What is Comparative Politics?

1. What is Comparative Politics? The Conceptual Approach Goals for the Course Defining Comparative Politics The Comparative Method

2. An Introduction • Students will be introduced to the diversity of world government and political practices • The course focuses on specific countries, but students are encouraged to consider international forces that affect people and countries all over the world • Countries we’ll study are chosen to reflect regional variations, but to also illustrate the different types of political systems: “advanced” democracies, communist and post-communist countries, newly industrialized countries and less developed nations • Studying Comparative Politics will help a person overcome ethnocentrism • Studying Comparative Politics is intellectually stimulating • Comparative politics is necessary for a proper understanding of both international relations and foreign policy

3. Goals for the Course • Gaining and understanding of major comparative political concepts, themes and trends • Knowing important facts about government and politics in Great Britain, Russia, China, Mexico, Iran and Nigeria • Identifying patterns of political processes and behavior and analyzing their political and economic consequences • Comparing and contrasting political institutions and processes across countries • Analyzing and interpreting basic data for comparing political systems

5. What is Comparative Politics and Government? • Government is the leadership and institutions that make policy decisions for a country • Politics is about power • Who has the power to make decisions? • How did they get the power? • What domestic and international challenges do leaders face? • You will study different governments to learn how government operates and how power is gained, managed, challenged and maintained • TED Talk Brussels: The Global Power Shift

6. Questions at the Heart of AP Comparative Politics • Why are some countries poor and others wealthier?  • What enables some countries to "make it" in the modern world while others remain locked in poverty? • Why are the poorer countries more inclined to be governed autocratically while the richer countries are democratic?  • What accounts for the regional, cultural, and geographic differences that exist? • What are the politics of the transition from underdevelopment to development and what helps stimulate and sustain that process?  • What are the internal social and political conditions as well as the international situations of these various countries that explain the similarities as well as the differences? • What are the patterns that help account for the emergence of democratic as distinct from Marxist-Leninist political systems? 

7. Topics/Themes of Study • College-level courses in comparative politics vary, but these themes are studied across countries: • Origins of the State • Political Culture • Patterns of Participation • State Structures • Domestic and Foreign Policies • Feedback

8. Origins of the State (a.k.a. Relevant History) • Statehood/nationalism • Imperialism: Location & Timeline • Independence • Constitution • Modern Times • Current Events

9. Political Culture • Society: Homogeneous/Heterogeneous • Cleavages: Ethnic/Religious/Economic • Participation: Suffrage/Rights • Expectations: Freedom/Oppression • Freedoms: Tolerance • Support: Who?, What?

10. Patterns of Participation • Political Activities: Voting, Protests, Rallies • Governmental Involvement: Social Services, Education • Minority Inclusion: Dissent • Political Parties: Single/Multi • Interest Groups & Associations • International Participation: NGOs

11. State Structures • Political System: Constitutional Monarchy, Republic, etc. • Governmental Type: Unitary, Federal • Political Spectrum: Radical - Reactionary • Elections Processes: Legitimacy? • Decision-making: Authority, Balance • Political Stability: Sources of Public Authority and Political Power

12. Public Policy: Who does it serve? • Domestic Policy • Foreign Policy • Military Policy • Corruption Level • Economic Interests

13. Feedback (The Media) • Free and Fair: Justice • Free Press? • Information Flow • Assembly • Military Involvement/Control • Outside Pressures

14. Other Considerations • The Impact of Informal Politics • The Importance of Political Change • The Integration of Political and Economic Systems • Linkage Institutions • Democraticization • Globalization

15. Informal Politics • Governments have formal positions and structures that can be studied and compared: • UK: Prime Minister, House of Commons, House of Lords • US: President, Congress, Senate • As a class, we’ll connect civil society to formal government for better/deeper understanding • Civil Society: how citizens organize and define themselves and their interests • Informal Politics: takes into consideration not only how politicians govern, but how ordinary citizens’ beliefs, values and actions have on decision-making • Examples of Informal Politics: • Susan B. Komen and Planned Parenthood

16. Three Different Groupings • Advanced Democracies: • Well established democratic governments and high level of economic development • Communist and Post-Communist: • These countries limit individual freedoms in order to divide wealth more equally • Communist flourished in the 20th century, but have lost ground over past 20 years • Less Developed and Newly Industrializing: • Newly industrializing countries are experiencing rapid economic growth w/ tendency towards democratization and political stability • Less developed countries lack economic development, have authoritarian regimes or less than stable regimes • We will study each individual country, but we’ll always be looking how to compare and differentiate between all six countries