Comparative Politics: A Comprehensive Guide
What is Comparative Politics?
Comparative politics focuses on power and decision-making within national boundaries. It examines politics beyond national boundaries, which is the realm of international relations. The focus is on comparing more than one place or time to develop generalized understandings of political activity.
Why Study Comparative Politics?
- Understand political issues
- Generate lessons from one place to apply in another
- Develop broad theories
Theory
An abstract argument that provides a systematic explanation of some phenomenon.
Major Topics in Comparative Politics
Political Development
- Focuses on why and how modern nations and states arose.
Nations
Groups with a shared identity (history, language, culture, values). Example: Palestine
States
Administrative apparatuses (institutions within a defined boundary) that control territory and monopolize the use of force. Example: United States
- Another focus is the connection between political and economic development.
Regime Type and Change
- What types of regimes are there and how do they differ? Examples: Democratic, authoritarian, semi-authoritarian
- Under what conditions do regimes change from one type to another? (What accounts for change in regimes?)
Participation and Representation
- Why and how do people participate in the political process?
- How do strong ‘identity politics’ affect the stability of democracy? (Identity: racial, gender, preferences, roots, background of individuals belonging to a group)
- What is the role of civil society, interest groups, and political parties?
Civil Society
Groups in society that are autonomous (independent) of the state. Democracies allow these to exist and thrive, authoritarians don’t.
Interest Groups
Organizations with a particular agenda, trying to achieve lawmaking goals.
Policy-Making Processes
- How do different regimes decide which policies to pursue?
- What role do political institutions play?
- Who is most influential in the policy-making process?
- Do decisions reflect the will of the people?
Political Economy
- Do some types of regimes produce better economic outcomes than others?
- Why do some authoritarian systems provide strong economic growth (e.g., China) and others do not (e.g., Nigeria)?
Types of Theory
Empirical Theory
An argument explaining what actually occurs.
Normative Theory
An argument explaining what ought to occur.
- Democratic peace theory: both
- Rational theory: normative
Research Methods
Single Case Studies
Focus on one country or community to generate theories or test existing ones.
The Comparative Method
Example: A comparison of states that are similar on most issues but differ on a key question.
Quantitative Statistical Techniques
Using statistical techniques, regression, and large samples to develop broad theories.
Explaining Political Behavior
Individual Motivation
Rational Choice Theory
Assumes that people are rational, have self-defined interests, and the knowledge and ability to pursue them.
Psychological Theories
Look for non-rational explanations: individuals’ psychological experiences or dispositions.
Culture and Ideology
Political Culture Theories
Widely held values and beliefs help explain political behavior.
- Modernists believe clear attitudes, values, and beliefs can be identified within a political culture.
- Postmodernists see culture as a set of symbols that political actors can use.
Political Ideology
A systematic set of beliefs about how a political system ought to be structured.
Structuralism
Political behavior is influenced and limited, perhaps even determined, by socioeconomic or political structures.
- Marxism: political actions are the result of economic structures.
- Rational-choice institutionalism: actions are a result of interaction among rational actors.
Who Rules?
Pluralist Theory
Power is dispersed among various political groups in society.
Elite Theory
Societies are ruled by the elite with effective control over virtually all power. Examples: Marxism, Neocolonialism
The Modern State
Characteristics of a Modern State
Territory
An area with clearly defined borders to which a state lays claim.
- No unclaimed territories remain.
- State borders can change.
- 2008: Kosovo independence from Serbia
- 2011: South Sudan voted to secede from Sudan
Sovereignty
A sovereign state is legally recognized by the family of states as the sole legitimate governing authority within its territory and as the legal equal of other states. Sovereignty implies a state’s ability to govern over a given territory.
Types of Sovereignty
External Sovereignty
Equal participation in the international arena, as legally recognized by the international community of states and international law.
Internal Sovereignty
Ultimate authority within a territory capable of making and enforcing laws and policies. Example: Somaliland (internal sovereignty, no external sovereignty)
Legitimacy
“The recognized right to rule”
Types of Legitimacy
Traditional Legitimacy
The right to rule based on a society’s long-standing patterns and practices. Example: European divine right to rule, kings and the blessing of ancestors over the king in many pre-colonial African colonies
Charismatic Legitimacy
The right to rule based on personal virtue, heroism, sanctity, or other extraordinary characteristics. Example: Leaders of revolutions like Mao Zedong in China
Rational-Legal Legitimacy
The right of leaders to rule based on their selection according to an accepted set of laws. Example: Leaders who come to power via electoral processes and rule according to a set of laws, such as the constitution
Note: People who come to power by a military coup lack legitimacy and usually hold an election or electoral event to gain legitimacy.
Bureaucracy
A large set of appointed officials whose function is to implement the laws of the state, as directed by the executive.
