CAPS Readings:
Chapter 1 - Introduction:
➔ What is comparative politics?
◆ Study and comparison of politics across countries
◆ Comparing states
● states → organisations that maintain the monopoly of violence over a territory
● differ in origin, length of existence, strength, historical development, level of
organisation, effectiveness and stability
● state and government are different for PS, government is the leadership or elite that
administers the state
● power of the state depends on its legitimacy
○ traditional legitimacy → state is obeyed because it has a long tradition of being
obeyed
○ charismatic legitimacy → identification with the magnetic appeal of a leader or
movement
○ rational-legal legitimacy → system of laws and procedures that becomes highly
institutionalised
● Strong states → can perform the tasks of defending their borders from outside attacks
and defending their authority from internal non state rivals
● Weak states → have trouble carrying out those basic tasks and often suffer from
endemic internal violence, poor infrastructure and the inability to collect taxes and
enforce the rule of law
● Failed states → loss of legitimacy and power
● Unitary states → most political power concentrated in the national capital, allocating
little decision-making power to regions or localities
● Federal states → divide power between the central state and regional or local authorities
◆ Comparing regimes
● political regimes → norms and rules regarding individual freedoms and collective
equality, the locus of power and the use of that power, often described in the constitution
● democratic regimes → have rules that emphasize a large role for the public in
governance, protect basic rights and freedoms, and attempt to ensure basic transparency
of and accountability for government actions
● authoritarian regimes → limits the role of the public decision making and often deny
citizens’ basic HR and restrict their freedoms
◆ Comparing democratic political institutions
● executive → branch of government that carries out the laws and policies
● head of state → symbolises and represents the people
● head of government → deals with the everyday tasks of running a state
● legislature → branch of government charged with making laws (unicameral legislatures
and bicameral legislatures)
● judiciary → dispenses justice
● constitutional court → highest judicial body to rule the constitutionality of the laws and
other government actions
, ● judicial review → mechanism by which the court reviews laws and policies and
overturns those seen as violations of the constitution
○ concrete review → allows the high court to rule on constitutional issues only
when disputes are brought before it (ie: US)
○ abstract review → allows to decide questions that do not arise from legal cases,
sometimes even allowing it to make judgments on legislation that has not yet
been enacted (ie: France)
● types legislative-executive relations
○ parliamentary system → PM usually the leader of the largest political party in
the legislature, head of state usually has ceremonial duties (ie: UK)
○ presidential system → president holds most of the government’s executive
powers, have directly elected legislatures (ie: US)
○ semi-presidential system → PM approved by legislature and directly elected
president, both share executive powers
● electoral system → determines how votes are cast and counted
○ proportional representation → uses multimember districts (MMD), more than
one legislative seat is contested in each electoral district (ie: Brazil)
○ single-member districts (SMDs) → one representative for each constituency,
candidate with the greatest number of votes wins the seat (ie: France)
○ mixed electoral system → voters are given 2 votes (candidate and party)
◆ Comparing non-democratic regimes
● personal dictatorship → based on the power of a single strong leader, usually relies on
charismatic or traditional authority to maintain power
● military regime → military dominates politics
● one-party regime → dominated by a strong political party that relies upon a broad
membership as a source of political control
● theocracy → leader claims to rule on behalf of God
● illiberal regime → basic structure of a democracy but does not protect civil liberties
● communist regime → one-party regimes in which a Communist party controls most
aspects of a country’s political and economic system
● totalitarian regime → feature a strong official ideology that seeks to transform the
fundamental aspects of the state, society and economy
● tools of non democratic regimes
○ co-optation → beneficial relationship between the state and the individual
○ corporatism → citizen participation is channeled into state-sanctioned groups
○ clientelism → state provides benefits to groups of its political supporters
○ rent seeking → government allows its supporters to occupy positions of power in
order to monopolise state benefits
○ personality cult → state-sponsored exaltation of a leader
◆ Comparing political conflict and competition
● suffrage → the right to vote, degree of participation
● civil society → organisations outside the state that help people define and advance their
own interests
◆ Comparing societies
● ethnicity → specific attributes that make on group of people culturally different from
others
● political culture → patterns of basic norms relating to politics
Chapter 1 - Introduction:
➔ What is comparative politics?
