COMPARATIVE POLITICS
Inhoudsopgave
1 Introduction......................................................................................................................................................................... 5
1.1 What is comparative politics?.....................................................................................................................................................5
1.2 Aims of comparative politics.......................................................................................................................................................5
1.3 Approaches to comparative politics............................................................................................................................................6
1.3.1 Institutions...........................................................................................................................................................................6
1.3.2 intrests..................................................................................................................................................................................6
1.3.3 ideas.....................................................................................................................................................................................6
1.3.4 Individuals............................................................................................................................................................................7
1.3.5 International enviroment.....................................................................................................................................................7
1.3.6 The sixth element – Interactions..........................................................................................................................................7
1.4 Comparative method..................................................................................................................................................................7
1.4.1 Most Different System Design (MDSD)................................................................................................................................8
1.4.2 Most Similar Systems Design (MSSD)..................................................................................................................................8
1.5 methodology...............................................................................................................................................................................8
2 democracy............................................................................................................................................................................ 9
2.1 What is democracy?....................................................................................................................................................................9
2.2 Attributes of democracy..............................................................................................................................................................9
2.2.1 Free and fair elections..........................................................................................................................................................9
2.2.2 universal participation.......................................................................................................................................................10
2.2.3 civil liberties........................................................................................................................................................................10
2.2.4 responsible government....................................................................................................................................................10
2.3 Types of democracy..................................................................................................................................................................10
2.3.1 Parliamentary.....................................................................................................................................................................10
2.3.2 presidential.........................................................................................................................................................................11
2.3.3 semi-presidential................................................................................................................................................................11
2.4 Democratic conditions..............................................................................................................................................................12
2.4.1 structural factors................................................................................................................................................................12
2.4.2 institutions..........................................................................................................................................................................13
2.4.3 actors and agency..............................................................................................................................................................13
2.4.4 international forces............................................................................................................................................................13
2.5 questions reading......................................................................................................................................................................14
3 Aurocracy........................................................................................................................................................................... 15
3.1 What is autocracy?...................................................................................................................................................................15
3.1.1 Historical context...............................................................................................................................................................15
3.2 Classifying autocratic regimes..................................................................................................................................................15
3.2.1 dictatorship........................................................................................................................................................................15
3.2.2 Single-party regimes...........................................................................................................................................................16
3.2.3 military regimes..................................................................................................................................................................16
3.2.4 absolute monarchies..........................................................................................................................................................16
, 3.3 Autocratic conditions................................................................................................................................................................17
3.3.1 repression...........................................................................................................................................................................17
3.3.2 legitimacy...........................................................................................................................................................................17
3.3.3 Co-optation of citizens and elites.......................................................................................................................................17
3.3.4 “Democratic” institutions...................................................................................................................................................17
4 legislatures......................................................................................................................................................................... 19
4.1 What is a legislature?...............................................................................................................................................................19
Inside legislatures...........................................................................................................................................................................19
4.1.1 Chambers...........................................................................................................................................................................19
4.1.2 Committees........................................................................................................................................................................19
4.1.3 Hierarchical structures.......................................................................................................................................................20
4.2 The role of the legislature.........................................................................................................................................................20
4.2.1 Legislature as an agent.......................................................................................................................................................20
4.2.2 legislature as a principal.....................................................................................................................................................20
4.2.3 Legislator............................................................................................................................................................................21
4.3 The power of the legislature.....................................................................................................................................................21
5 Governments...................................................................................................................................................................... 23
5.1 What is the government?.........................................................................................................................................................23
5.2 Types of government................................................................................................................................................................23
5.2.1 in a parliamentary system..................................................................................................................................................23
5.2.2 Government in a presidential system................................................................................................................................23
5.2.3 in a semi-presidential system.............................................................................................................................................23
5.3 Governments on the inside.......................................................................................................................................................24
5.4 Governments’ autonomy..........................................................................................................................................................25
5.4.1 PARTIES..............................................................................................................................................................................25
5.4.2 PRESIDENTIALIZATION.......................................................................................................................................................25
5.4.3 BUREAUCRACY...................................................................................................................................................................25
5.5 Bureaucracy..............................................................................................................................................................................26
6 Judiciary............................................................................................................................................................................. 27
6.1 key political concepts................................................................................................................................................................27
6.2 types of constitutions................................................................................................................................................................27
6.2.1 the absolutist......................................................................................................................................................................27
6.2.2 The legislative supremacy..................................................................................................................................................27
6.2.3 The higher law....................................................................................................................................................................28
