced view. an advocate of this approach. He described political systems as a special system of 6. Systematization: According to the behaviouralists, interaction that exists in all societies research in Political Science must be systematic. Theory performing certain functions. and research should go together. ⚫ According to Almond, the main attributes 7. Pure Science: Another feature of behaviouralism has of a political system are comprehensiveness, been its aim to make Political Science a "pure science". inter-dependence and existence of boundaries. It believes that the study of Political Science should be Like Easton, Almond also believes that all verified by evidence. political systems perform input and output functions. 8. Integration: behaviouralists stated that political Science should not be detached from various other 10. Communication Theory Approach: social sciences such as history, sociology and ⚫ This approach examines how one economics. This approach denotes that political events are formed by various other factors in the society and segment of a system affects another by therefore, it would be incorrect to separate Political sending messages or information. Robert Science from other disciplines. Weiner first defined this approach. 4  3 - POLITICAL INSTITUTION supreme powers distribute powers to administration of lower level more human activities Topic Outline: Informal Notion, structure and characteristics of political institution mostly found in primitive, rural areas Political system no fixed written rules, powers and authorities Political organization popularity or effectiveness of decision Nature and requisites of political process CHARACTERISTICS OF POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS Bureaucracy - a system of government in which INTRODUCTION most of the important decisions are made by state officials rather than by elected representatives. Social order - the totality of structured human interrelationships in a society or a part of it. Political party - a group of persons organized to acquire and exercise political power. Public poll – opinion/survey Political power - is the ability to control the behavior of people through the passage, approval, and implementation of laws and regulations. Welfare of the people (Salus popluli suprema lex esto) CLASSIFYING POLITICAL SYSTEMS Over two hundred states with distinctive political regimes Create typology to facilitate comparison within and between types of states Most different case analysis to compare across types Typologies are artificial constructs Analyst selects basis for classification Helpful to the extent that they allow comparison that provides useful knowledge NOTION OF POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS From World War I until 1980s consensus on “Three Organizations in a government that create, Worlds” enforce, and apply laws - First World was Western industrial democracies Often mediate conflict, make (governmental) Countries somewhat democratic, not policy on the economy and social systems, and industrialized otherwise provide representation for the - Second World was communist states population Nearly disappeared today Recognized structure of rules and principles Remaining have developed market-based within which the above organizations operate, policies including such concepts as the right to vote, a - Third World was economically less developed responsible government, and accountability. Countries share few features May be useful for “developing” classification STRUCTURE OF POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS although this can be further divided Lively debate as to alternative typology Formal Authors suggest basing typology on extent to which power and authorities are fixed governments are democratic 5  - Consolidated democracies POLITICAL SYSTEMS It is the process by which a new democracy A system of politics and government. matures, in a way that it becomes unlikely to The political system consists of both politics and revert to authoritarianism without an external government and involves the law, economy, shock, and is regarded as the only available culture, and other social concepts. system of government within a country. - Transitional democracies Democratization/democratisation, is the transition to a more democratic political regime, including substantive political changes moving in a democratic direction. - Authoritarian regimes Authoritarianism is a form of government characterized by the rejection of political plurality, the use of a strong central power to preserve the political status quo, and reductions FUNCTIONS OF POLITICAL SYSTEM in the rule of law, separation of powers, and In 1960, Gabriel Abraham Almond and James Smoot democratic voting. Coleman gathered three core functions of a political system, which include: A TYPOLOGY OF POLITICAL SYSTEMS Criteria to distinguish between consolidated and 1. To maintain the integration of society by transitional democracies determining norms. Whether or not democratic institutions have 2. To adapt and change elements of social, been solidly and stably established for a period economic, and religious systems necessary for of time achieving collective (political) goals. -Length of time open to interpretation 3. To protect the integrity of the political system Extent of democratic practice from outside threats. -Consolidated when relatively consistent adherence to six democratic principles To regulate relationship -Violations of democratic norms occur For the welfare (education, health, transportation - Democratic institutions may only be façade in and communication) transitional democracies Protects against internal/foreign aggression - Hybrid of democratic and authoritarian Social controls (having laws and punish the Authoritarian regimes lack six democratic principles violators) Power highly concentrated in person, group, or Provision of recreation institution. Decision of conflicts (courts, jail etc) Those in power claim exclusive right to govern Collects revenue (tax) and impose will Controls over resources Varieties include communist party-states, theocracies, monarchies, military or personal TYPES OF POLITICAL SYSTEM dictatorships Democracy: A system of government by the Frequently claim to embody democracy whole population or all the eligible members of a Both democratic and authoritarian states change state, typically through elected representatives. and evolve over time in response to domestic Republic: A state in which supreme power is and international influences held by the people and their elected Some countries may straddle categories or representatives and that has an elected or political experiences may cause change in nominated president rather than a monarch. category Monarchy: A form of government in which one -No automatic path of political development. person reigns, typically a king or a queen. The authority, also known as a crown, is typically inherited. 