Overview
When defining and describing the scope of comparative politics, it is useful to back up and recall the purpose of political science from a broad perspective. Political science is a field of social and scientific inquiry which seeks to advance knowledge of political institutions, behavior, activities, and outcomes using systematic and logical research methods in order to test and refine theories about how the political world operates.
Since the field of political science is so broad, it has a number of subfields within it that enable students and scholars to focus on various phenomena from different analytical lenses and perspectives. Although there are many topics that can be addressed within political science, there are eight subfields that tend to garner the most attention; these include:
- Comparative Politics
- American Politics
- International Relations (sometimes referred to as World Politics, International affairs, or International Studies)
- Political Philosophy
- Research Methods and Models
- Political Economy,
- Public Policy
- Political Psychology.
All of these subfields leverage findings and approaches from a diversity of disciplines, including sociology, history, philosophy, psychology, anthropology, economics, and law.
Source: Dr. Robert Yowell's GOVT 2304 course
Comparative Politics
This subfield seeks to advance the understanding of political structures from around the world in an organized, methodological, and clear way. Scholars can analyze countries, in part or in whole, in order to consider similarities and differences between and among countries. Comparative politics involves looking first within countries and then across designated countries. (This idea contrasts with International Relations, which is described below). Scholars may focus on “the state” or statehood, political institutions, democracy and democratization, or backsliding democracies, and so forth.
American Politics
This subfield focuses on political institutions and behaviors within the United States. For example: What is the role of elections in American democracy? How do interest groups affect legislation in the U.S.? What is the role of public opinion and the media in the U.S., and what are the implications for democracy? What is the future of the two-party system? Do political parties delay important political action? People specializing in American politics have a variety of career opportunities, spanning from teaching, and journalism to working for government think-tanks, and institutions, or even running for office.
International Relations
Sometimes called world politics, international affairs, international studies, or international relations focuses on how countries and/or international organizations or bodies interact with each other. International relations consider questions like: What causes war between states? How does international trade affect relationships between states? How do international bodies, like non-governmental organizations, work with various states? What is globalization and how does it affect peace and conflict? What is the best balance of power for the global system?
Political Philosophy
Also referred to as political theory, political philosophy reflects on the philosophical origins of politics, the state, government, fairness, equality, equity, authority, and legitimacy. Consideration can be on the origins of political principles, as well as implications for these principles as they relate to issues of political identity, culture, the environment, ethics, distribution of wealth, as well as other societal phenomena. Political philosophy may ask questions like: Where did the concept of “the state” arise? What were the different ancient beliefs regarding the formation of states and cooperation within societies?
Research Methods and Models
Research methods and models can sometimes be considered a subfield of political science in itself. It seeks to consider the best practices for analyzing themes within political science through discussion, testing, and critical analysis of how research is constructed and implemented. An ongoing and heated debate often arises out of the proper or applicable usage of quantitative versus qualitative research designs.
Quantitative research centers on using mathematical and statistical means. Quantitative research can be beneficial in situations where a scholar or student is looking to test the validity of a theory, or general statement, while looking at a large diverse sample size of data. International Relations, American Politics, Public Policy, and Comparative Politics can find practical applications for quantitative research methods. Someone interested in International Relations may want to test the influence of global trade on conflict between states. In this scenerio, the sample size of the study may be 172 states engaged in international trade over a period of 10, 20, or even 50 years. Overall, some of the methods for quantitative research may involve conducting surveys, conducting bi- or multivariate regression analysis (time-series, cross-sectional), or carrying out observations to test a hypothesis.
Qualitative research centers on exploring ideas and phenomena, potentially with the goal of consolidating information or developing evidence to form a theory or hypothesis to test. This type of research involves categorizing, summarizing, and analyzing cases more thoroughly, and possibly individually, to gain greater understanding. Often, given the need for more description, qualitative research will have a small sample size, perhaps only comparing a couple of states at a time, or even a state individually based on the theme of interest. Some of the methods involve conducting interviews, constructing literature reviews, or preparing an ethnography.
Regardless of a quantitative or qualitative approach, Research Methods and Models focuses on advancing discussions of best practices in research design and methodology, understanding causal relationships between events or outcomes, identifying best practices in quantitative and qualitative research methods, consideration of how to measure social, economic, cultural and political trends (focusing on validity and reliability), and reducing errors or poor output due to selection bias, omitted variable bias, and other factors related to poor research design. In many ways, this subfield is critical to almost all others within political science.
Political Economy
Political science considers various economic theories (such as capitalism, socialism, communism, and fascism), as well as practices and outcomes either within a state, or among and between states in the global system. Theories brought forth by Adam Smith, John Stuart Mill, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Karl Marx, and Max Weber help people understand economic systems and their outputs and affect on society. Political economy can be studied from the standpoints of a few other subfields in political science. For example, comparative politics may consider political economy when comparing and contrasting states. International relations scholars attempt to understand international economics in the context of different state systems. International Political Economy also examines global inequalities, relationships between poor and wealthy countries, as well as the role and effect of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) or multinational corporations (MNCs) on international trade and finance.
Public Policy
This subfield explores political policies and outcomes, and focuses on the strength, legitimacy, and effectiveness of political institutions within a state or society. Relevant areas of inquiry in this field include: How is the agenda for public policies set? Which public policy issues get the most attention, and why? How do we evaluate the effectiveness of a public policy? To what extent can public policy hurt or help democracy? Individuals interested in public policy can seek careers relating to almost any item of the political agenda (the healthcare system, social security, military affairs, welfare, education, etc.), go into teaching and research, or serve as public policy consultants for federal, state or local governmental organizations.
