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Essentials of Comparative Politics – Patrick H. O’Neill
Week 1 - Chapter 1
Comparative politics: study and comparison of domestic politics across countries (elections,
political parties, revolutions, judicial systems)
International relations: concentrates on relations between countries (war, trade, foreign
policy, foreign aid)
Institutions: organizations or activities that are continuing itself indefinitely and valued for
their own sake
Politics: the struggle in any group for power that will give one or more persons the ability to
make decisions for a larger group of people
Power: ability to influence others or impose one’s will on it
The comparative method: way to compare cases and draw conclusions
Inductive reasoning: the means by which we go from studying a case to generating a
hypothesis > can be a foundation upon which greater theories in comparative politics are
built (starts with evidence)
Deductive reasoning: starting with a puzzle and from there generating some hypothesis
about cause and effect to test against a number of cases (starts with hypothesis)
Causal effect: when a cause and effect are found
7 major challenges:
- Difficulty controlling the variables (everything is different)
- Multicausality (many are interconnected)
- Limits to information and information gathering (too few cases to work with)
- Limited access to cases that do exist (interviews/libraries/governments may all
be limited or unwilling to share information)
- Focus tends to be limited to a specific geographic region (uneven research)
- Bias; cases selected based on effect rather than cause (selective(ion) bias, not
political bias)
- The search for cause and effect (problem of distinguishing cause and effect =
endogeneity (it may be either))
Theory: an integrated set of hypotheses, assumptions, and facts
Aristotle: Greek philosopher who sought to differentiate between the study of politics and
philosophy (statecraft)
Machiavelli: sought to analyze different political systems (like Aristotle) that surrounded
and preceded him which could then be applied by statesmen to avoid previous mistakes >
often cited as first modern political scientist
4 reasons why the CW and 2 world wars marked a turning point in political science and
comparative politics:
- More rigorous methods to study human behavior in universities
- World wars contributed to questions whether scholars could contribute to an
understanding of world affairs
- CW made understanding of comparative politics seem a matter of survival
- Technological development generated the belief that social problems could be
seen as technical concerns and able to be resolved through science
,Modernization theory: held that as societies developed, they would become capitalist
democracies, converging around a set of shared values and characteristics > every country
would get there unless differing systems would occur, such as communism/fascism. In
essence: set of hypotheses about how countries develop
Behavioral revolution: shift of subject of investigation from political institutions toward
individual political behavior > would hopefully lead to a “grand theory” of political behavior.
In essence: set of methods with which to approach politics
Areas of conflict (debates):
- Methodology (qualitative vs. quantitative)
- Theoretical assumptions of human behavior (rational choice & game theory)
o Rational choice is closely linked to quantitative methods
- Inductive and deductive reasoning
Institutions: can be formal (government) or informal (baseball) and can also be seen as a
norm (tax). Institutions are a useful way to approach the study of politics because they set
stage for political behavior (they also influence politics). Institutions can be both a cause and
effect of politics (emergence and disappearance can both have profound impact)
Freedom: individual’s ability to act independently without fear of restriction or punishment
by the state or individuals/groups in society
Equality: material standard of living shared by individuals within a community, society, or
country
Week 2 – Macchiavelli Reading
Week 3 - Chapter 2
State: the organization that maintains a monopoly of violence over a territory (based on
Weber); state is: monopoly over territory, sovereign, carrying out policy, institutionalized,
and has an army, taxation, policy, and a social welfare system
Sovereignty: important element of the state; the ability to carry out actions and policies
within a territory independent of external actors and internal rivals > state needs to be able
to act as the primary authority over its territory > state needs power to achieve this
Regime: the fundamental rules and norms of politics; individual freedom, collective equality,
locus of power, embodied in a constitution, institutionalized, authoritarian or democratic
(basic level)
Government: leadership that runs the state; it is weakly institutionalized, limited by the
existing regime and often composed of elected officials
Country: combination of the state, the regime, and the government, plus the people who
live within that political system
“If the state is the machinery of politics, the regime is its programming and the government
operates the machinery.”
