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1.3: Things that Comparativists Study and Say

  • Page ID
    135828
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    Learning Objectives

    By the end of this section, you will be able to:

    • Understand the range of substantive areas for inquiry within comparative politics
    • Identify the relevance of substantive areas within comparative politics.
    • Consider limitations to the field of comparative politics.

    Approaching this Textbook

    This book is divided into three major sections, following the initial discussion of methods and best practices for comparative politics outlined in Chapter 2 (which is about to be summarized below as well). Although students could, in theory, seek out chapters in the order of interest, it is likely most helpful to read this book from a linear perspective as foundational terminology presents itself as devised by the authors. Chapter 2 is the ultimate prerequisite for understanding how authors approach the case studies they have selected, and the chapter provides a solid foundation for methodologies used in the field. Chapter 2 of this book is concerned with how to scientifically approach many of the critical research questions in the field. The chapter addresses how the scientific method manifests for Comparative Politics, and provides a brief introduction and overview to how research questions are posed, how theories are developed and tested using best practices in the field. The chapter will go on to describe important terminology in the field, providing further insight on the differences between qualitative and quantitative research, as well as usage of the case study within comparative politics. Without a solid foundation for research methods and practices, the field of comparative politics would be unable to advance. Following Chapter 2, Part One: Institutions and Institutional Change, will delve into many of the most basic terms and questions within comparative politics itself. What is the state? How do we identify important institutions for analysis, and how do we as comparativists understand how and why institutions change? After addressing topics involving the state, and regime types and transitions between democracies and non-democracies, Part Two: Intersections and Boundaries, considers important internal structures and components which can provide students with yet another lens of analysis by which to consider differing states. The concept of political identity, which is quite large in scope, will introduce students to considering everything from race, ethnicity, and gender to nationalism, religion and class, all of which can have tremendous influence on collective political outcomes. Part Three: Comparative Political Behavior, will introduce additional levels of interest for inquiry, including the potential influence of social movements observed in various manifestations in different states, public opinion on political outcomes, as well as the circumstances surrounding different types of political violence. By reading this textbook in a linear way, students will be given a progressively wider understanding of the wide scope of topics and issues within political science, much of the content building upon the content of the previous chapter and section.

    Organization of this Book

    This textbook, Introduction to Comparative Politics, is an Open Education Resource (OER) and consists of the following 12 chapters. A team of eight political scientists at seven different community colleges in California co-authored this Open Education Resource.

    Title and author(s) for each chapter
    Chapter Chapter Title Authors
    1 Introduction Dino Bozonelos, Ph.D & Julia Wendt, Ph.D.
    2 How to Study Comparative Politics: Using Comparative Methods Dino Bozonelos, Ph.D., Julia Wendt, Ph.D., & Masahiro Omae, Ph.D.
    3 States and Regimes Julia Wendt, Ph.D
    4 Democracies and Democratization Julia Wendt, Ph.D, Dino Bozonelos, Ph.D. & Stefan Veldhuis
    5 Non-Democracies and Democratic Backsliding Charlotte Lee, Ph.D.
    6 Political Identity: Culture, Race & Ethnicity & Gender Julia Wendt, Ph.D
    7 Political Identity: Nationalism, Religion, Class Dino Bozonelos, Ph.D & Jessica Scarffe, Ph.D.
    8 Political Economy Jessica Scarffe, Ph.D. & Julia Wendt, Ph.D
    9 Collective Action/Social Movements Charlotte Lee, Ph.D.
    10 Public Opinion Bryan Martin, Ph.D. & Josh Franco, Ph.D.
    11 Political Violence Dino Bozonelos, Ph.D & Masahiro Omae, Ph.D.
    12 Conclusion: The Future of Comparative Politics Dino Bozonelos, Ph.D & Julia Wendt, Ph.D.

    Each chapter is structured to include the following seven elements: Chapter Outline, Chapter Sections, Key Terms/Glossary, Summary of each Chapter Section, Review Questions, Critical Thinking Questions, and Suggestions for Further Study.

    The Chapter Outline provides a list of the chapter’s sections. You can click on the name of the chapter section to move directly to that section. This outline is important because it quickly and concisely provides you an overview of the chapter and a clear sense of its contents.

    The Chapter Sections can be considered the body of the chapter because they collectively include most of the substantive content. While each chapter author has endeavored to write Chapter Sections as stand-alone parts, there will naturally be a flow and integration of the chapters.

    Key Terms/Glossary serves as a repository of definitions of key terms used throughout the chapter sections. The key terms are listed in alphabetical order. In some instances, key terms will be linked to external content, such as Dictionary.com or Wikipedia, for students and faculty to explore the term further. Additionally, key terms are linked within chapter sections, meaning you can click on the key term and be directed to the Key Terms/Glossary section.

    Summary of the chapter provides a one paragraph synopsis of each section of the chapter. The goal is to distill each chapter section into a bite-sized chunk that can be quickly referenced. Each synopsis highlights a major concept of the section and serves as a reference. These should not be viewed as replacements for reading a specific chapter section.

    Review Questions include at least 5 questions that could serve as a pop quiz, clicker questions, student self-check, or as part of a question bank used for a summative assessment, such as a traditional midterm or final. In future iterations of the textbook, we plan on creating a Learning Management System Course Shell that would convert these questions in both a Question Bank and Quiz. Similarly, Critical Thinking Questions include at least 3 questions that can serve as a short or long essay prompt for an in-class or at-home assessment.