- Required for a state to perform complex functions (Example: tax collection, military conscription)
- Central to rational-legal legitimacy
Origins of the Modern State
- Europe, 15th-18th centuries: Feudalism
- Absolutism
- Peace of Westphalia (Principle of state sovereignty established in 1648)
- Modern states, 18th-19th centuries (Modern armies, taxation, bureaucracy, etc.)
Spread of the Modern State
Europe exported the modern state through colonial conquest.
- First Wave: 16th century Americas
- Second Wave: Mid-19th century in Asia, then Africa
Types of States
Strong States
A state that is generally capable of providing adequate political goods to its citizens.
Weak State
A state that only partially provides adequate political goods to its citizens.
Failed State
A state so weak it loses effective sovereignty over part or all of its territory. Examples: Sierra Leone, Democratic Republic of Congo, Liberia, Sudan, and Afghanistan
Characteristics
- Delegitimized/corrupt state
- Lack of public services
- Human rights abuses
- A ‘state within a state’
- Fractionalized elite
- Foreign intervention
- All are former colonies
Case Studies
United Kingdom
- Sovereignty aided by island status
- Now part of the EU (later, Brexit) but has maintained more sovereignty than most EU members
- Still maintains the British Pound as its currency, which is a strength
- Threat from terrorist groups is a weakness
United States
- Unusually created by design rather than evolution
- Constitution established legitimacy
Japan
- One of few places that avoided European colonization
- Late 19th and early 20th century: first experiments with democracy
- American occupation after WWII led to a new democratic system
- Created a new model of capitalism: the developmental state
States and Citizens
Citizenship Rights
- Civil society: social organizations/groups independent from the state
- Regimes and Ideology: every regime has some ideology that attempts to justify its existence
Liberal Democracy
Classical Liberalism
Precursor of modern liberal democracy
- Based on Social Contract Theory (Locke)
- Legitimate governments form when free and independent individuals join in a contract to permit representatives to govern over them
- Government should preserve the liberties of free men
Key Idea: Individuals are free and autonomous with natural rights.
Characteristics
- Advocated representative government
- Citizens would choose leaders
- Leaders can be removed
- Political rights limited to male property owners
- Congress
Modern Liberal Democracy
Birth in the 19th century
A system of government that provides eight key guarantees:
- Freedom of association and expression
- Right to vote
- Free and fair elections
Case Study: UK
Cradle of liberal democracy, the first liberal democratic regime
- Magna Carta: lords limited the king’s powers
- Glorious Revolution: parliament chose a new king
- Elections
- Gradual expansion of suffrage
- Parliamentary sovereignty: parliament is supreme in all matters
Communism
Alternative to Liberal Democracy
Origins in the 19th-century writings of Karl Marx
- Liberal democracy serves capitalism and the bourgeoisie, not workers
- Based on historical materialism (material factors like classes, property, and production are the main drivers of history and politics)
- Social revolution to overthrow capitalism is inevitable
Fascism
Appeals to Spiritual and Pseudo-Biological Principles
- Society is like a living organism rather than a set of separate groups and individuals
- The state is central to and dominant within this organic society. It regulates and ensures the functioning of this organism
- Supreme leader as head
Illiberal
- No sense of individual rights
Anti-Communist
- Rejection of materialism and economic life
Semi-Authoritarianism
Totalitarian Regime
Extreme version of an authoritarian regime with total absolute control over society, either right-wing or left-wing (North Korea, USSR). (Could be under fascism or communism)
- Communism – left side
- Fascism – right side
Bureaucratic Authoritarianism
A type of military regime whose goal is to modernize the country.
Hybrid Regime
Combines authoritarian and democratic elements, with some legal opposition and elections, but the ruling party ensures it always wins (Venezuela).
- Democratic and authoritarian elements are contradictory
Modernizing Authoritarianism
Brazil – Racial Democracy (Not)
- Race defined by appearance, not descent
- Racial discrimination and inequality similar in Brazil to that found in the US (e.g., income)
- Harder for black consciousness to emerge in Brazil
- Racial intermarriage is very common, creating a mulatto population
- Policies supported ‘whitening’ through subsidizing European immigration and intermarriage
- Now racial quotas are in place at universities to increase black representation
Is affirmative action the solution?
Pegida Movement – Neofascism
Neofascism: small movements with no connection to the state, but values and ideas remain.
Corporatism
A way the state organizes society. The state is the main entity, with arms as organizations connected to the state.
Clientelism
Patron-client relations
What is a Liberal Democracy? Example?
Types of Bureaucratic Authoritarianism
Definitions and Examples
Liberalism – Liberal Democracy
Centripetal Approach: Nigeria
Consociationalism: Northern Ireland, Lebanon
Comparison & Definition
Somaliland – Quasi-State (Internal Sovereignty, Not External)
The State and Markets
Market Economy
An economic system in which individuals and firms exchange goods and services largely unfettered (with little government intervention).
Capitalism
The combination of a market economy with private property rights.
Command Economy
An economic system in which most prices, property, and production are directly controlled by the state.
