This is an amazing summary of the book that is compulsory for Introduction to comparative politics. I used this summary and got a 40/40 for the exam. Trust me, it is thorough and contains all the essentials you should know.
Conception: builds on concept by describing understandings, perspectives or
interpretations of concept
Social science
GOVERNMENT AND GOVERNANCE
Government
o popular use: G = highest level of political appointments
o wider conception: G= entire community of institutions endowed w public authority
Political system
Governance
Thomas Hobbes
o made the classic case for the institution of G in 17th century: 1651 Leviathan
o G provides us w protection from harm we would otherwise inflict on each other in our
quest for gain and glory
POLITICS
3 aspects of politics are clear
o 1) It is a collective activity, occuring btwn and among people
o 2) It involves making decisions on matters affecting 2 or more people
o 3) Pol decisions become authoritative policy, binding and committing its members
Politics
o is necessary bc of social nature of human
o is fundamental activity, bc group that fails to reach some decisions will cease to exist
o boundaries politics: less precise
o possesses a hard edge authoritatively in def David Easton
o as a concept: process of making and executing collective decisions
o realistically: competitive struggle for power btwn people seeking own advantage
Politics as a community serving activity
o Traced back to Ancient Greeks: Aristotle (384-322 BCE)
Man is by nature a political animal
politics: unavoidable, highest human activity
politics: form of education
, o continuation of Aristotle’s perspective: those who interpret politics as
peaceful process of open discussion leading to collective decisions acceptable to all
stakeholders in society
Bernard Crick
Harold Lasswell
o Politics: ‘who gets what, when, how’
POWER
Power
Steven Lukes 3 dimensions of power
o 1) Who prevails when preferences conflict?
power: judged by examining whose views prevail whn actors involved possess
conflicting views on what should be done
o 2) Who controls whether preferences are expressed?
focuses on capacity to keep issues off the pol agenda
o 3) Who shapes preferences?
broadens conception of power: power covers the formation (not only the expression)
of preferences
THE STATE, AUTHORITY, AND LEGITIMACY
State
o Aka country, but state = more pol term
Authority
Max Weber 3 ways of validitating pol power
o 1) by tradition
accepted way of doing things
o 2) by charisma
intense commitment to the leader and his message
o 3) by appeal to legal-rational norms
based on rule-governed powers of an office rather than a person
Legitimacy
o builds on, but is broader than authority
o auth of an official, but legitimacy of a regime
o legitimare: ‘ to declare lawful’ more than legality
IDEOLOGY
Ideology
o coined by Antoine Destutt de Tray during 1790s
, o system of thought expressing a view on
human nature
proper org of and relationship btwn state and society
individuals position within this prescribed order
Five major ideologies
o anarchism
o marxism
o liberalism
o conservatism
o fascism
COMPARATIVE POLITICS
Comparative politics
Broadening understanding
Strength comp approach improves understanding of G and politics
Practical benefit: allows us to learn about places w which we are unfamiliar
o W.B. Munro
Predicting political outcomes
Permits generalizations which have soms potential for predictions
Do not generate laws so much as theories, ,tendencies, likelihoods
o Latter: Lord Acton’s ‘Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely’
Karl Popper
CLASSIFYING POLITICAL SYSTEMS
Typology
Typology advantages
o work more easily
o develop explanaitions and rules
o to test theories
No universally agreed system of pol classification/typology
o 1) First system: Aristotle’s classification of 158 city states of ancient greece
o 2) Second attempt to build a typology: The Spirit of the Laws
Treatise written by Charles de Secondat, Baron de Montesquieu, published in 1748
, 1) Aristotle based his scheme on 2 dimensions
o First: # of people involved in task of governing
One; few; many
o Second: whether rulers governed in the
common interest: ‘the genuine form’
or their own interest: ‘the perverted form’
2) Montesquieu identified 3 kinds of pol system
o republican systems: people or some of people have supreme power
o monarchical systems: one person ruled on basis of fixed/establ laws
o despotic systems: single person ruled on basis of own priorities/perspectives
Three Worlds system
o dividing world in 3 groups of countries based on ideological goals/pol alliances
Political economy
Gross national income
2 options for classifying pol systems
o Democracy index
o Freedom in the world index
CHAPTER 2: THE STATE
THE STATE: AN OVERVIEW
Before modern state, G mainly consisted of kingdoms, empires and cities
Modern idea of the state emerged in Europe between the 16th and 18th centuries
WHAT IS A STATE?
State
o usual benchmark for understanding state is the classic definition offered by Max Weber
o much of theoretical justification for state is provided by idea of sovereignty
Sovereignty
o Sovereign: originally meant ‘one seated above’
o sovereign body is one inst unlimited by higher authority
o formal right to make laws does not imply that sovereign is omnipotent
o sovereignty is not a myth
o essence of sovereignty lies in an unqualified legal title
o inherent in the notion of the state is the idea of the citizen
Citizen
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