Introduction to Comparative Politics Potential/Practice Exam Questions - GRADE 7,0
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Politicologie
Introduction to political science (IPOL)
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Mccormick, Hague & Harrop
Chapter 1
Democracy: a political system in which government is based on a fair and open mandate
from all qualified citizens of a state
The term government is usually used to describe the highest level of political offices in a
society: presidents, prime ministers, legislatures, governors, mayors, and others at the apex
of power. But government usually consists of all organizations charged with reaching and
executing decisions for a community. Government is the entire community of institutions
endowed with public authority.
Political system: The interactions and organizations through which a society reaches and
successfully enforces collective decisions.
Governance directs our attention away from government’s command-and-control function
towards the broader task of public regulation, a role which ruling politicians in democracies
share with other bodies. Governance also refers to what the institutions of government do
and to how well or badly they do it.
3 aspects of politics:
It is a collective activity, occurring between and among people.
It involves making decisions regarding a course of action to take, or a disagreement
to be resolved
Once reached, political decisions become authoritative policy for the group, binding
and committing its members
Aristotle .the ideal citizens rule in the interests of all, not because they are forced to by
checks and balances, but because they see its right to do so’
Aristotles first dimension Aristotles second dimension
The number of people involved in the task Whether rulers governed in the common
of governing interests or in their own interest
Dimensions of power Core question Core quality
(Lukes)
First Who prevails when Decisions are made on
preferences conflict? issues over which there is an
observable conflict of
interests
Second Who controls whether Decisions are prevented
preferences are expressed? from being taken on
potential issues over which
there is an observable
conflict of interests
, Third Who shapes preferences? Potential issues are kept out
of politics, whether through
social forces, institutional
practices, or the decisions of
individuals
Where power is the capacity to act, authority is the acknowledged right to do so.
When a state is widely accepted by its citizens, and by other states with which it deals, we
describe it as legitimate. Legitimacy is a more political concept, referring to whether people
accept the authority of a state, without which its very existence is in question.
Ideology: any system of thought expressing a view on human nature, the proper relationship
between state and society, and the individual’s position within this order.
Anarchism All forms of governmental authority are unnecessary, and society is best
structured around voluntary cooperation and free association
Marxism Elimination of the state system and private property will lead to the creation of
a classless, non-exploitive and self-governing society
Liberalism Individuals are the best judges of their own interests. Advocates a tolerant
society which maximizes personal freedom, and favours a government which is limted but
freely elected
Conservatism Traditional institutions and practices work best, the free market is the most
efficient at meeting societal needs, and government should be as decentralized as possible
Fascism Supports the achievement of national unity through an authoritarian state,
strong leadership, mass mobilization, and an emphasis on nationalism and militarism
To be on the right implied support for aristocratic, royal and clerical interests, while being on
the left implied support for a secular republic and civil liberties. The left is associated with
equality, human rights and reform, while the right favours tradition, established authority
and pursuit of the national interest.
Comparative politics will improve our understanding of government and politics. It also
allows us to learn about places with which we are unfamiliar. Lastly, it helps us make
generalizations that can, in theory at least, help us predict the outcome of political events.
Typology: A system of classification by which states, institutions, processes, political
cultures, and so on are divided into groups or types with common sets of attributes
Three worlds system: A political typology that divided the world along ideological lines, with
states labelled according to the side they took in the Cold War
GDP: the sum of the value of the domestic and foreign economic output of the residents of a
country in a given year, and is usually converted to the US dollars to allow comparison
Chapter 3
Case study method: The intensive study of a single case for the purpose of understanding a
larger class of classes. The focus of this study might be an event, a policy, or a political
institution or process. The greatest advantage of a single case is that it offers an in-depth,
, real-world understanding of a phenomenon, a clearly defined example that helps to
illustrate a wider principle.
Case study techniques:
Reading the academic literature
Examining primary and secondary sources
Interviews with participants and other observers in the unit
Direct observation, either as a .fly on the wall’ or as a participant
Four particular types of comparative politics:
Representative this is the workhorse of case studies, as useful as it is undramatic, and
often focused on the home country of a researcher. A collection of representative case
studies can go on to provide the raw material for comparative generalization by other
scholars taking a wider approach.
Prototypical Is chosen not because it is representative but because it is expected to
become so. The point here is that studying a pioneer can help us understand a phenomenon
which might become more widely significant. One of the dangers of a prototypical case is
that it is based on a bet on the future and may come to nothing if it is not adopted more
widely.
Exemplary Looks to the past in the sense that they are the archetypes that are considered
to have generated the category of which they are taken as representative.
Deviant To seek out the exceptional and the atypical, rather than the usual: the few
countries which remain communist, for example, or poor countries that have managed to be
democratic. Deviant cases are often used to tidy up our understanding of exceptions and
anomalies. The danger is over-study: comparative politics should be more than a collection
of curios.
Critical Enables a proposition to be tested in the circumstances least favourable to its
validity. The logic is simple: If it is true here, then it is true everywhere. A critical case design
builds a potential for generalization into a single investigation but involves a bet that the
relevant proposition will, in fact, be confirmed in the conditions least favourable to its
validity.
Qualitive method: What we usually associate with the comparative method, and although it
can involve comparing many cases, it most often concentrates on the intensive examination
of two cases, three cases or a few cases.
Qualitive study techniques:
A limited number of cases are studied in depth
It tends to be descriptive rather than predictive
An effort is made to understand the interaction of multiple variables
Meaning is allowed to emerge from the objects of study
Observation is the main means of data collection
Phenomena are studied within their natural setting
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