Les 1 Comparative politics
What is comparative politics?
- Political theory
o Normative questions
- Comparative politics
o Empirical questions
o Interactions within systems
- International relations
o Interactions between systems
- Politics seen as the human activity of making public authorative decisions
- That is, politics is about acquiring and maintaining power which produces
conflict and competition
o "at the root of all politics is the universal language of conflict” -
Elmer Schattschneider
- Important questions in comparative politics
o Which decisions are made
(e.g. invest in renewable energy, changing constitution,
higher spending for military)
o How are decisions made
(e.g. referendums, elections, protests, lobbying)
o Who makes or influences these decisions
(e.g. parties, lobby groups, voters)
Aims of comparative politics
- Describe
o Differences and similarities between political systems
o Classifications and typologies
o For example: Two-party vs. Multi- party systems
- Explain
o Explain why these differences and similarities occur
o Formulating hypotheses
o For example: First-past-the-post electoral system leads to two-party
dominance
- Predict
o Which factors could cause such
o outcomes
o For example: Changing to a first-past- the-post system will result in
two major parties
o Not exact
Definition of comparative politics
- Comparative politics is one of the three main subfields of political science
focusing on internal political structures, actors, and processes, and
analysing them empirically by describing, explaining, and predicting their
variety (similarities and differences) across political systems (and over
, time)—be they national political systems, regional, municipal, or even
supranational systems.
- In short: Comparative politics studies internal politics empirically by
comparing it across systems.
Comparison between…
- … national political systems predominantly
o But keep in mind:
Sub-national regional political systems (e.g. states in the US)
Supranational units (e.g. EU)
Types of system (e.g. democracy vs. autocracy)
Single element of system (e.g. parliaments)
History of comparative politics
- State and institutions (before WW2)
o Focus on formal institutions and legal documents and texts
o Western world
o Normative in nature
- Behavioral evolution (30s and 60s)
o Focus on processes that take place within institutions (based
o on sociology)
o Cases and phenomena beyond the West (populism in Latin America;
socialism in Eastern Europe)
o Empirical
- New institutionalism
o Shaped by behavioral evolution
o Institutions shape how individual formulate preferences
- Mid-range theories
o Removing abstraction in concepts (less ambitious theoretical
perspectives)
o Narrowing geographical focus
o Advantage of studying few countries
- Case-oriented analysis
o Stem from mid-range theories – focus on analysis of small number of
cases
o Advantage for explaining phenomena that are not widely
o present
- Rational-choice (end of 80s)
o Focus on individuals (but also organizations such as parties) that are
rational (maximization of preferences)
o Impacts how decisions are made
,Comparative politics today
- David Easton (1953) The Political System: An Inquiry into the
State of Political Science
- Zeer belangrijk schema om te kennen en toe te kunnen passen op
bepaalde voorbeelden
- We leven in societies binnen verschillende waarden en mensen
Importance of theory in comparative politics
- Providing answers to puzzles and questions
- Provides us with a guideline for conducting research
- Helps us interpret findings
- Micro vs. Macro level (that is, individuals vs. institutions)
- Explains why X has an influence on Y (that is, why an independent variable
influences a dependent variable)
Approaches in comparative politics
How do we reach an answer as to why x has an impact on y
- Institutions
o Institutions are the center of comparative politics
Shapes norms and rules (logic of appropriateness) – James March
and Johan Olsen
It matters a great deal if a country has presidential vs.
parliamentary political system, is it federal or unitary, etc.
Includes formal (parliaments) and informal (elections) types
- Interests
o Focus on interests that are pursued by actors
Who gets what – Harold Lasswell
Basis in rational-choice theory
Concepts such as corporativisms, networks, consociationalism,
cleavage etc.
- Ideas
o Ideas can be (indirectly) shape outcomes
Political culture (tension between values) – general level
Social capital – Robert Putnam
o Hij deed aan case studie
o Bestudeerde Italië waarin hij ambtenaren tussen
N-Italië en Z-Italië bevroeg
o Ze hadden een andere waarden
, Ideology – powerful in the past (communism, fascism), less so today
(neoliberalism)
Policy ideas – most concrete
- Individuals
o Individuals as an answer
Psychological studies, personality – explaining how elites act in
office
Psychological studies, personality – explaining how elites act in
office
- International environment
o Globalized environment plays a role in a system
Politics takes place in a globalized environment
Impact varies across countries (e.g. US is not as dependent as other
countries)
EU (process of Europeanization
Difficult to make inferences
- Het 6e element – interacties
o The world is too complex
o Interaction between approaches crucial in theory
o For instance, combining institutions and individuals can provide more
answers
Interacties tussen instituties en individuen
Comparative method
- A tool to investigate hypothesized relationships between variables
o How and why an independent variable X has an impact on a dependent
variable Y (theory developments)
Hypothesis: Variation in state funding for renewable energy is
dependent on the strength of green parties in a country.
Dependent variable Y: State funding for renewable energy
Independent variable X: Strength of green parties
o We aim to establish causality and meaningful relationships (X has an
impact on Y)
But remember the complexities of the real world: Various factors
can impact funding for renewable energy
o Comparative method is strong test of relationships because it is quasi-
experimental
Control vs. treatment groups (e.g. a country with weak green
parties and a country with a strong green parties)
What is comparative politics?
