introduction to comparative politics
TRANSCRIPT
Introduction to
Comparative PoliticsCLASS LECTURE forPOLITICAL SCIENCE (HONOURS) / PART – IISILIGURI COLLEGEProf. AMITAVA KANJILAL;
Head of the Department;POLITICAL SCIENCESILIGURI COLLEGE
[email protected] / 9126300912
What is Comparative Politics ?
What does Comparative Politics do in
practice?
1) DescriptionDescription2) ExplanationExplanation3) PredictionPrediction
““the intent of Comparative Politics is the intent of Comparative Politics is that of a rigorous scientific and that of a rigorous scientific and empirical field of study : description, empirical field of study : description, explanation, and prediction”explanation, and prediction” (Daniele (Daniele Caramani; 2008).Caramani; 2008).
What is Comparative Politics ? What are the
Levels of Comparison?-National political systems-Sub-national regional political systems -Supra-national units -Single elements or components of the political system
What is Comparative Politics ?
What is compared? -Political systems-Regimes -Institutions -Actors -Processes-Policies
What is Comparative Politics ? Traditional Comparative Politics versus
“Behavioural Revolution”
What triggered this Revolution?
The emergence of new cases The emergence of new cases ::
Breakdown of democracies and rise of Breakdown of democracies and rise of new types of regimesnew types of regimes
Stable democracies which were not of Stable democracies which were not of the Anglo-Saxon typethe Anglo-Saxon type
What is Comparative Politics ? Consequences of the
Behavioural Revolution for
Comparative Politics :Increase in the variety of Political Systems Study of Non-formal institutionsNew methodology New “Language”
Approaches in Comparative Politics The five "I"s = the five main
Approaches in Comparative Politics
(1)Institutions(1)Institutions
(2)(2)InterestsInterests
(3)(3)IdeasIdeas
(4)(4)IndividualsIndividuals
(5)(5)International environmentInternational environment
Approaches in Comparative Politics
But weaknesses of five "I"s
The lacking of a sixth “I”
Interaction
Too static approach
Focus of Comparative Politics
What is the
focus of
Comparative Politics?Comparative Politics?
Focus of Comparative PoliticsStudies in Comparative Politics may focus
on a small number of countries (two or more) or it may attempt to incorporate the analysis of a very large range of countries.
Countries, in fact, need not be the unit of analysis, sub-national regional political units or supra-national units may be the focus.
SOVEREIGN NATIONS SUB-NATIONAL UNITS
SUPRA-NATIONAL UNITS
Origin and Evolution of
Comparative PoliticsPlato and Aristotle, while usually considered as political theorists, were engaged in the process of comparing different political regimes :
Aristocracy
Oligarchy
Democracy
Tyranny
Origin and Evolution of
Comparative PoliticsModern comparative politics can be traced back to :: (among others) Machiavelli, The Prince, 1532.
Montesquieu, On the Spirit of the Laws, 1748
Alexis de Tocqueville, On Democracy in America, 1835
Origin and Evolution of Comparative Politics
In the first half of the 20th century, Comparative Politics, emerging as a sub-discipline of Political Science, focused on the formal-legal institutions of the state.
Origin and Evolution of
Comparative Politics In the 1950s and 60s, attention turned towards the study of the political behaviour and political attitudes of the public.
The “Behavioural Revolution” was facilitated by developments in survey techniques and emerging computerization. This greatly increased the possibility for number-crunching among social scientists.
Origin and Evolution of
Comparative Politics The Empirical Approach in Political Science still has its proponents today, but by the late 1960s it was under attack from a variety of directions and for a variety of reasons.
The Politics of Political Science MethodologyYork University, 1969:“Fifty student radicals converged on a
meeting of the Canadian Political Science Association…to denounce what they called the methodology of political science.”
Protesters “walked into the Vanier College dining hall carrying balloons, flowers and signs denouncing [David] Easton’s systems analysis theory.”
See: http://imprint.uwaterloo.ca/pdfarchive/1969-70_v10,n06_Chevron.pdf
A Return to Institutions
By the 1980s, various scholars were attempting to ‘bring the state back in’ to the centre of their analysis.
This form of institutionalism often portrays state actors as having a degree of autonomy and different state structures as influencing political outcomes.