Essential Roles of States
- Provide security (military & law)
- Establish and enforce property and contract rights (protect investors)
- Create and control currency
- Most essential roles involve providing public goods
Public Goods
Goods or services that cannot or will not be provided via the market because their costs are too high or their benefits are too diffuse (hospitals, libraries, schools, etc.).
Beneficial Roles of States
- State provision of (debatable):
- Infrastructure
- Education (an educated populace is more productive)
- Healthcare (a healthy workforce is more productive)
- Prevention or regulation of monopolies
Monopoly
When one business controls the entire market.
Intervention to Correct Market Failure
Market Failure
When markets do not perform their expected function.
Externality
A cost or benefit of the production process not fully included in the price of the final market transaction when sold.
Imperfect Information
Example: Housing crisis (2003-2007)
Institutions of Participation and Representation in Democracies
Almost all regimes allow some amount of participation and representation.
Democratic regimes face the challenge of stimulating and channeling it.
The Collective Action Problem
People are unwilling to engage in a particular activity because of their rational belief that their individual collective action will have little or no effect. Yet, when they fail to act, everybody suffers adverse consequences. (Democratic institutions are important to overcome the collective action problem).
Electoral Systems
Formal legal mechanisms that translate votes into control over political offices and shares of political power.
Examples
SMD – Single Member District
Electoral system in which each geographic district elects a single representative to the legislature.
Two Types
First-past-the-post or plurality: Winner – who receives more votes.
Majoritarian: Requires an absolute majority (50%+1). If no candidate wins an absolute majority, a second election takes place between the top two candidates to produce a winner.
Benefits
- Citizens identify strongly with their representative, and the representative “works” for specific constituents.
- Participation is usually lower.
- Particular parties are often under- or overrepresented.
PR or Mixed
Party System
Number and strength of political parties: dominant party, two-party, or multi-party.
Civil Society
Case Study: UK and US
Historically two-party, pluralist systems.
- The UK has moved toward a two-and-a-half party system.
- First-past-the-post in both countries, though under different contexts
- Differences between presidential and Westminster models generate different outcomes
- Both countries are decentralized, though with many points of access to government (e.g., elections for judgeships). Despite this, there is very low turnout in US elections.
Case Study: Germany
Parties designed to be strong, lend stability.
- Neocorporatist interest representation
- German Trade Union Federation represents 85% of unionized workers
- Three main business organizations
- Members of parliament negotiate with these organizations to set wage and social policy
- Decline in recent years
- New social movements reflected discontent
Case Study: Japan
Dominant party system from 1955-2009.
- Generally weak civil society and limited participation
- Significant changes in the 1990s in response to corruption and economic crisis
- Change in the electoral system, which has led to a true two-party system with the 2009 election of the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ)
- Participation is increasing, but the effectiveness of government remains in question
Case Study: India
Dominant party system from 1947-1977.
- Since then, multiparty despite the FPTP electoral system; two major parties but coalition governments
Challenges of Representation
Forms of Authoritarian Regimes
- One-party (communist or nationalist)
- Military
- Personalist
- Semi-authoritarian
Institutionalization
All regimes must have some form of institutionalization.
- Personalist regimes allow leaders to govern almost “on a whim.”
- Others require some form of governing institution building. Example: Brazilian military regime
Governing Institutions: Supreme Leader
Virtually all such regimes recognize one supreme leader.
- Although the leader may lead a larger governing group, such as a military junta
- All rely on a combination of repression, cooptation, and legitimation to rule
Dictator’s Dilemma
Repression leads to fear, which leads to the ruler lacking information on the opposition.
Governing Institutions: Military and Security
Key players in all authoritarian regimes.
- Most likely threat to the ruling elite
- Regimes rely on repression; the military provides it
- Spy networks (military and civilian)
- Gather intelligence on who is opposed to the regime
- Attempt to overcome the dictator’s dilemma
Military Coups
Where Do Coups Happen?
- Modernization: Weak institutions or political cultures that lack non-military ways to transfer power
- Military interests: the military seizes power in its own corporate self-interest
- Personal: A particular group in the military can do it for their own interest
Comparing Coups: Brazil and Nigeria
- Brazilian military involved in politics since the founding of the republic, even when democratic
- Broad conception of national security
- Societal and institutional explanations for Brazilian coups predominate
- Nigerian military is a far weaker institution, but six successful coups have happened
Revolution
How to Distinguish Revolution from Other Forms of Regime Change?
- Transforms the social order as well as the regime
- Involves mass participation in extra-legal political activity designed to overthrow the prior regime
- Usually includes violence
Distinctions Among Revolutions
- Ideological outcomes: liberal, communist, etc.
- Whether it originates from above or below
Outcome of Revolution
- Almost always authoritarian rule
- No country that has undergone a revolution from below has become an enduring democracy directly after the revolution
- Exceptions: Revolutions from above in some former communist countries in Eastern Europe
- These countries were less divided after the revolution
- Involved less mobilized populations, mostly nonviolent