,
,
, Chapter Outline
I. INTRODUCTION
A. Some countries do a much better job than others at creating conditions in which
ST
their citizens can live well and fulfill their potential.
B. These differences have dramatic consequences for people’s lives.
1. In 2008, twice as many infants died in their first year of life in Zimbabwe than
in neighboring Botswana in Central Africa.
UV
2. Citizens’ life expectancy was 15 years longer in Botswana than Zimbabwe.
C. Why do such differences exist?
D. Comparative politics provides a way to answer this question by examining why
societies are organized in different ways and what effects these differences have.
E. Comparative politics is a subfield of political science that is sometimes confused
IA
with international relations.
1. Comparative politics focuses on politics within countries.
2. International relations focuses on politics among countries.
3. The border between the two subfields is porous, however, and politics among
?_
countries can affect politics within countries.
II. THE LOGIC AND PRACTICE OF COMPARATIVE ANALYIS
A. Doing comparative analysis is not limited to a course in comparative politics.
AP
B. People do comparative analysis throughout their lives.
1. Students compare colleges when deciding where to apply.
2. Men and women make comparisons when they decide who they want to date.
C. Comparative political analysis differs from comparison in everyday life by using
a systematic process. Its main components are:
PR
1. Hypotheses
a. State relationships that we expect to find among variables.
b. They often take the form of “if, then” statements, such as “if a country’s
wealth increases, then its citizens will be healthier.”
OV
2. A hypothesis has a dependent variable, or what we are trying to explain, and
an independent variable, or what we believe explains them. In the hypothesis,
“the wealthier a country is, the healthier its citizens are,” wealth is the
independent variable, and health is the dependent variable.
3. To test hypotheses, we need to operationalize variables by finding specific,
ED
concrete ways of measuring concepts.
a. We can define health, the dependent variable, by using life expectancy.
b. We can define wealth, the independent variable, by using gross domestic
product (GDP) per capita.
4. Correlation is not causation.
??
a. In the example we have just used, GDP per capita is correlated with life
expectancy; the higher the GDP per capita, the longer the life expectancy,
but this correlation does not prove that increases in GDP per capita cause
longer life expectancy.
b. Ice cream consumption was correlated with the number of polio cases in
the 1950s. This did not mean that ice cream caused polio.
2
,
, Chapter Outline
I. INTRODUCTION
A. Some countries do a much better job than others at creating conditions in which
ST
their citizens can live well and fulfill their potential.
B. These differences have dramatic consequences for people’s lives.
1. In 2008, twice as many infants died in their first year of life in Zimbabwe than
in neighboring Botswana in Central Africa.
UV
2. Citizens’ life expectancy was 15 years longer in Botswana than Zimbabwe.
C. Why do such differences exist?
D. Comparative politics provides a way to answer this question by examining why
societies are organized in different ways and what effects these differences have.
E. Comparative politics is a subfield of political science that is sometimes confused
IA
with international relations.
1. Comparative politics focuses on politics within countries.
2. International relations focuses on politics among countries.
3. The border between the two subfields is porous, however, and politics among
?_
countries can affect politics within countries.
II. THE LOGIC AND PRACTICE OF COMPARATIVE ANALYIS
A. Doing comparative analysis is not limited to a course in comparative politics.
AP
B. People do comparative analysis throughout their lives.
1. Students compare colleges when deciding where to apply.
2. Men and women make comparisons when they decide who they want to date.
C. Comparative political analysis differs from comparison in everyday life by using
a systematic process. Its main components are:
PR
1. Hypotheses
a. State relationships that we expect to find among variables.
b. They often take the form of “if, then” statements, such as “if a country’s
wealth increases, then its citizens will be healthier.”
OV
2. A hypothesis has a dependent variable, or what we are trying to explain, and
an independent variable, or what we believe explains them. In the hypothesis,
“the wealthier a country is, the healthier its citizens are,” wealth is the
independent variable, and health is the dependent variable.
3. To test hypotheses, we need to operationalize variables by finding specific,
ED
concrete ways of measuring concepts.
a. We can define health, the dependent variable, by using life expectancy.
b. We can define wealth, the independent variable, by using gross domestic
product (GDP) per capita.
4. Correlation is not causation.
??
a. In the example we have just used, GDP per capita is correlated with life
expectancy; the higher the GDP per capita, the longer the life expectancy,
but this correlation does not prove that increases in GDP per capita cause
longer life expectancy.
b. Ice cream consumption was correlated with the number of polio cases in
the 1950s. This did not mean that ice cream caused polio.
2
