Summary

Summary - Introduction to Vergelijke Politiek

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Course
Inleiding Vergelijke Politiek

Institution
Universiteit Leiden (UL)

samenvatting van alle 12 hoorcolleges van inleiding vergelijkende politiek. Onderwerpen: the state and democratic regimes, non-democratic & hybrid regimes, political participation and political culture, elections and elctoral systems, electoral behaviour, political parties and party systems, in...

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Uploaded on June 12, 2024
Number of pages 54
Written in 2023/2024
Type Summary

comparative politics
democratic regimes
non democratic regimes
party systems
electoral behavior

Institution
Universiteit Leiden (UL)
Education
Internationale Politiek
Course
Inleiding Vergelijke Politiek

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Inleiding Vergelijkende Politiek

Hoorcollege 1
Comparative politics is a subfield of political science (next to political theory (normative) &
international relations (empirical))
Comparative politics has the same focus on empirical questions (>> why do young people
participate politically differently than[comparison:] older people?)

Level of analysis is different between comparative politics and international relations.
cp >> a political system

Comparative politics is a subfield of political science that studies political structures, actors
and processes within a political system and analyzes them empirically by exploring their
similarities and differences across political systems.

implication: cp is defined by substance (political structures, actors and processes within a
political system) and its method (analyzes them empirically by exploring their similarities and
differences across political systems).
The substance is extremely broad, so what defines cp is the method of comparing.\

Why comparison?
> (people almost always implicitly compare)
> you learn about other countries (and with gathering information about another country, you
learn about your own)
> comparison allows us to create classification/typologies (which allows you to cluster
differences with common attributes in classes)
> comparison allows us to test hypothesis, political science is full of hypotheses. Cp is a way
to test/verify hypothesis
> making predictions of real life politics. If you have a sound analysis you can do predictions.

Comparative methods
= rules and standards of comparative analysis (methods to compare): how should a
comparison be carried out in order to enhance or improve description/classification/theory
testing/prediction.

key problems in comparative politics:
1. cp focuses on very different units of analysis (state/country is seldom a unit of
analysis, much more often different components or aspects of political
systems[substance^^]);
2. there is not one single comparative method, different cms are distinguished by the
number of cases that you employ in comparative analysis.

>> Lijphart (1971) methods in comparative politics
● Case Study Method; focusses on one case
● Comparative Method; small-n comparison
● Statistical Method; large-n comparison
● (Experimental Method)

,Case Study Method
= intensive examination of one particular case and the context in which it exists
if it’s one case, why is it comparative? What is the comparative component?
> yes, when you study something to be an example of a representative
classification/typology
> no, when it isn’t a representative example from a phenomenon in other substances
(countries/political actors/…)

Advantage case study: case studies are holistic>> you can easily figure out all aspects
Disadvantage case study: you will never know how generalisable your findings of the case
study are

there are three type of case studies:
- representative case study
you study something that is representative for other substances in their
classification/typology
- deviant case study
identifies and examines an exception to what is generally expected from an established
theory
bijv.: Nederland kon niet bestaan in de tijd van verzuiling
- theory-testing case study
probing a theory in a new empirical context to which it is supposed to apply (test a theory in
a case, does the theory explain the case?) >> to make the theory stronger, does the theory
also apply in another empirical context to which we might reasonably expect the theory to
apply?

Comparative Method
(Small-N) = a systematic analysis of a small number of cases
How much is “small-N”? It's not easy to say precisely.

Problems of a small-N comparison:
> too few cases, too many variables; how can you be sure that the other variables aren’t the
explanation but yours is?
solution:
➔ increase N: but you will quickly run out of cases on which the theory applies
(so this is not always the best possible strategy)/conceptual stretching: you
apply the theory to a context that it should never apply in order to get more
cases into your analysis.
➔ MSSD (Most Similar System Design): you select for the comparative analysis
cases that are similar in a lot of aspects but not the one you’re trying to
explain, so there can’t be a different explanation
by selecting your cases, you control for variance that might be an alternative
explanation for the phenomenon that you try to explain.
> selection on dependent variable; what about other cases with the same variables but
different explanations(different dependent variable)?
solution:

, ➔ MDSD (Most Dissimilar System Design): choose all possible cases that are
different in independent variables and select one common factor as a possible
explanation (so don’t choose the cases based on the dependent variable).

Advantage small-N comparison:
a more robust conclusion then a case study, while you are still reasonably sensitive to the
context.
Disadvantages small-N comparison:
how robust are your findings? how representative is it (or not)? Do you suffer from a
selection bias (or not)?

Statistical Method
(Large-N) = comparative method based on a large N of cases, using statistical techniques to
examine relationships between variables. (statistics).

difference with small-N comparison:
- how you measure your dependent (what is to be explained?) and independent
variables (what is the explanation?): Large-N measures by numerical indicators,
small-N measures by concept
- how you generate/draw your conclusion
- small-N (and case study): interpretative
- large-N: statistical

Advantage large-N comparison: if you have the available data and a large dataset you can
really test your relationships with a very large-N of cases >> you may reach very robust
conclusions that a small-N (or case study) can never reach
Disadvantage large-N comparison: once you start to use numerical indicators, anything
contextual completely disappears into a number

Conclusions:
- cp is an important subfield of political science
- cp is a very valuable tool in advancing our understanding of some sort of political
phenomenon >> and thus for studying politics
- the plurality of comparative methods; there is no one comparative method

Hoorcollege 2
Keypoints:
● All representative democracies are organized within the framework of a state
● All non-democratic regimes are organized within the framework of a state
● Hybrid regimes are also organized within a large framework of a state

The state is the most powerful political unit.

Modern state
In history non-state polities are the norm (societies organized on non-state basis)

Controversy around the concept of the state:
1. Should we desire a state as a form of organization?

, two positions: Leviathan from Thomas Hobbes versus The Dawn of Everything from David
Graeber and David Wengrow

> Leviathan, Thomas Hobbes
Before the arrival of states, life was short and brutish, violent, anarchy and with tribes.
Hobbes associates the arrival of the states with modernization, peace and prosperity.

> The Dawn of Everything, David Graeber and David Wengrow
Many of the non-state polities (before the modern state arrived) were even more democratic
and prosperous than with the arrival of modern states.

2. Is the state still meaningful?
There are three types of processes/forces that hollow out the importance of the
contemporary state.
1) forces of globalization undermine the politiesforming capacity
2) marketization is supposed to replace the state as the provider of the basic
goods and services within the community (supplying food etc.)
3) forces of localism (opposite of globalization), strengthens regional and local
identities at the expense of the state

What is a modern state?
= a polity characterized by complex set of institutions, territorially bound, which enjoys
authoritative rule-making authority backed up by a monopoly of the means of violence
(sovereignty)

So the key features of a state are:
● complex set of institutions >> like bureaucracies, parliaments, regional governments,
courts, etc.
● territory >> each state has a territory that it considers their own
● sovereignty >> there is no higher authority than the state, the state has ultimate
power and authority over the territory and the citizens.
● monopoly of the means of violence

There is a distinction to make between internal sovereignty & external sovereignty
Internal sovereignty = the state should be independent of any kind of internal force that might
challenge it
External sovereignty = the state is recognized by other states

quasistates = states that either don’t have external sovereignty, or internal sovereignty or
lack both.

Monopoly of the means of violence = exclusive entitlement to control and imploy
organized violence over their territory and citizens, there is no other violent actor; a modern
state needs this because if they don’t it ceases to exist and becomes a quasi state or a failed
state (non-functional modern state)

Questions about the states

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