office hours: M/W 1:00-2:30 or F by appointment i like this guy
politics: the struggle in any group for power that will give one or more persons the ability to make decisions for the larger group
power: the ability to influence others or impose one's will on them
comparative politics: a subfield that compares the pursuit of power across countries
comparative politics denotes the method but does not specify the subject of the comparison
political institutions: democracy/authoritarianism, variation in democracies, electoral systems, judicial politics
political behavior: public opinion, voting and participation, protest, political violence
political economy: macroeconomics, policy, welfare state, development and underdevelopment, relationship between institutions and economic outcomes
inductive reasoning: means by which we go from studying a case to generating a hypothesis
deductive reasoning: beginning with the hypothesis and then seeks out evidence
7 problems of comparativism:
- controlling a large number of variables
- controlling for multicausality
- limited number of cases to research
- limited access to information from cases
- uneven research across cases and regions(researches focus on western europe)
- cases selected on the basis of effect and not cause(selection bias)
- variables may be either cause or effect(endogeneity)
state: the entire governing apparatus; monopoly
state(def 2): an organization that maintains a monopoly on violence within a territory
regime: set of rules that determines who controls the state; access and transfer of power
government: the current occupants of the office of the state
liberalism: freemarkes; economic liberalism; "liberty and equality"
principle goal of comparative politics:
- offers a thoery that answers a political question through explicit use of comparison in an attempt to control for potentially important factors
theory: demonstrates relationship between two variable; has rules that one can map onto a large number of real world cases; and provides internally consistent logic
theory(def 2): an integrated set of hypotheses, assumptions, and facts
static single country approach:
focus on a problem or issue in one country at one time
- positive: in depth account of a specific case at a specific time
- negative: no ability to infer causality; no point of comparison; inductive rather than deductive
dynamic single country approach:
comparison between one country at different points in time
- positive: assuming a country has changed little, better control
- negative: limited sample size; assumes nothing changed except for the variable of interest
most similar/different systems approach:
find countries that are similar in many ways but differ in one key way
- difficult to use and come up with theories
cross-national quantitative analysis:
analyzes large amounts of data from numerous cases
- positive: more comparisons and control; measures of confidence
- negative: can you find reliable measures? is there common ground or are there too many confounding variables?
qualitative: static single country case study; dynamic single country case study; most different/similar systems
quantitative: cross-national statistical analysis; experiments
few cases = less control, better account for case-specific factors
more cases = more control and generalizability, less detail and can potentially omit important factors
the state is highly institutionalized, sovreign, and some other stuff that i didnt have time to write
two paths to political organization:
consensus: individuals band together to protect themselves and create common rules; leadership chosen from people; cooperation --> democratic rule
coercion: individuals are brought together by a ruler who imposes authority and monopolizes power; security through domination --> authoritarian rule
the rise of the modern state:
- roman empire collapses
- replaced by roving bands of raiders
- much of europe reverted to anarchy entering the dark ages(early middle ages)
- this period of anarchy set the stage for the creation of the modern state
the modern state had 3 advantages over the previous organization(encouraged economic development, encouraged technological innovation, domestic stability)
legitimacy: value whereby something or someone is recognized and accepted as right and proper
traditional legitimacy: something is valid because it has always been that way
charismatic legitimacy: based on the power of individuals ideas or beliefs
rational-legal legitimacy: based on a system of laws and procedures in place
states are defined by distributions of power: federalist or unitary
federalism: regional bodies have power to tax, make laws, and maintain security; a strong central government reigns above them all
asymmetric federalism: certain regional bodies have more powers than another
state capacity: ability to impose laws; enforce taxes; and secure itself
state capacity(def 2): the ability of the state to wield power in order to carry out the basic tasks of providing security and reconciling freedom and equality
state(def 2): an organization that maintains a monopoly on violence within a territory
state failure: the state fails to secure territory and loses monopoly in all or a portion of it
autonomy: the ability of the state to wield its power independently of the public or international actors
brunei --> high capacity high autonomy
any direct democracy; switzerland --> low autonomy high capacity
north korea; uganda --> low capacity high autonomy
somalia; afghanistan --> low capacity low autonomy
sovreign state: has a constitution and makes laws
you can be independent and not sovreign
country capacity metrics: public sevices, ability to care for its citizens
democracy comes from demos meaning common people and kratia meaning power or rule
greece: public participation
rome: the concept of republicanism(separation of powers and representation of the public through elected officials)
england: the magna carta was designed to remove power from the king and provide it to the people
modernization theory: as societies become better educated and more economically sophisticated they seek control over the state and ability to defend your interests
elite-based theory: those in power may no longer see value in clinging to power, especially if they have an incentive in stepping down
civil society theory: civil society provides the ideas and tools of political action that allow small-scale democracy practice to spread
culture theory: differences in societal institutions, norms and values, shape the landscape of political activity
international relations: international pressure or incentives may cause elites to favor democracy
head of state: a role that swsymbolizes and represents the poeple, domestic and internationally, articulating goals of the regime
head of government: formulate and execute domestic policy, alongside a cabinet of ministers who are charged with specific policy areas
legislature: charged with making or at least passing legislation
bicameral system: two house legislature
unicameral system: one house legislature
judicial reivew: the ability of a judiciary to examine the constituionality of a law
rule of law: the sovreignty of the law/constitution over the individuals in a state
read the three waves of democratization by huntington
KNOW WHICH COUNTRIES DO NOT HAVE JUDICIAL REVIEW
huntington's three waves of democracy:
first wave: early 1800s to 1922:
- suffrage was granted to majority of white males in the US(Jacksonian Democracy)
- folllowed by france, britain, canada, australia, italy, argentina, and others(29 total democracies)
- breakup of the russian, german, austrian, and ottoman empries in 1918
- ended in 1922 with mussolini's rise to power
second wave: 1943-1962
post world war 2 spike in democracy due to the win of the allied powers and subsequent decolonization
third wave: 1972 to 1995
began with portugal's carnation revolution in 1974
- next 20 years, over 30 countries experienced some type of democratic transition
- peaked with the fall of soviet union
huntington's five general factors of the causes of the thrid wave
1. legitimacy problems of authoritarian regimes
2. economic growth of the 1960s
3. shift in the catholic church to opponents of auithoritarianism
4. changes in policies of external actors
5. snowball effect
how democracies die:
- rarely fall in miilitary coups but erode at the hands of elected politicians
- an authoritarian leader still operates using the constitution but subverts it
levitsky and ziblatt argue that the decline of norms is at the root of this erosion
- mutal toleration: parties must accpet each other as legitimate even if they strongly disagree
- instituional forbearance: restrain use of office powers, avoid actions that could destroy democratic norms or institutions