Paths of political organization:
1. Consensus: individuals band together to protect themselves and create common
rules; leadership chosen from among people. Security through cooperation >
democratic rule
, 2. Coercion: individuals are brought together by a ruler who imposes authority and
monopolizes power. Security through domination > authoritarian rule
The first modern state took shape in Europe due to the Roman empire tying together
millions of people, infrastructure, laws, trade, and knowledge > Dark ages (anarchy) >
Europe’s weaknesses (no central state such as China) > European advantages (states
encouraged economic development; technological innovation; domestic stability (people
traveled and created an identity)) > rapid spread of states
Legitimacy: a value whereby something or someone is recognized and accepted as right and
proper > without legitimacy a state would need the continuous threat of force to maintain
order; difficult to function > critical component of stateness
Traditional legitimacy: rests on the idea that someone or something is valid because it has
always been that way (history and rituals, a monarch)
Charismatic legitimacy: based on the power of ideas or beliefs instead of history or
continued roles and values; presence of the leader (Hitler)
Rational-legal legitimacy: based on a system of laws and procedures that are presumed to
be neutral or rational (offices leaders hold is important, Trump)
Many countries have a mix of these three forms
Federalism: powers such as taxation, lawmaking, and security are devolved to regional
bodies (USA) and to local legislatures that control specific territories within the country
Asymmetric federalism: power is divided unevenly between regional bodies
Unitary states: political power is concentrated at the national level, and local authority is
limited (France)
Devolution: process of having a tendency toward decentralization
Strong states: those that are able to fulfill basic tasks: defend their territory, make and
enforce rules and rights, collect taxes, and manage the economy
Weak states: cannot execute the above tasks (tax evasion, poor rule application) > lack
authority, legitimacy and are often weakly institutionalized
When a breakdown occurs we speak of a failed state
Capacity: ability of the state to wield power in order to carry out the basic tasks of providing
security and reconciling freedom and equality > high capacity requires organization,
legitimacy, and effective leadership
Autonomy: ability of the state to wield its power independently of the public or
international actors > closely related to idea of sovereignty > high: act on own interests, low:
act on individual’s interests (see grid page 55)
Week 4 - Chapter 3
Society: refers to the complex human organization, a collection of people bound by shared
institutions that define how human relations should be conducted (each is unique)
- Identity is either a set of social constructions or on the other end biological
functions play a large role in the formation
Ethnic identity (ethnicity): we emphasize a person’s relation to other members of society;
ethnic identity is a set of institutions that bind people together through a common culture.
Institutions can include: religion, geographic locations, customs, appearance, and history.
Ascription: the assigning of a particular quality at birth > don’t choose ethnicities; doesn’t
have one single, neat origin; and isn’t inherently political
- Growing ethnic identity was tightly connected to state development
Essentials of Comparative Politics – Patrick H. O’Neill
Week 1 - Chapter 1
Comparative politics: study and comparison of domestic politics across countries (elections,
political parties, revolutions, judicial systems)
International relations: concentrates on relations between countries (war, trade, foreign
policy, foreign aid)
Institutions: organizations or activities that are continuing itself indefinitely and valued for
their own sake
Politics: the struggle in any group for power that will give one or more persons the ability to
make decisions for a larger group of people
Power: ability to influence others or impose one’s will on it
The comparative method: way to compare cases and draw conclusions
Inductive reasoning: the means by which we go from studying a case to generating a
hypothesis > can be a foundation upon which greater theories in comparative politics are
built (starts with evidence)
Deductive reasoning: starting with a puzzle and from there generating some hypothesis
about cause and effect to test against a number of cases (starts with hypothesis)
Causal effect: when a cause and effect are found
7 major challenges:
- Difficulty controlling the variables (everything is different)
- Multicausality (many are interconnected)
- Limits to information and information gathering (too few cases to work with)
- Limited access to cases that do exist (interviews/libraries/governments may all
be limited or unwilling to share information)
- Focus tends to be limited to a specific geographic region (uneven research)
- Bias; cases selected based on effect rather than cause (selective(ion) bias, not
political bias)
- The search for cause and effect (problem of distinguishing cause and effect =
endogeneity (it may be either))
Theory: an integrated set of hypotheses, assumptions, and facts
Aristotle: Greek philosopher who sought to differentiate between the study of politics and
philosophy (statecraft)
Machiavelli: sought to analyze different political systems (like Aristotle) that surrounded
and preceded him which could then be applied by statesmen to avoid previous mistakes >
often cited as first modern political scientist
4 reasons why the CW and 2 world wars marked a turning point in political science and
comparative politics:
- More rigorous methods to study human behavior in universities
- World wars contributed to questions whether scholars could contribute to an
understanding of world affairs
- CW made understanding of comparative politics seem a matter of survival
- Technological development generated the belief that social problems could be
seen as technical concerns and able to be resolved through science
,Modernization theory: held that as societies developed, they would become capitalist
democracies, converging around a set of shared values and characteristics > every country
would get there unless differing systems would occur, such as communism/fascism. In
essence: set of hypotheses about how countries develop
Behavioral revolution: shift of subject of investigation from political institutions toward
individual political behavior > would hopefully lead to a “grand theory” of political behavior.