Political Psychology
A relatively new subfield, political psychology weds together principles, themes, and research from both political science and psychology, in order to understand the potential psychological roots for political behavior. Is there a psychological reason some world leaders behave in a certain way? Is a leader’s behavior strategic and, consciously or not, rooted in some psychological basis? Can theories of cognitive and social processes explain various political outcomes in states and societies?
All of the political science subfields can work together to develop greater understanding of political institutions and activities. See Figure \(\PageIndex{6}\). Note that the fields are not necessarily mutually exclusive. For instance, public policy can be analyzed through the lens of American Politics, but it can also be the key point of consideration for comparative politics or international relations. Similarly, political economy can refer simply to domestic affairs, or be applied across a few or many countries or states. Political psychology can be applied to a single state analysis or comparative or global studies. All the fields need research methods and models.
A Brief History and Expanded Definition of Comparative Politics
Comparative politics seems to be a field of study wherein scholars compare and contrast various political systems, institutions, characteristics, and outcomes for one, a few, or a group of countries. In actuality, there has been ample debate over the ideal definition and scope of comparative politics. To consider comparative politics more thoroughly, it is helpful to consider its historical origins.
Most often, comparative politics is considered to have ancient origins. Aristotle has sometimes been credited with being the “father” of political science, and was one of the first to use comparative methodologies for analyzing competing Greek city-states. Politics derives from the Greek word, politikos, meaning “of, or relating to". "Polis" is roughly translated as city-state. Aristotle envisioned the study of politics to be one of the three major forms of science individuals could engage in.
- The first form of science was contemplative science. In modern times, this idea refers closest to the studies of both physics and metaphysics, which he considered being concerned with truth, and the pursuit of truth and knowledge for intrinsic purposes.
- The second form was practical science, or what is ideal for individuals and society. According to Aristotle, this form involved the areas of philosophy, mathematics, and science.
- The final form was productive science, which he envisioned as the making of important or beautiful objects.
To Aristotle, political science fell within the realm of practical sciences. In fact, he identified political science as “the most authoritative science” when discussing what is best for society. In other words, political science must concern itself with what is “good” or “right” or “just” for society, as the lives of citizens are at stake given political structures and institutions.
In Aristotle’s time, the units of analysis were the city-states in Greece. If stable, people lived productive and possibly happy lives. If unstable, society could not produce any positive externalities. So, it was critical to find ways to compare and contrast the various city-states, how they operated, and what their outcomes for the people were. To this end, Aristotle looked at the constitutions of various city-states, to understand which had the ideal configurations for both the people and political outputs.
A city-state could have one ruler, who is either a rightful king, or a tyrant running an authoritarian regime, depending on how the government works. Sometimes, a city-state may have a few rulers, which, at best, could be an aristocracy, or at worst, an oligarchy where only the elite are included in decision-making and rewards. Finally, a city-state could have multiple rulers, balanced by a “middle” class that attempts to rule on behalf of the people’s interests. The “middle” group is not tremendously wealthy, nor woefully poor, but being in the “middle” they can understand the needs of society at large.
While Aristotle considered democracy to have the possibility of being “deviant,” he also entertained the possibility that having more people involved in government may be a way to edge out corruption. Perhaps “cooler heads would prevail,” or that there would be a “wisdom” of the majority which would limit corruption. In any/either case, Aristotle spent a lot of time comparing and contrasting the virtuous and deviant political regime types in order to determine what is best for society.
The work of Aristotle influenced a number of thinkers. If considering political science broadly, Aristotle influenced Niccolo Machiavelli (author of The Prince), Charles Montesquieu, (author of The Spirit of the Laws), Max Weber (sociologist and author of The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, 1905), to name a few.
Based on the work of Gerardo Munck, we are currently in a period following the Second Scientific Revolution of 1989-2005. As a result, comparative politics has a greater reliance on methodology rather than theory. This table \(\PageIndex{1}\) shows the variations in how significant scholars define comparative politics.
Table \(\PageIndex{1}\): No, really… What is Comparative Politics?
| Notable Comparativists |
Their Definition of Comparative Politics |
| (Lane, 1997, pg. 2) note his publications/contributions |
“What is comparative politics? It is two things, first a world, second, a discipline.” As a ‘world,’ comparative politics encompasses political behavior and institutions in all parts of the earth… The ‘discipline’ of comparative politics is a field of study that desperately tries to keep up with, to encompass, to understand, to explain, and perhaps to influence the fascinating and often riotous world of comparative politics.” |
| (O’Neill, Fields and Share, 2021) |
“Comparative Politics is the study and comparison of politics across countries.”. |
| (O’Neill, 2004 - pg 3) note his publications/contributions |
“Politics is . . . the struggle in any group for power that will give a person or people the ability to make decisions for the larger groups. . . . comparative politics is a subfield that compares this struggle across countries.” |
| (Wiarda, 2000, pg. 7) note his publications/contributions |
“Comparative politics involves the systematic study and comparison of the world’s political systems, It seeks to explain differences between as well as similarities among countries. In contrast to journalistic reporting on a single country, comparative politics is particularly interested in exploring patterns, processes, and regularities among political systems.” |
Debate on the definition of comparative politics can arise in a few ways. One way would be this: Zahariadis (1997) argued that comparative politics needs to be a study of foreign countries. If this is true, does that mean someone who lives in a country, cannot study their own country and still call it comparative politics? If this is true, then was Aristotle’s study of city-states methodologically flawed since he occasionally lived in different city-states?
Another area where comparativists disagree is: what is the appropriate sample size for inquiry? Does the definition of comparative politics need to mandate a certain number of countries to be studied at a time? When Alexis de Tocqueville wrote Democracy in America, 1835, was this study flawed because it only considered the political lives of Americans? If we take Zahariadis’ definition, de Tocqueville did focus on a foreign country, but since it is only one country, does that mean it does not fall into the realm of comparative politics? What do you think?
