Module 1- Comparative Politics Notes.docx

**POS 2107 - COMPARATIVE POLITICS** **[Module 1: History, Theories, and Perspectives in Comparative Politics]** **Date: 08/21/2024** **[Comparative Inquiry ]** - Pol Sci has its beginning when an observer notes that another people are not governed as we are and **ask the question, why?**...

**POS 2107 - COMPARATIVE POLITICS** **[Module 1: History, Theories, and Perspectives in Comparative Politics]** **Date: 08/21/2024** **[Comparative Inquiry ]** - Pol Sci has its beginning when an observer notes that another people are not governed as we are and **ask the question, why?** *(Rose, 1991)* - **Awareness of diversity** is a starting point of comparative inquiry *(Hague and Harrop, 2001)* - Comparison *(comparative approach/methods)* is inherent in all sciences, including the social sciences (Lor, 2011) - Defining approach to political science. - Comparison allows us to appreciate the nuances, and benchmark features, take inspiration, set standards. - Without comparisons to make, the mind does not know how to proceed (Tocqueville,1830). - To make comparisons is to identify/realize features/subjects that make it worthy of comparison. **\*Sometimes we run the risk of making comparisons only to realize it's not worth making comparisons mid-way; Therefore, we must identify key elements to predict if one is worth comparing** **[Comparative Politics]** - CP did not unfold in an orderly and episodic manner + a field acutely in dissent because of its transition from one style of analysis to another *(Apter & Eckstein)* - The timeline depends on how good the author interprets / write it and what they have contributed to the discipline. - But, CP existed as a concept / practice long before it became a formal term / recognized subfield of the modern discipline. **[Comparative Politics Evolutionary Timeline]** - **[ARISTOTLE (384-322 BCE)]** - **Subject:** **STATE (polis) =** ***"Highest of all Communities"*** - "To achieve one's full potential is to be with like-minded people in the same institutionalized community" - **Approach:** ***inductive, empirical, historical*** - **\*Inductive = small to big ideas** - **[MACHIAVELLI AND THE RENAISSANCE]** - Subject: **STATE = *"Work of Art" *** - **Approach:** ***Inductive, Empirical, Humanist*** - **\*Humanist =** **Focus on human behaviour** ***(How come people come together to build a nation?)*** - **MONTESQUIEU AND THE ENLIGHTENMENT** - **Subject:** **RIGHT GOVERNMENT** ***= Right Sociology and Ecology (Social Laws)*** - **Approach:** ***Inductive, Logical, Observational *** - **NINETEENTH AND EARLY TWENTIETH CENTURY** - **Subject:** ***CONSTITUTION → 'new world' → POLITICS*** - **Approach:** *Behavioral, Interdisciplinary, Democratic - Developmental, Structural -- Functionalist.* - **BARON DE MONTESQUIEU** - Emphasis on Human Political Experience and Pluralism of Causation. - Comparativism - **ALEXIS DE TOCQUEVILLE** - Method of comparison - Without comparison, the mind does not know how to proceed. - **DEVIN GRIFFITHS** - **Comparative method:** - crucial to the history of humanities - comparison and analogy - network of affiliated practices, not a stable object - internalization and reformulation by social science - active network of research practices; interdisciplinarity produces similarity.  - **GERARDO MUNCK** - 19th: CP is a distinct field of Pol Sci. - 20th: CP as an international enterprise. - CP is punctuated by two revolutions: *Behavioural Revolutions + Scientific Revolutions* - Standard for Research in CP is based largely from [US Academia.] - APSA in 1903 formally recognized CP as an equally contributing and indispensable field in Political Science. **[JEAN BLONDEL TIMELINE]** **Jean Blondel's Comparative Government:** - **THREE MAIN PHASES IN THE STUDY OF CP:** - **Constitutionalist (Aristotle - 1900s)** - **Behavioralist (1940s - 1960s)** - **Institutionalist (1970s - )** "Politically Defining Moments" **[Behavioral Revolution (1921-1966)]** **PoSc=** Comparative Government **1921:** Publication of a Manifesto for a New Science of Politics by Prof. Charles Merriam **1952:** Creation of Social Science Research Committee's Committee on Comparative Politics chaired by Gabriel Almond \*Sociology = Dominant Metatheory   **[Post-Behavioral Period (1967-1988)]** : Bring Back