In essence: set of methods with which to approach politics
Areas of conflict (debates):
- Methodology (qualitative vs. quantitative)
- Theoretical assumptions of human behavior (rational choice & game theory)
o Rational choice is closely linked to quantitative methods
- Inductive and deductive reasoning
Institutions: can be formal (government) or informal (baseball) and can also be seen as a
norm (tax). Institutions are a useful way to approach the study of politics because they set
stage for political behavior (they also influence politics). Institutions can be both a cause and
effect of politics (emergence and disappearance can both have profound impact)
Freedom: individual’s ability to act independently without fear of restriction or punishment
by the state or individuals/groups in society
Equality: material standard of living shared by individuals within a community, society, or
country
Week 2 – Macchiavelli Reading
Week 3 - Chapter 2
State: the organization that maintains a monopoly of violence over a territory (based on
Weber); state is: monopoly over territory, sovereign, carrying out policy, institutionalized,
and has an army, taxation, policy, and a social welfare system
Sovereignty: important element of the state; the ability to carry out actions and policies
within a territory independent of external actors and internal rivals > state needs to be able
to act as the primary authority over its territory > state needs power to achieve this
Regime: the fundamental rules and norms of politics; individual freedom, collective equality,
locus of power, embodied in a constitution, institutionalized, authoritarian or democratic
(basic level)
Government: leadership that runs the state; it is weakly institutionalized, limited by the
existing regime and often composed of elected officials
Country: combination of the state, the regime, and the government, plus the people who
live within that political system
“If the state is the machinery of politics, the regime is its programming and the government
operates the machinery.”
Paths of political organization:
1. Consensus: individuals band together to protect themselves and create common
rules; leadership chosen from among people. Security through cooperation >
democratic rule
, 2. Coercion: individuals are brought together by a ruler who imposes authority and
monopolizes power. Security through domination > authoritarian rule
The first modern state took shape in Europe due to the Roman empire tying together
millions of people, infrastructure, laws, trade, and knowledge > Dark ages (anarchy) >
Europe’s weaknesses (no central state such as China) > European advantages (states
encouraged economic development; technological innovation; domestic stability (people
traveled and created an identity)) > rapid spread of states
Legitimacy: a value whereby something or someone is recognized and accepted as right and
proper > without legitimacy a state would need the continuous threat of force to maintain
order; difficult to function > critical component of stateness
Traditional legitimacy: rests on the idea that someone or something is valid because it has
always been that way (history and rituals, a monarch)
Charismatic legitimacy: based on the power of ideas or beliefs instead of history or
continued roles and values; presence of the leader (Hitler)
Rational-legal legitimacy: based on a system of laws and procedures that are presumed to
be neutral or rational (offices leaders hold is important, Trump)
Many countries have a mix of these three forms
Federalism: powers such as taxation, lawmaking, and security are devolved to regional
bodies (USA) and to local legislatures that control specific territories within the country
Asymmetric federalism: power is divided unevenly between regional bodies
Unitary states: political power is concentrated at the national level, and local authority is
limited (France)
Devolution: process of having a tendency toward decentralization
Strong states: those that are able to fulfill basic tasks: defend their territory, make and
enforce rules and rights, collect taxes, and manage the economy
Weak states: cannot execute the above tasks (tax evasion, poor rule application) > lack
authority, legitimacy and are often weakly institutionalized
When a breakdown occurs we speak of a failed state
Capacity: ability of the state to wield power in order to carry out the basic tasks of providing
security and reconciling freedom and equality > high capacity requires organization,
legitimacy, and effective leadership
Autonomy: ability of the state to wield its power independently of the public or
international actors > closely related to idea of sovereignty > high: act on own interests, low:
act on individual’s interests (see grid page 55)
Week 4 - Chapter 3
Society: refers to the complex human organization, a collection of people bound by shared
institutions that define how human relations should be conducted (each is unique)
- Identity is either a set of social constructions or on the other end biological
functions play a large role in the formation
Ethnic identity (ethnicity): we emphasize a person’s relation to other members of society;
ethnic identity is a set of institutions that bind people together through a common culture.
Institutions can include: religion, geographic locations, customs, appearance, and history.
Ascription: the assigning of a particular quality at birth > don’t choose ethnicities; doesn’t
have one single, neat origin; and isn’t inherently political
- Growing ethnic identity was tightly connected to state development
