Cpi

Question 1

Comparative politics includes three traditions. Which?

Answer 1

(1) Country focus: (comparative) description of (aspects of systems) of countries
(2) Methodological focus: establish rules and standards for comparative analysis
(3) Analytical focus: combination of substance and method:describe/explain similarities and differences between cases

Question 2

What does comparative politics do in practice?

Answer 2

(1) Describe similarities and differences → classifications, typologies
eg. describe the electoral system in Belgium and the UK

(2) Explain similarities and differences
→ test hypotheses
eg. Why is voter turnout lower in the Netherlands than in Belgium?

Predict which factors might cause specific outcomes
→ formulating predictions
eg. What would happen if voting was no longer compulsory in Belgium?

Question 3

What is compared in this field?

Answer 3

! Seldom comparison of entire systems, rather components

(1) Structures:
• National political systems
• Sub-national political systems (regions)
• Supra-national units (supranational or international
organizations)

(2) Actors: voters, parties, social movements, …

(3) Processes: policymaking, government formation,
candidate selection, party finance regime

Question 4

Comparative Politics before WWII

Answer 4

Mainly analysis of the state and its institutions

• 3 state powers (legislative, executive, judiciary)
• Formal analysis of constitutional texts and legal documents (legalistic study)
• Study of formal political institutions in West-Europe and North-America
• Idea of convergence towards Western models of political order

Question 5

Comparative Politics in 1950’s 1960’s

Answer 5

Behavioural revolution + new cases

Shift away from institutions; politics in practice
Broadening geographical and historical scope:
• Communism, dictatorships, post-colonialism
• Other types of democracies (consensus) Consequences:
• Increased variety of political systems
• Role of non-formal institutions (parties, interest groups, media, etc)
• New methodology (empirical data, large N, statistics, systematic
data collection)
• A new “language“ (‘state’ ‘system’; systemic functionalism: Easton)

Question 6

What does the new language in Comparative Politics mean?

Answer 6

It belongs to systematic functionalism.

Many of the concepts and categories used in traditional comparative politics did not fit the “new cases“
• Western concepts did not travel well

Search for more general and universal categories
eg. State → political system (Easton)

Question 7

Comparative politics since 1967..

Answer 7

High level of abstraction of systemic approach leads to counter-reactions -> back to institutions.

Shift of substantial focus: new focus on states and their
institutions (new institutionalism):
- Historical institutionalism
- Sociological/normative institutionalism
- Rational choice institutionalism
-Narrowing of geographical scope (importance of historical structures, cultural elements, etc.):
 Mid-range theories
 grounded theory
-Change of methodology:
case-oriented
 back to small “N”
- Theoretical turn to ‘rational choice theory’:
 focus on actors as rational and self-interested
 institutions as constraining actors’ possibilities

Question 8

Methods in comparative politics differ with respect to:

Answer 8

–>Research design:
• Intensive research design: small N, many variables
• Extensive research design: large N, few variables
–>Dimensions:
• Spatial comparison (cross-sectional/synchronic)
• Functional comparison (cross-organizational)
• Longitudinal comparison (cross-temporal/diachronic)
–> Unit of analysis: single actors, institutions, processes
–>Focus on similarities or differences (cf. infra)

Question 9

Cyclical process in methods in comparative politics:

Answer 9

--> Before behavioural shift:
• Small N, case-oriented
--> Behavioural revolution:
• Large N, variable oriented
•‘Quantified’, statistical techniques
--> More recently:
• Return to small N, case-oriented
• AND focus on parsimonious explanatory designs

Question 10

Two types of data:

Answer 10

 Aggregate or ecological data:
available at some territorial level (e.g. election results)

 Individual data:
information attributable to an individual

Question 11

Recovery of ecological data from 1970s onwards:

Answer 11

• Creation of international networks and datasets for
comparable ‘hard data’ worldwide
• Individual data have limitations as compared to
aggregate data sets:
• highly subjective
• very costly
• lack of long time series

 Towards a combination of both type of data

Question 12

At the broadest level, political theories can be

categorized as:

Answer 12

• Positivist: Facts are real and observable

* Constructivist: Facts are socially constructed

Question 13

Why is theory the best friend of comparative researchers?

Answer 13

• Necessary for interpreting & generating analytical insights
• Provides links between empirical facts, between micro- and
macro-behaviour
• Provides scholars with puzzles to be addressed

Question 14

Theory is worst enemy of comparative researcher

Answer 14

• Theory is a blinder; tendency to find support for it
• Theories cannot provide full, comprehensive explanation
• Need for triangulation
• Testing multiple theories is costly

Question 15

Grand theories =

Answer 15

encompassing, claim to integrate all cases (eg. structural functionalism, systems theory,
Marxism, …)
• Limited explanatory capacity

Question 16

Middle-range theories =

Answer 16

apply to a more specific geographical, political and historical context
• Generalize within well-specified boundaries

Question 17

What are the theoretical approaches of comparative politics, explaining politics in comparative perspective?

