Chapter One Flashcards
comparative politics
the study and comparison of domestic politics across countries. unlike IR, which looks at relationships between countries
why study comparative politics?
to answer questions about global politics, such as why do these conflicts occur? what role does globalization play? How do ethnic conflicts come about?
institutions
organizations or activities that are self-perpetuating and valued for their own sake
politics
the struggle in any group for power that will give one or more person the ability to make decisions for the larger group
power
the ability to influence others or impose one’s will on them
comparative method
a way to compare cases and draw conclusions
inductive reasoning
the means by which we go from studying a case to generating a hypothesis
deductive reasoning
starting with a problem and from there generating some hypotheses about cause and effect to test a number of cases
correlation
apparent association
causal relationship
finding cause and effect in a correlation
multicausality
when many variables are tied together to produce particular outcomes
area studies
focus on regions of the world instead of x or y country
Early history of comparative politics
Aristotle analyzed the political systems of greek CSs, Then machiavelli analyzed systems, generalizing about success and failure to help statesmen. Locke, Rousseau and de Montesquieu were more empirical, drawing conclusions about separation of power and civil liberties. Marx and Weber contributed analyses of political/economic organization
Twentieth century history
Less about ideals or theories, more about documenting (mainly of Europe). Did not adequately describe (at the time) things such as the rise of fascism, failure of European democracy.
modernization theory
As societies develop, they become capitalist democracies. Western-centric, based on CP taking capitalist democracy as the ideal
behavioral revolution
Mid 20th century, focus on individual political behavior instead of behavior of institutions. Hoped to generate generalizations that could predict political behavior.
qualitative methods
narrowly focused, deep investigations of one/a few cases drawing from scholarly expertise. Can involve multiple cases. Not considered to be very scientifically rigourous
quantitative methods
Wider use of cases without need for area specializations, more statistical analysis, and mathematical models from econ.
rational choice/game theory
Models of how humans choose and behave in a political sense. Are humans rational, how do they make political choices?
freedom
the individual’s ability to act independently, without fear of restriction or punishment by the state or other individuals or groups in society
equality
a material standard of living shared by individuals within a community, society, or country