6  Communism: A system of government in which the state plans and controls the economy. Often, an authoritarian party holds power and state controls are imposed. Dictatorship: A form of government where one person makes the main rules and decisions with absolute power, disregarding input from others. TYPES OF POLITICAL PARTIES Single party system (Ex. North Korea, Cuba and China) Two party system (Ex. US and Nepal) Democratic multi-party system (Ex. Pakistan, India, South Africa, France and Germany) POLITICAL PARTICIPATION POLITICAL ORGANIZATIONS Acts of individual/groups seeking to influence the political decision Example: Voting – official choice that people make in an election Lobbying – acts of influencing the government officials to make decision for/against something Campaign/Advocacy - series of activities designed to bring certain result THE POLITICAL PROCESS Public Opinion - process by which people Entity involved in political process such as political acquire political beliefs is called political parties It includes: socialization Bill of rights – fundamental human rights and People’s opinions are influenced by: individual liberties in different social situation - Family Constitution – fundamental written documents - School and work which form a set of principles - Personal factors (age, race, gender, Roles – acts each person must play to create religion) collectively. It can be ascribed ( sex, age, - Mass media/means of communication tradition caste, and race) and achieved (sport that provide information to a large athlete, being a manager or ain a college) audience Monitors, shapes, and determines ASPECTS OF POLITICS the public agenda Power – ability to impose ones will over others Covers electoral politics despite resistance Growth of mass media: Authority – legitimated power newspapers/magazines radio TV Types: Internet Traditional – according to tradition like Monarchy Criticisms of mass media: bias in Charismatic – by captivation of followers through reporting, bias in story selection, charisma like John F. Kennedy factual inaccuracy, and media Rational-legal – by qualifying for an established consolidation position (a leader elected as a mayor) Using multiple sources will help you Legitimacy – right of political leaders to govern, get accurate info and avoid to hold, use and allocate powers based on propaganda. values a certain society holds. 7  MEASURING PUBLIC OPINION How do interest groups work? endorsing candidates Poll - survey of people scientifically selected to lobbying provide opinions about something inform public opinion—grassroots politics The accuracy of a poll depends on… filing lawsuits 1. the number of people answering the questions: group of people who take part in POLITICAL PARTIES the poll -sample error: indicates a poll’s It is an organization that tries to elect its accuracy and is given as a percentage above members to public office so that its views can and below the poll’s results become public policy 2. how those people are chosen They have its own set of ideas, theories, and 3. how the questions are asked aims about society and government that its 4. the absence of bias members/supporters generally share (ideology) Bias - errors introduced by polling methods that It determines a party’s place on the political lead to one outcome over others spectrum, or continuum of general political Objectivity- freedom from bias and outside beliefs factors Parties 3 Main Roles : Exit poll - surveys a randomly selected fraction Nominating candidates for political office of voters after they have voted and tells pollsters Assisting the electoral process how people voted before the official vote count Helping to operate the government Benefits of Political Parties: EXPRESSION OF PUBLIC OPINION filter out extreme or unconventional ideas Assembly/protest broad base of people/supporters represented Petitions to social and political leader party loyalty promotes stability Speech in social and established media provide a political “brand name” Formation of groups and org Criticisms of Political Parties: voting majority parties lack unity, discipline, loyalty interest groups unfairly influence parties INTEREST GROUPS office seekers more interested in personal It is an association of people who hold similar success than serving public good views or goals (try to influence public parties more interested in winning public opinion policy/agenda) than solving issues Organize people who share concerns Provide members with a means of political PARTY SYSTEM participation One-party system Supply information to the public and to policy Two-party system makers Multiparty system (most common) Have political action committees (PACs); an third party: any political party in a two-party organization created to raise and contribute system besides the two major ones money legally to the campaigns of political independent candidate: candidate who is not candidates. associated with any party Types of interest groups: agricultural groups agricultural groups business groups labor groups cause-based groups societal groups professional groups 8  THE ELECTORAL PROCESS 1. Political campaigns 2. Money and campaigns hard money: donated to an individual campaign soft money: given to a party rather than specific candidate 3. Choosing candidates a. self-announcement (petitions) b. caucuses/primary elections -a meeting of party members who select the candidates to run for election c. conventions d. primary elections Party’s candidate for office is chosen directly by voters 1. closed primary-only party members vote 2. open primary-any registered voters can vote 9