6.2.4 new constitutialism............................................................................................................................................................28
6.2.5 why constitution?...............................................................................................................................................................28
6.3 constitutional review................................................................................................................................................................29
6.3.1 review per type..................................................................................................................................................................29
6.4 the power and effectiveness of constitutional review..............................................................................................................30
6.4.1 what about autocracies?....................................................................................................................................................30
6.5 reading......................................................................................................................................................................................31
7 elections............................................................................................................................................................................. 32
7.1 What are elections?..................................................................................................................................................................32
7.1.1 electoral systems................................................................................................................................................................32
, 7.2 Types of electoral systems........................................................................................................................................................32
7.2.1 Majoritarian systems..........................................................................................................................................................33
7.2.2 proportional systems.........................................................................................................................................................33
7.2.3 mixed systems....................................................................................................................................................................34
7.2.4 Each type of electoral system varies across several dimensions.......................................................................................35
7.2.5 Electoral systems are a product of…..................................................................................................................................35
7.3 Consequences of elections........................................................................................................................................................36
7.4 Referendums.............................................................................................................................................................................36
7.4.1 Decision-promoting vs. -controlling...................................................................................................................................36
7.4.2 why referendums?.............................................................................................................................................................36
8 Multilevel governance......................................................................................................................................................... 38
8.1 What is multilevel governance?................................................................................................................................................38
8.2 Key concepts in multilevel governance.....................................................................................................................................38
8.2.1 Multilevel governance on a scale.......................................................................................................................................39
8.3 The effects of multilevel governance........................................................................................................................................40
8.3.1 democracy..........................................................................................................................................................................40
8.3.2 ethno-territorial conflict....................................................................................................................................................40
8.3.3 social policy........................................................................................................................................................................40
8.4 the european union...................................................................................................................................................................41
9 Political parties................................................................................................................................................................... 43
9.1 What are political parties?.......................................................................................................................................................43
9.2 Types of political parties...........................................................................................................................................................44
9.2.1 Types of political parties – historically...............................................................................................................................44
9.2.2 Types of political parties – contemporary.........................................................................................................................44
9.2.3 parties in US.......................................................................................................................................................................45
9.2.4 features that exist in each party type................................................................................................................................45
9.3 Types of party-systems & cleavages.........................................................................................................................................45
9.3.1 Political cleavages - traditional..........................................................................................................................................46
9.3.2 Political cleavages – contemporary...................................................................................................................................46
9.3.3 types of party-systems.......................................................................................................................................................47
9.3.4 Where do types of party systems come from?..................................................................................................................47
9.4 Dynamics of party systems.......................................................................................................................................................48
10 intrests groups.................................................................................................................................................................. 50
10.1 What are interest groups?......................................................................................................................................................50
10.2 Approaches and theoretical traditions...................................................................................................................................50
10.2.1 approaches.......................................................................................................................................................................50
10.2.2 theory of intrest groups...................................................................................................................................................50
10.3 How interest groups operate?................................................................................................................................................51
10.3.1 collective action...............................................................................................................................................................51
10.3.2 direct or inside lobbying...................................................................................................................................................52
10.3.3 political exchange.............................................................................................................................................................52
10.3.4 Contentious politics..........................................................................................................................................................53
10.3.5 private intrest government..............................................................................................................................................53
11 citizens.............................................................................................................................................................................. 55
11.1 The concept of social movements...........................................................................................................................................55
, 11.2 Theories and functions of social movements..........................................................................................................................55
11.2.1 theories............................................................................................................................................................................55
11.2.2 social movements in the real world.................................................................................................................................56
11.2.3 functions...........................................................................................................................................................................57
11.3 The concept of political culture...............................................................................................................................................58
11.3.1 political culture and political system...............................................................................................................................58
11.4 Culture and implications for democracy.................................................................................................................................58
11.4.1 civic competence..............................................................................................................................................................58
11.4.2 civic allegiance..................................................................................................................................................................59
12 media............................................................................................................................................................................... 61
12.1 political communication..........................................................................................................................................................61
12.2 ecosystem of political communication....................................................................................................................................61
12.2.1 Fourth Age of Political Communication...........................................................................................................................61
12.3 political communication and comparative politics.................................................................................................................62
12.3.1 Media and politics............................................................................................................................................................62
12.3.2 Journalists and politics.....................................................................................................................................................63
12.3.3 Communication by political actors...................................................................................................................................64
12.3.4 Communication by media actors.....................................................................................................................................64
12.3.5 Citizens’ information consumption..................................................................................................................................64
12.3.6 Effects on national audiences..........................................................................................................................................65