Formal Institutions **1967:** Publication of *"Cleavage, Structures, Party Systems, and Voter Alignments" by Lipset* **[2nd Scientific Revolution]** : Three-pronged New Agenda Comparativists have accomplished a lot and produced vast amount of knowledge about politics around the world (Munck, 2006). **Date: 08/28/2024** **Comparative Politics: Past, Present, and Future** **Past** - Decolonizing Knowledge - Possibility of Homegrown Eastern concepts previously undiscovered or unintentionally ignored/publicized in the past **Present** - Eastern  **Future** - **Status Quo** - Comparativists are not in agreement with each other; in constant debate **"Present day comparativists are sitting at different tables, eating from different menus and not speaking to each other---not even to acknowledge their common inheritance from the same distinguished ancestors." - Almond, 1990** **Realizations** - **Evolving** - CP is characterized by ***variety, criticism, and disagreement.*** - **Diversifying** - **Disagreements** and **divergences** are great in regard to absolutely basic preconceptions and orientations.  - **Plurality** - Tasks are so many and so difficult as to unlikely achieve satisfying results - Need multidisciplinary approach. **Future of Comparative Politics** - Diverge to some degree **\#crossroads ** - A lot of alternatives and options**.** - Not like a florentine cypress but like a tropical banyan. **Considerations:** - CP to continue for the foreseeable future to bear major responsibility for the objective description; Open to look outward  - **Best Research Method:** *Comparison between "Real Existing Polities"* - Most unlikely for CP to taper in a single peak/amongst **three distinctive paths:** **Complexification** (towards the left of GT), **Simplification** (towards the right of GT), **Institutionalism** (At the centre of GT) **Institutionalist** - Neo- has a special focus.  - Adding more "neo-neo-neo" prefixes as it permutes into more specialized approaches. (to maintain relevance) - If a concept/present state of affair cannot explain/address current trends in the field; they do not fully abandon the concept but instead attempt to permute/change the concept to be more responsive to current trends via specialization - **Permute** = to explain better/ to specialize approach/ to maintain relevance. **Complexification** 1. Accept far fewer and less restrictive initial assumptions. 2. Are convinced that adequate micro-foundations in the present world context can not only be  based on individual persons - *Looks at impact of decisions to the context of the community.* 3. Choose to rely upon "reasonableness" rather than rationality - *can be reasonable but not rationale* 4. Consider that the usual fallacies of composition can be converted into novel "laws of composition" Complexification - Have a healthy respect for 'real' data. - Insist upon endogenizing as many potentially causal variables as possible even those notoriously difficult to measure such as "preferences" *\*endogenizing = make general framework more acceptable by integrating it to more local/domestic contexts* **Simplification** - Limited initial assumptions + exclusive reliance on individualistic *"micro-foundations"* - Deductive presumptions about how these actors behave about each other + proof by stylized facts or mathematical formulas that characterize the path known as rational or public choice. **CHALLENGE** Lumping + Splitting + Rational choice *"formal modeling"* \*How do we achieve formal modeling without abandoning the need for integration? Challenge: (Apter, David & Eckstein, Harrym (eds.) (1963) **FOCUS AND SIMPLIFICATION** - How to focus and simplify the messy noise in comparative politics? - What are we to concentrate upon? **COPING STRATEGY** How to address noisy and messy world - **Increased Complexity** Production of similar effects across units with equivalent measures being compared - **Increased Interdependence** Making independent the units being compared in terms of cause-effect relationship. - **Complex Interdependence** Determination of independent cause and independent political capacity thru compound condition. That comparative political analysis has to reflect the "real existing" environment from which it should draw its observations and to which it should refer its findings.