Answer 17

The five "I"s = main approaches
• Institutions
• Interests
• Ideas
• Individuals
• International environment

The five approaches interact with each other

Question 18

Main approac: Institutions

Answer 18

Structures matter
 institutions shape and constrain behaviour of individuals
Institutional analysis = the root of comparative politics, cf.
initial focus on central state institutions & constitutions
political sociology, more focus on behaviour

 New institutionalism: centrality of institutions
• Normative/sociological institutionalism
• Rational choice institutionalism
• Historical institutionalism
 Institutionalist approaches stress importance of initial
structures and choices (incrementalism)
•BUT weak in explaining change

Question 19

Main approach: Interests

Answer 19

 Narrow and deterministic interpretation:
- rational choice analysis: Individuals are selfinterested utility maximizers and engage in political
action to receive benefits and avoid costs
(of lesser interest to comparative politics)

 Broader interpretation:
- Mixture of individual and collective interests (identity)
- Corporatism: strong involvement of societal interest
groups in developing policy (direct access) in return for
reliability (no strikes) leads to less conflict
( = importance of societal interests)
- Network theory, different approaches:
- Self-organising networks now provide governance,
as governments are no longer able to
-Forms of interest involvement in governing
- Consociationalism: elites representing different
communities come together around the need to govern, even in case of severe social divisions (Netherlands, Belgium, Canada, Columbia)

Question 20

Main approach: Ideas

Answer 20

 Ideas matter for outcome: How should society look like?:

• Political culture (e.g. trust and distrust)
• Ideologies (communism, fascism, neoliberalism)
• Policy ideas (Keynesian economics, welfare state)

 But effect of ideas is difficult to measure, political culture often ‘residual’ explanation
Example: Importance of social capital in explaining
regional differences in Italy (Putnam)

Question 21

Main approach: Individuals

Answer 21

 Elite level
• Individual leaders are important for understanding
governing
• Importance of personality, social roots, recruitment
• A prominent approach in political psychology (e.g.
presidential styles)

 Mass level
• Sociological approaches stress the importance of social
backgrounds (eg. cross-national voting behaviour)

Question 22

Main approach: International environment

Answer 22

 In comparative politics focus is on individual countries
 BUT: countries function in globalized environment, so
impossible to understand system in isolation
 Patterns can be mimetic or coercive (EU membership
criteria)
 Quid globalization, hierarchy of countries, diffusion, multilevel governance?
-> the Galton problem

Question 23

How to improve quality of research?

Answer 23

 Theory-building for comparing micro-level behaviour of individuals with macro-level behaviour of institutions.
 Use of multiple theories and methodologies when
analysing the same phenomenon
 Case studies that focus on complex interactions and
dynamics of political processes and their environments

–>Stronger focus on:

 Processes
- Emphasis on dynamics and underlying processes of
politics (instead of static analysis of institutions, ideas,
etc.)
- eg. candidate selection processes

 Outcomes
 Dependent variables in CP vary according to
approaches
 ‘Governance’ as ultimate dependent variable?

Question 24

What is the TRIAD?

Answer 24

The research design (RD) can be considered to be a

“bridge” between research question (RQ) and the research answer (RA).

Question 25

What is a theory in it simplest form?

Answer 25

a (casual) relationship between two real-world phenomena – the independent (X) and the dependent (Y) variable
 Examples:
- Ballot structure (X) → # Personal votes (Y)
- Party Age (X) → Party spending behaviour (Y)

Question 26

How can typologies be used?

Answer 26

They can be used as first step to simplify reality and untangle variable (= descriptive abstraction, no causal relationship).

Question 27

What is a comparative method?

Answer 27

 The Research Design links Research Question (theory) to the Research Answer (evidence) by means of comparative methods
 Conclusions are drawn from comparisons not
experiments (quasi-experimental method)
 Quasi-experimental method enables to make
inferences = deductions that go beyond the immediate
collected data

Question 28

Research needs to adhere to certain “standards”. Which?

Answer 28

 Reliability: findings can be trusted (based on correct
information and controlled for other possible
explanations)
 Validity
• Internal validity: whether inferences are correct for
most/all cases under inspection
• External validity: whether results are valid for other
more or less similar cases not included in research
• Generalizability: findings do not depend on specific
context of case, but hold on a more abstract level

Question 29

What is as intensive research strategy?

Answer 29

Few cases and many variables

Question 30

What is an extensive research strategy?

Answer 30

Many cases and few variables

Question 31

Five types of RDs can be distinguished. Which?

Answer 31

• Case study: One case at one time point
• Time series: One case over time
• Closed universe: Relevant cases in relevant periods
• Cross section: All cases at one time
• Pooled analysis: Maximizing cases across time

Question 32

The case selection depends on what?

Answer 32

• The theoretical relationship under review

* Type of required and available empirical information

Question 33

What is the method of agreement?

Answer 33

Search for commonalities among dissimilar cases

• Uses the Most Different Systems Design (MDSD):
- Selection of cases that are dissimilar on many
features which are not part of the X  Y relation
- Elimination of irrelevant variables

Question 34

What is the method of difference?

Answer 34

Search for differences among similar cases (e.g. EUcountries).

Uses the Most Similar Systems Design (MSSD):
- Selection of cases which show similar features that
are not part of the X  Y relation
- Positive identification of relevant variables

Question 35

Limitations of rules of comparison:

Answer 35

• No list of potential causes
• Assumes that only one factor is the unique cause,
whereas in reality the cause might be a combination of
factors

Question 36

QCA and fuzzy-set logic (Ragin 2008)

Answer 36

• Attempts to cater for multiple causalities
• Many variables / medium number of cases
• Which combination of factors explains outcome?
• Based on Boolean algebra

Question 37

What is conceptual stretching?

Answer 37

Concept developed for one set of cases is extended to additional cases to which features of concept do not apply
in same manner