,1 INTRODUCTION
1.1 WHAT IS COMPARATIVE POLITICS?
= Politics seen as the human activity of making public authoritative decisions
That is, politics is about acquiring and maintaining power which produces conflict and competition
Ø "at the root of all politics is the universal language of conflict” - Elmer Schattschneider
Normative questions look for something that is better,
something we should strive for
But comparative politics want to explain why we have a
certain system, why the politics look the way they do. We
tackle real existing issues and try to explain them
(explaining the world we live in)
IR is something else because they try to explain the
interactions BETWEEN systems, in CP we are interested in
interactions WITHIN the systems (why is Trump in the system? Why does Orban communicate this way? …)
- Which decisions are made (e.g. invest in renewable energy, changing constitution, higher spending for military)
- How are decisions made (e.g. referendums, elections, protests, lobbying)
- Who makes or influences these decisions (e.g. parties, lobby groups, voters)
1.2 AIMS OF COMPARATIVE POLITICS
Describe Explain Predict
- Differences and similarities - Explain why these - Which factors could cause
between political systems differences and similarities such outcomes
- Classifications and occur - For example: Changing to a
typologies - Formulating hypotheses first-past- the-post system
- For example: Two-party vs. - For example: First-past-the- will result in two major
Multi- party systems post electoral system leads parties
to two-party dominance - Not exact
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.
BLA BLA BLA History of comparative politics:
He was the last one to give us something general
that’s applicable in different countries
He said that we all act in an environment, we are
surrounded by different people, social capitals, etc
We put certain input in this E and this is based on
demands and support
Example: you want to buy a house bcs you want it
and you get support for it by the government by
, building social housing for example, this is a decision by the political system. This leads to a certain output for the system which
on his turn creates feedback that is feeding the input again)
Importance of theory in comparative politics:
- Providing answers to puzzles and questions
- Provides us with a guideline for conducting research
- Helps us interpret findings
o We can then easily be able to check the results in the data
- 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)
1.3 APPROACHES TO COMPARATIVE POLITICS
How do we reach an answer as to why x has an impact on y?
The five ‘I’s
1.3.1 INSTITUTIONS
Institutions are at the center of comparative politics
- They shape 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.
o This has a big impact on how political actors and individuals behave and what outcomes we get
- Includes formal (parliaments) and informal (elections) types
o Not only physical buildings but also informal
1.3.2 INTRESTS
Focuses on interests that are pursued by actors
- Who gets what – Harold Lasswell
- Basis in rational-choice theory
o We all try to maximize our own gain and act according to this
Not only about what I want for myself but also what we want for society (like more green energy)
- Concepts such as corporativisms, networks, consociationalism, cleavage etc.