◆ Study and comparison of politics across countries
◆ Comparing states
● states → organisations that maintain the monopoly of violence over a territory
● differ in origin, length of existence, strength, historical development, level of
organisation, effectiveness and stability
● state and government are different for PS, government is the leadership or elite that
administers the state
● power of the state depends on its legitimacy
○ traditional legitimacy → state is obeyed because it has a long tradition of being
obeyed
○ charismatic legitimacy → identification with the magnetic appeal of a leader or
movement
○ rational-legal legitimacy → system of laws and procedures that becomes highly
institutionalised
● Strong states → can perform the tasks of defending their borders from outside attacks
and defending their authority from internal non state rivals
● Weak states → have trouble carrying out those basic tasks and often suffer from
endemic internal violence, poor infrastructure and the inability to collect taxes and
enforce the rule of law
● Failed states → loss of legitimacy and power
● Unitary states → most political power concentrated in the national capital, allocating
little decision-making power to regions or localities
● Federal states → divide power between the central state and regional or local authorities
◆ Comparing regimes
● political regimes → norms and rules regarding individual freedoms and collective
equality, the locus of power and the use of that power, often described in the constitution
● democratic regimes → have rules that emphasize a large role for the public in
governance, protect basic rights and freedoms, and attempt to ensure basic transparency
of and accountability for government actions
● authoritarian regimes → limits the role of the public decision making and often deny
citizens’ basic HR and restrict their freedoms
◆ Comparing democratic political institutions
● executive → branch of government that carries out the laws and policies
● head of state → symbolises and represents the people
● head of government → deals with the everyday tasks of running a state
● legislature → branch of government charged with making laws (unicameral legislatures
and bicameral legislatures)
● judiciary → dispenses justice
● constitutional court → highest judicial body to rule the constitutionality of the laws and
other government actions
, ● judicial review → mechanism by which the court reviews laws and policies and
overturns those seen as violations of the constitution
○ concrete review → allows the high court to rule on constitutional issues only
when disputes are brought before it (ie: US)
○ abstract review → allows to decide questions that do not arise from legal cases,
sometimes even allowing it to make judgments on legislation that has not yet
been enacted (ie: France)
● types legislative-executive relations
○ parliamentary system → PM usually the leader of the largest political party in
the legislature, head of state usually has ceremonial duties (ie: UK)
○ presidential system → president holds most of the government’s executive
powers, have directly elected legislatures (ie: US)
○ semi-presidential system → PM approved by legislature and directly elected
president, both share executive powers
● electoral system → determines how votes are cast and counted
○ proportional representation → uses multimember districts (MMD), more than
one legislative seat is contested in each electoral district (ie: Brazil)
○ single-member districts (SMDs) → one representative for each constituency,
candidate with the greatest number of votes wins the seat (ie: France)
○ mixed electoral system → voters are given 2 votes (candidate and party)
◆ Comparing non-democratic regimes
● personal dictatorship → based on the power of a single strong leader, usually relies on
charismatic or traditional authority to maintain power
● military regime → military dominates politics
● one-party regime → dominated by a strong political party that relies upon a broad
membership as a source of political control
● theocracy → leader claims to rule on behalf of God
● illiberal regime → basic structure of a democracy but does not protect civil liberties
● communist regime → one-party regimes in which a Communist party controls most
aspects of a country’s political and economic system
● totalitarian regime → feature a strong official ideology that seeks to transform the
fundamental aspects of the state, society and economy
● tools of non democratic regimes
○ co-optation → beneficial relationship between the state and the individual
○ corporatism → citizen participation is channeled into state-sanctioned groups
○ clientelism → state provides benefits to groups of its political supporters
○ rent seeking → government allows its supporters to occupy positions of power in
order to monopolise state benefits
○ personality cult → state-sponsored exaltation of a leader
◆ Comparing political conflict and competition
● suffrage → the right to vote, degree of participation
● civil society → organisations outside the state that help people define and advance their
own interests
◆ Comparing societies
● ethnicity → specific attributes that make on group of people culturally different from
others
● political culture → patterns of basic norms relating to politics
