Comparative government and politics - theoretical approaches

Question 1

What is theory?

Answer 1

An abstract or generalised approach to explaining or understanding a phenomenon or a set of phenomena, supported by a significant body of hard evidence.

Question 2

What are the criticisms of political theory?

Answer 2

Arguments that there are too many theoretical approaches showing no definitive way to tackle politics.

Too focused on western tradition lacking theory from other parts of the world.

There is too much debate about the pros and cons of each theoretical approach as opposed to their real-world application

Social sciences have a weaker record in predicting outcomes by the nature of what they study.

Question 3

What is behaviouralism and when did politics shift towards this theory?

Answer 3

An approach to the study of politics that emphasises people over institutions, focusing on the systematic study of the behaviour of individuals. This grew in the 1920s at the University of Chicago.

Question 4

What were some of the units of study that behaviouralism looked at and how did it approach this?

Answer 4

Examples of units include members of legislatures, presidents, ruling generals, judges. This was a move away from the institutions they represented. It used sample survey methods, taking a more statistical approach growing the discipline of political science.

Question 5

Why was behaviouralism criticised/rejected and what did this lead to?

Answer 5

Firstly, behaviouralism was criticised by using a method too scientific which focused on quantitative data as opposed to qualitative data.

Secondly, their attempt to create a grand theory - a broad and abstract form of theorising that incorporates many other theories and tries to explain broad areas of a discipline rather than more focused matters - of politics was also criticised.

This led to the mathematicization of political science, with rational choice also emerging as a theory.

Question 6

What is Institutionalism?

Answer 6

This is the study of politics and government that focuses on the structure and dynamics of governing institutions.

Question 7

What is New institutionalism and how did it come about?

Answer 7

New institutionalism goes beyond the formal rules and looks at how institutions shape decisions and define interests. It came about in the 1980s, after going away in the 1960s, as a result of new research on social and political structures combined with the reform of governing institutions in developing countries.

Question 8

What is an institution?

Answer 8

A relatively enduring collection of rules and organised practices, embedded in structures of meaning and resources that are relatively invariant in the face of turnover of individuals and relatively resilient to idiosyncratic preferences and expectations of individuals and changing external circumstances. March and Olsen (2011).

Question 9

What are the institutions of government?

Answer 9

Executive - governing, making policy, providing leadership and direction e.g. presidents, prime ministers, cabinets

Legislature - representing the interests of citizens; making law; forming governments e.g. parliaments, congress, national assemblies

Judiciary and courts - upholding and interpreting the constitution e.g. supreme court, constitutional courts

Bureaucracy - implementing policy e.g. departments, ministries, divisions

Political parties - offering policy alternatives, fielding candidates, forming governments and oppositions. e.g. conservatives, liberals

Question 10

What is institutionalisation?

Answer 10

The process by which organisations build history, memory, stability and permanence.

Question 11

What is rational choice theory?

Answer 11

An approach to the study of politics and government based on the idea that individuals work to maximise their benefits and minimise their costs.

Question 12

How does rational choice theory contribute to the study of politics?

Answer 12

It lies in its ability to model the essentials of political actions and make predictions without all-encompassing knowledge of the actors involved.

Question 13

What is rational choice theory dependent on?

Answer 13

It is dependent on the amount of accurate information an individual has as they will make a choice which maximises their interests based on the information available to them.

Question 14

What is the collective action problem?

Answer 14

This arises when rational behaviour by individuals produces a negative overall outcome. This is when the individual costs stop people or actors making decisions that will benefit the collective. An example of this is the move to climate change, in which countries are hesitant to start the long term process of moving to green energy as quickly as possible, trying to free ride on the efforts of others.

Question 15

What are the criticisms of the rational choice theory?

Answer 15

It does not consider variations across countries as it treats itself as a universal approach. What might be rational for one state or community may not be rational for another.

It also fails to explain the original goals that individuals hols and where they come from.

Question 16

What is structuralism?

Answer 16

An approach to the study of politics and government that emphasises the relationships among groups and networks within larger systems. The parts themselves are of little interest as the assumption is that they will follow their own interests regardless of who is in charge.

Question 17

How do groups behave in structuralism?

Answer 17

Each group within the later structure works to sustain its political influence in a society which is always developing in response to economic change, ideological innovations, international politics, and the effects of group conflict itself.

Question 18

Give an example of structuralism?

Answer 18

Structuralists would argue that poverty in poor countries is prevalent due to the contrasting interests and power positions of property owners and the working class as opposed to an institutionalist which may blame specific institutions and their efficiently.

Question 19

What discipline is structuralism strongly linked to?

Answer 19

History, in looking at how relationships change over time.

Question 20

What is the cultural approach?

Answer 20

An approach to the study of politics and government based on understanding the influence of culture and cultural norms.

Question 21

What is culture?

Answer 21

The values, beliefs, habits, attitudes, and/or norms to which a society subscribes and responds, often unconsciously and even in the face of individual differences.

Question 22

What is political culture?

Answer 22

Political culture refers to the basis of social and political attitudes that are reflected on a wide range of matters.

Question 23

What is the interpretive approach?

Answer 23

An approach to the study of politics and government based on the argument that politics is formed by the ideas we have about it. It is argued that social constructs are necessary in understanding actions, practices and institutions.

Question 24

How does the interpretive approach view interests?

Answer 24

They argue that interests are constructed through social interaction.

Question 25

How does the interpretive approach use history?

Answer 25

It looks at the predecessor of events such as previous revolutions compared to one today and how the ideas in prior revolutions influences ones later on or in modern times. In this way they see a single sequence of events.

Question 26

How does the interpretive approach affect our understanding of states?

Answer 26

It looks at the idea behind a state as opposed to looking at it as an entity. This opens theory of the state to the idea of change.

Question 27

What is a criticism of the interpretive method?

Answer 27

It misses the commonplace observation of the unintended consequences of human activity as it focuses too much on the meaning of ideas. In short it focuses on the beginning on things but not the end.