- Political theory
o Normative questions
- Comparative politics
o Empirical questions
o Interactions within systems
- International relations
o Interactions between systems
- Politics seen as the human activity of making public authorative decisions
- That is, politics is about acquiring and maintaining power which produces
conflict and competition
o "at the root of all politics is the universal language of conflict” -
Elmer Schattschneider
- Important questions in comparative politics
o Which decisions are made
(e.g. invest in renewable energy, changing constitution,
higher spending for military)
o How are decisions made
(e.g. referendums, elections, protests, lobbying)
o Who makes or influences these decisions
(e.g. parties, lobby groups, voters)
Aims of comparative politics
- Describe
o Differences and similarities between political systems
o Classifications and typologies
o For example: Two-party vs. Multi- party systems
- Explain
o Explain why these differences and similarities occur
o Formulating hypotheses
o For example: First-past-the-post electoral system leads to two-party
dominance
- Predict
o Which factors could cause such
o outcomes
o For example: Changing to a first-past- the-post system will result in
two major parties
o Not exact
Definition of comparative politics
- Comparative politics is one of the three main subfields of political science
focusing on internal political structures, actors, and processes, and
analysing them empirically by describing, explaining, and predicting their
variety (similarities and differences) across political systems (and over
, time)—be they national political systems, regional, municipal, or even
supranational systems.
- In short: Comparative politics studies internal politics empirically by
comparing it across systems.
Comparison between…
- … national political systems predominantly
o But keep in mind:
Sub-national regional political systems (e.g. states in the US)
Supranational units (e.g. EU)
Types of system (e.g. democracy vs. autocracy)
Single element of system (e.g. parliaments)
History of comparative politics
- State and institutions (before WW2)
o Focus on formal institutions and legal documents and texts
o Western world
o Normative in nature
- Behavioral evolution (30s and 60s)
o Focus on processes that take place within institutions (based
o on sociology)
o Cases and phenomena beyond the West (populism in Latin America;
socialism in Eastern Europe)
o Empirical
- New institutionalism
o Shaped by behavioral evolution
o Institutions shape how individual formulate preferences
- Mid-range theories
o Removing abstraction in concepts (less ambitious theoretical
perspectives)
o Narrowing geographical focus
o Advantage of studying few countries
- Case-oriented analysis
o Stem from mid-range theories – focus on analysis of small number of
cases
o Advantage for explaining phenomena that are not widely
o present
- Rational-choice (end of 80s)
o Focus on individuals (but also organizations such as parties) that are
rational (maximization of preferences)
o Impacts how decisions are made
,Comparative politics today
- David Easton (1953) The Political System: An Inquiry into the
State of Political Science
- Zeer belangrijk schema om te kennen en toe te kunnen passen op
bepaalde voorbeelden
- We leven in societies binnen verschillende waarden en mensen
Importance of theory in comparative politics
- Providing answers to puzzles and questions
- Provides us with a guideline for conducting research
- Helps us interpret findings
- Micro vs. Macro level (that is, individuals vs. institutions)
- Explains why X has an influence on Y (that is, why an independent variable
influences a dependent variable)
Approaches in comparative politics
How do we reach an answer as to why x has an impact on y
- Institutions
o Institutions are the center of comparative politics
Shapes norms and rules (logic of appropriateness) – James March
and Johan Olsen
It matters a great deal if a country has presidential vs.
parliamentary political system, is it federal or unitary, etc.
Includes formal (parliaments) and informal (elections) types
- Interests
o Focus on interests that are pursued by actors
Who gets what – Harold Lasswell
Basis in rational-choice theory
Concepts such as corporativisms, networks, consociationalism,
cleavage etc.
- Ideas
o Ideas can be (indirectly) shape outcomes
Political culture (tension between values) – general level
Social capital – Robert Putnam
o Hij deed aan case studie
o Bestudeerde Italië waarin hij ambtenaren tussen
N-Italië en Z-Italië bevroeg
o Ze hadden een andere waarden
, Ideology – powerful in the past (communism, fascism), less so today
(neoliberalism)
Policy ideas – most concrete
- Individuals
o Individuals as an answer
Psychological studies, personality – explaining how elites act in
office
Psychological studies, personality – explaining how elites act in
office
- International environment
o Globalized environment plays a role in a system
Politics takes place in a globalized environment
Impact varies across countries (e.g. US is not as dependent as other
countries)
EU (process of Europeanization
Difficult to make inferences
- Het 6e element – interacties
o The world is too complex
o Interaction between approaches crucial in theory
o For instance, combining institutions and individuals can provide more
answers
Interacties tussen instituties en individuen
Comparative method
- A tool to investigate hypothesized relationships between variables
o How and why an independent variable X has an impact on a dependent
variable Y (theory developments)
Hypothesis: Variation in state funding for renewable energy is
dependent on the strength of green parties in a country.
Dependent variable Y: State funding for renewable energy
Independent variable X: Strength of green parties
o We aim to establish causality and meaningful relationships (X has an
impact on Y)
But remember the complexities of the real world: Various factors
can impact funding for renewable energy
o Comparative method is strong test of relationships because it is quasi-
experimental
Control vs. treatment groups (e.g. a country with weak green
parties and a country with a strong green parties)