o Having a good network will have a good effect on the outcomes in politics
1.3.3 IDEAS
Ideas can (indirectly) shape outcomes
= They are not directly the main cause of outcomes but we see the world in a kind of way and this influences the outcomes
- Political culture (tension between values) – general level
- Social capital – Robert Putnam
Inhoudsopgave
1 Introduction......................................................................................................................................................................... 5
1.1 What is comparative politics?.....................................................................................................................................................5
1.2 Aims of comparative politics.......................................................................................................................................................5
1.3 Approaches to comparative politics............................................................................................................................................6
1.3.1 Institutions...........................................................................................................................................................................6
1.3.2 intrests..................................................................................................................................................................................6
1.3.3 ideas.....................................................................................................................................................................................6
1.3.4 Individuals............................................................................................................................................................................7
1.3.5 International enviroment.....................................................................................................................................................7
1.3.6 The sixth element – Interactions..........................................................................................................................................7
1.4 Comparative method..................................................................................................................................................................7
1.4.1 Most Different System Design (MDSD)................................................................................................................................8
1.4.2 Most Similar Systems Design (MSSD)..................................................................................................................................8
1.5 methodology...............................................................................................................................................................................8
2 democracy............................................................................................................................................................................ 9
2.1 What is democracy?....................................................................................................................................................................9
2.2 Attributes of democracy..............................................................................................................................................................9
2.2.1 Free and fair elections..........................................................................................................................................................9
2.2.2 universal participation.......................................................................................................................................................10
2.2.3 civil liberties........................................................................................................................................................................10
2.2.4 responsible government....................................................................................................................................................10
2.3 Types of democracy..................................................................................................................................................................10
2.3.1 Parliamentary.....................................................................................................................................................................10
2.3.2 presidential.........................................................................................................................................................................11
2.3.3 semi-presidential................................................................................................................................................................11
2.4 Democratic conditions..............................................................................................................................................................12
2.4.1 structural factors................................................................................................................................................................12
2.4.2 institutions..........................................................................................................................................................................13
2.4.3 actors and agency..............................................................................................................................................................13
2.4.4 international forces............................................................................................................................................................13
2.5 questions reading......................................................................................................................................................................14
3 Aurocracy........................................................................................................................................................................... 15
3.1 What is autocracy?...................................................................................................................................................................15
3.1.1 Historical context...............................................................................................................................................................15
3.2 Classifying autocratic regimes..................................................................................................................................................15
3.2.1 dictatorship........................................................................................................................................................................15
3.2.2 Single-party regimes...........................................................................................................................................................16
3.2.3 military regimes..................................................................................................................................................................16
3.2.4 absolute monarchies..........................................................................................................................................................16
, 3.3 Autocratic conditions................................................................................................................................................................17
3.3.1 repression...........................................................................................................................................................................17
3.3.2 legitimacy...........................................................................................................................................................................17
3.3.3 Co-optation of citizens and elites.......................................................................................................................................17
3.3.4 “Democratic” institutions...................................................................................................................................................17
4 legislatures......................................................................................................................................................................... 19
4.1 What is a legislature?...............................................................................................................................................................19
Inside legislatures...........................................................................................................................................................................19
4.1.1 Chambers...........................................................................................................................................................................19
4.1.2 Committees........................................................................................................................................................................19
4.1.3 Hierarchical structures.......................................................................................................................................................20
4.2 The role of the legislature.........................................................................................................................................................20
4.2.1 Legislature as an agent.......................................................................................................................................................20
4.2.2 legislature as a principal.....................................................................................................................................................20
4.2.3 Legislator............................................................................................................................................................................21
4.3 The power of the legislature.....................................................................................................................................................21
5 Governments...................................................................................................................................................................... 23
5.1 What is the government?.........................................................................................................................................................23
5.2 Types of government................................................................................................................................................................23
5.2.1 in a parliamentary system..................................................................................................................................................23
5.2.2 Government in a presidential system................................................................................................................................23
5.2.3 in a semi-presidential system.............................................................................................................................................23
5.3 Governments on the inside.......................................................................................................................................................24
5.4 Governments’ autonomy..........................................................................................................................................................25
5.4.1 PARTIES..............................................................................................................................................................................25
5.4.2 PRESIDENTIALIZATION.......................................................................................................................................................25
5.4.3 BUREAUCRACY...................................................................................................................................................................25
5.5 Bureaucracy..............................................................................................................................................................................26
6 Judiciary............................................................................................................................................................................. 27
6.1 key political concepts................................................................................................................................................................27
6.2 types of constitutions................................................................................................................................................................27
6.2.1 the absolutist......................................................................................................................................................................27
6.2.2 The legislative supremacy..................................................................................................................................................27