    Finally, Suggestions for Further Study includes links to websites, journal articles, and books related to the chapter topic. The goal is to build a robust repository of resources that can be explored by students and faculty. While we take effort to list OER or other open access content, there will be resources that are currently not freely available. As the textbook expands, this section will grow as well.

    It is recommended that the chapters are followed for most coherent use. We recognize, and encourage that some faculty will want to assign specific chapters to complement an existing textbook adoption. We expect that after the textbook is adopted and utilized, feedback from faculty and students will help us refine the content of each chapter, and the ordering of the materials.

    Part One: Institutions and Institutional Change

    Beginning with Part One of this book, Institutions and Institutional Change, Chapter 3 introduces a critical focal point of comparative politics in addressing how “the state,” its formation and manifestation, can vary so greatly from place to place. Further, it discusses the historical foundations of “the state,” and differentiates important terms used in almost every study performed in comparative politics, e.g. state, regime, nation, and government. Chapter 3 also delves into concepts such as the social contract, sovereignty, power (hard and soft), authority and legitimacy. The chapter culminates with case study comparisons of two states within Africa, Botswana and Somalia. Botswana, sometimes considered one Africa’s longest standing and most stable democracy (with some level of debate here), juxtaposes itself from Somalia, a place which some have argued operated with more stability under, paradigmatically, stateless conditions. This chapter will help acquaint students with a number of the basic terms used in comparative politics, while also raising questions about why and how states can be so different, even when they share similarities in location, heritage, regime type, and more.

    Chapter 4 introduces a foundational discussion in contemporary studies of comparative politics, the characteristics and nature of democracy and democratization. More than half of all countries currently in existence identify as democracies, and yet many questions remain over the quality, stability, and different types of democratic governments that exist. Is democracy the best form of government? Are there certain predictable characteristics that arise from states experiencing regime transitions to democracy? This chapter culminates with its study of Iraq and South Africa, considering movements towards democracy through the process of democratization.

    Chapter 5 considers the occurrence of non-democratic regimes, as well as the potential for democracies to “backslide” into non-democratic regimes. While many democracies now exist globally, there have been ample occasions where previously democratic regimes, for various reasons and circumstances, engaged in political trajectories which took away the liberal aspects of their governance. There can be political, cultural, economic and social factors which contribute to democratic backsliding, and comparativists often consider cases of democratic backsliding in order to advance understanding of the phenomenon. The chapter concludes with a case study of Russia, which since the 17th century, has experienced multiple periods of non-democratic rule.

    Part Two: Intersections and Boundaries

    Chapter 6 is the first section of Part Two of this book, Intersections and Boundaries, which will look at other areas of concern for contemporary comparativists, everything from various aspects of political identity to different types of economic systems which have great internal influence on countries in the global system. Chapter 6 will introduce political socialization and the importance of political identity relating to key factors such as culture, race, ethnicity and gender. Political identity can be of critical importance when attempting to understand political behavior and decisions being made within a state. To this end, this chapter will consider the history of the caste systems in Japan and India in an attempt to understand how caste systems influenced, and continued to influence, the political systems within.

    Chapter 7 continues the discussion of political identity by considering the concepts of nationalism, religion and class on the political behavior and outcomes within various countries. Nationalism and class are newer phenomena in politics, whereas religion is not. There were many instances of people in minority religions rising to prominence in the courts of empires, or of religious differences leading to conflict. However, their use as an identity and how one’s identity can shape one’s politics is even newer. As countries have democratized, these identities have taken on more meaning. This chapter considers the examples of political identities within Israel and Iran, where religion and nationalism both play a significant role in their societies.

    Chapter 8 discusses political economy, which can be understood as a type of inquiry which explores the intersection and relationships between market systems and individuals, groups and political outcomes within a state. In some respects, considering the interconnected relationship between economic markets and politics can seem like a chicken and egg problem, that is, what comes first, does politics affect the economy, or does the economy affect politics? In many cases, politics and the economy are deeply synergistic and connected, and combinations of different political systems and economic systems create manifestly different political outcomes for various states. The end of this chapter will consider the cases of the highly government controlled economy of China versus the moderately controlled economy of Germany, considering their differences as well as their shared challenges for the future of their market systems on internal political outcomes.

    Part Three: Comparative Political Behavior

    Chapter 9 kicks off discussion of collective action and social movements. The chapter will discuss, in detail, how collective action, which is any activity in which coordination by and across individuals has the potential to lead to achievement of a common objective, has been observed in various places and with different outcomes. Additionally, the rise of social movements, which are organized activities not derived through established political institutions, is considered. This chapter considered the cases of labor movements within Poland and China to more closely consider the phenomenon of collective action.

    Chapter 10 introduced the study of comparative public opinion, which is interested in how the public thinks and believes in particular policy and political issues across at least two different countries. Rather than focus on a single country, this chapter considers how public opinion is measured using different metrics, and how this can vary from place to place.

    The final theme addressed in the textbook is the phenomenon of political violence. The concept of political violence can be difficult to define, but many scholars have considered various types of violence that can occur within states, whether the violence is sponsored or propagated by the state itself, or whether the violence stems from other groups not sponsored by state authority. In considering political violence, this chapter looks at Turkey and Bangladesh and how conflict, once started, can come to an end. An end to violence does not inherently lend itself to an end to instability or a peaceful outcome.

    While the scope of this textbook is somewhat extensive, there remain many unanswered questions about the future of comparative politics as a discipline. Are the current scientific methodologies used in comparative politics sound? Are there advances that can be made in the way comparativists approach the problems within their field? The final chapter of this book will raise a number of the immediate issues pressing on the field today.