6.2.3 The higher law....................................................................................................................................................................28
6.2.4 new constitutialism............................................................................................................................................................28
6.2.5 why constitution?...............................................................................................................................................................28
6.3 constitutional review................................................................................................................................................................29
6.3.1 review per type..................................................................................................................................................................29
6.4 the power and effectiveness of constitutional review..............................................................................................................30
6.4.1 what about autocracies?....................................................................................................................................................30
6.5 reading......................................................................................................................................................................................31
7 elections............................................................................................................................................................................. 32
7.1 What are elections?..................................................................................................................................................................32
7.1.1 electoral systems................................................................................................................................................................32
, 7.2 Types of electoral systems........................................................................................................................................................32
7.2.1 Majoritarian systems..........................................................................................................................................................33
7.2.2 proportional systems.........................................................................................................................................................33
7.2.3 mixed systems....................................................................................................................................................................34
7.2.4 Each type of electoral system varies across several dimensions.......................................................................................35
7.2.5 Electoral systems are a product of…..................................................................................................................................35
7.3 Consequences of elections........................................................................................................................................................36
7.4 Referendums.............................................................................................................................................................................36
7.4.1 Decision-promoting vs. -controlling...................................................................................................................................36
7.4.2 why referendums?.............................................................................................................................................................36
8 Multilevel governance......................................................................................................................................................... 38
8.1 What is multilevel governance?................................................................................................................................................38
8.2 Key concepts in multilevel governance.....................................................................................................................................38
8.2.1 Multilevel governance on a scale.......................................................................................................................................39
8.3 The effects of multilevel governance........................................................................................................................................40
8.3.1 democracy..........................................................................................................................................................................40
8.3.2 ethno-territorial conflict....................................................................................................................................................40
8.3.3 social policy........................................................................................................................................................................40
8.4 the european union...................................................................................................................................................................41
9 Political parties................................................................................................................................................................... 43
9.1 What are political parties?.......................................................................................................................................................43
9.2 Types of political parties...........................................................................................................................................................44
9.2.1 Types of political parties – historically...............................................................................................................................44
9.2.2 Types of political parties – contemporary.........................................................................................................................44
9.2.3 parties in US.......................................................................................................................................................................45
9.2.4 features that exist in each party type................................................................................................................................45
9.3 Types of party-systems & cleavages.........................................................................................................................................45
9.3.1 Political cleavages - traditional..........................................................................................................................................46
9.3.2 Political cleavages – contemporary...................................................................................................................................46
9.3.3 types of party-systems.......................................................................................................................................................47
9.3.4 Where do types of party systems come from?..................................................................................................................47
9.4 Dynamics of party systems.......................................................................................................................................................48
10 intrests groups.................................................................................................................................................................. 50
10.1 What are interest groups?......................................................................................................................................................50
10.2 Approaches and theoretical traditions...................................................................................................................................50
10.2.1 approaches.......................................................................................................................................................................50
10.2.2 theory of intrest groups...................................................................................................................................................50
10.3 How interest groups operate?................................................................................................................................................51
10.3.1 collective action...............................................................................................................................................................51
10.3.2 direct or inside lobbying...................................................................................................................................................52
10.3.3 political exchange.............................................................................................................................................................52
10.3.4 Contentious politics..........................................................................................................................................................53
10.3.5 private intrest government..............................................................................................................................................53
11 citizens.............................................................................................................................................................................. 55
11.1 The concept of social movements...........................................................................................................................................55
, 11.2 Theories and functions of social movements..........................................................................................................................55
11.2.1 theories............................................................................................................................................................................55
11.2.2 social movements in the real world.................................................................................................................................56
11.2.3 functions...........................................................................................................................................................................57
11.3 The concept of political culture...............................................................................................................................................58
11.3.1 political culture and political system...............................................................................................................................58
11.4 Culture and implications for democracy.................................................................................................................................58
11.4.1 civic competence..............................................................................................................................................................58
11.4.2 civic allegiance..................................................................................................................................................................59
12 media............................................................................................................................................................................... 61
12.1 political communication..........................................................................................................................................................61
12.2 ecosystem of political communication....................................................................................................................................61
12.2.1 Fourth Age of Political Communication...........................................................................................................................61
12.3 political communication and comparative politics.................................................................................................................62
12.3.1 Media and politics............................................................................................................................................................62
12.3.2 Journalists and politics.....................................................................................................................................................63
12.3.3 Communication by political actors...................................................................................................................................64
12.3.4 Communication by media actors.....................................................................................................................................64
12.3.5 Citizens’ information consumption..................................................................................................................................64
12.3.6 Effects on national audiences..........................................................................................................................................65
,1 INTRODUCTION
1.1 WHAT IS COMPARATIVE POLITICS?
= Politics seen as the human activity of making public authoritative decisions
That is, politics is about acquiring and maintaining power which produces conflict and competition
Ø "at the root of all politics is the universal language of conflict” - Elmer Schattschneider
Normative questions look for something that is better,
something we should strive for
But comparative politics want to explain why we have a
certain system, why the politics look the way they do. We
tackle real existing issues and try to explain them
(explaining the world we live in)
IR is something else because they try to explain the
interactions BETWEEN systems, in CP we are interested in
interactions WITHIN the systems (why is Trump in the system? Why does Orban communicate this way? …)
- Which decisions are made (e.g. invest in renewable energy, changing constitution, higher spending for military)
- How are decisions made (e.g. referendums, elections, protests, lobbying)
- Who makes or influences these decisions (e.g. parties, lobby groups, voters)
1.2 AIMS OF COMPARATIVE POLITICS
Describe Explain Predict
- Differences and similarities - Explain why these - Which factors could cause
between political systems differences and similarities such outcomes
- Classifications and occur - For example: Changing to a
typologies - Formulating hypotheses first-past- the-post system
- For example: Two-party vs. - For example: First-past-the- will result in two major
Multi- party systems post electoral system leads parties
to two-party dominance - Not exact
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.
BLA BLA BLA History of comparative politics:
He was the last one to give us something general
that’s applicable in different countries
He said that we all act in an environment, we are
surrounded by different people, social capitals, etc
We put certain input in this E and this is based on
demands and support
Example: you want to buy a house bcs you want it
and you get support for it by the government by
, building social housing for example, this is a decision by the political system. This leads to a certain output for the system which
on his turn creates feedback that is feeding the input again)
Importance of theory in comparative politics:
- Providing answers to puzzles and questions
- Provides us with a guideline for conducting research
- Helps us interpret findings
o We can then easily be able to check the results in the data
- 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)
1.3 APPROACHES TO COMPARATIVE POLITICS
How do we reach an answer as to why x has an impact on y?
The five ‘I’s
1.3.1 INSTITUTIONS
Institutions are at the center of comparative politics
- They shape 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.
o This has a big impact on how political actors and individuals behave and what outcomes we get
- Includes formal (parliaments) and informal (elections) types
o Not only physical buildings but also informal
1.3.2 INTRESTS
Focuses on interests that are pursued by actors
- Who gets what – Harold Lasswell
- Basis in rational-choice theory
o We all try to maximize our own gain and act according to this
Not only about what I want for myself but also what we want for society (like more green energy)
- Concepts such as corporativisms, networks, consociationalism, cleavage etc.
o Having a good network will have a good effect on the outcomes in politics
1.3.3 IDEAS
Ideas can (indirectly) shape outcomes
= They are not directly the main cause of outcomes but we see the world in a kind of way and this influences the outcomes
- Political culture (tension between values) – general level
- Social capital – Robert Putnam
