Comparative Politics fall 2026 American University with Bachiyska

What is comparative politics?

The systematic study of political systems, institutions, behavior, and outcomes across political units to explain similarities, differences, and causes.

What is a theory in comparative politics?

An explanation of how and why political phenomena are related, which can be evaluated against evidence.

What is the micro level of analysis?

Analysis of individuals, leaders, voters, and their political choices or perceptions.

What is the meso level of analysis?

Analysis of parties, bureaucracies, unions, businesses, social groups, and other organizations.

What is the macro level of analysis?

Analysis of states, regimes, whole economies, and large political or international structures.

What is research design?

A plan for formulating a question, selecting cases, operationalizing concepts, gathering evidence, and assessing alternative causal explanations.

What is a dependent variable?

The outcome a study attempts to explain, such as democratic survival or regime breakdown.

What is an independent variable?

A proposed cause of the dependent variable, such as economic development or constitutional design.

What is a control variable?

A factor considered or held constant to clarify whether a proposed independent variable helps explain an outcome.

What is operationalization?

Translating an abstract concept, such as stability, into measurable observations, such as regime breakdowns.

What is a falsifiable hypothesis?

A specific prediction that evidence could potentially demonstrate to be false.

What is correlation?

Two variables vary together; correlation by itself does not establish a causal relationship.

What is causation?

A change in one factor contributes to producing a change in another; it requires evidence beyond correlation.

What is reverse causation?

The possibility that the proposed outcome actually influences the proposed cause; democracy might influence development rather than only the reverse.

What is a confounding variable?

A third factor related to both the independent and dependent variables that may distort the apparent relationship.

What is selection bias?

Choosing cases in a way that systematically distorts the evidence or conclusions.

What is an omitted-variable problem?

Ignoring a relevant explanatory factor that could change the estimated relationship.

What is the small-N problem?

Too few cases relative to many possible causes, making it hard to distinguish competing explanations.

What is Most Similar Systems Design (MSSD)?

Compare cases alike on relevant background factors but different in the outcome; investigate what explains their divergence.

What is Most Different Systems Design (MDSD)?

Compare very different cases that share an outcome; investigate possible common causes.

Provide a country comparison suitable for MSSD.

UK versus France: both advanced Western European democracies, but with different paths of constitutional development and executive arrangements.

Provide a country comparison suitable for MDSD.

UK versus Japan: historically and culturally different, but both are parliamentary constitutional monarchies.

Why can't MSSD or MDSD prove causation automatically?

The cases can still differ in omitted factors, and small samples cannot isolate every plausible explanation.

What is qualitative political research?

In-depth analysis using historical sources, interviews, institutional evidence, case studies, or process tracing.

What is quantitative political research?

Using numeric measures such as election results, GDP, surveys, and regime indicators to identify or test broader patterns.

What is process tracing?

Reconstructing the sequence of events and mechanisms connecting a potential cause to an observed political outcome.

What is mixed-methods research?

Combining quantitative comparisons with detailed qualitative investigations to evaluate and explain political patterns.

What are Lijphart's four methods of inquiry?

Experimental, statistical, comparative, and case-study methods.

What is Lijphart's central methodological warning?

Comparative research faces 'many variables, small N': many possible explanations but relatively few country cases.

How does Lijphart suggest improving comparative research?

Increase cases if possible, choose comparable cases, reduce irrelevant explanatory variables, and define concepts precisely.

What are Lichbach and Zuckerman's three research traditions?

Rationalism, culturalism, and structuralism.

What does rationalism explain?

Political action through interests, incentives, strategic calculations, and the consequences actors expect from different choices.

What does culturalism explain?

Political behavior through norms, identities, beliefs, historical meanings, and shared political values.

What does structuralism explain?

Political outcomes through institutions, class structures, economic relationships, and other large-scale constraints.

How can all three research traditions explain Weimar's collapse?

Rationalist: elite strategies; culturalist: anti-democratic beliefs; structuralist: economic crisis and institutional weakness.

What are political institutions?

Durable formal or informal rules, organizations, and patterns of activity that structure political behavior and expectations.

What is a formal political institution?

A rule or organization officially established in law, such as a constitution, parliament, court, or election system.

What is an informal political institution?

An unwritten but recurring political practice, such as party discipline, patronage, or candidate support networks.

What is institutionalization?

A process by which institutions become stable, accepted, and reproduced through political practice.

What is Max Weber's definition of the state?

A human community that successfully claims the monopoly of the legitimate use of physical force within a given territory.

Does Weber's monopoly of legitimate force mean nobody outside government may use force?

No. The state claims the ultimate authority to authorize legitimate coercion; it can permit others to use force under its rules.

Distinguish state from government.

The state is an enduring structure of sovereign public authority; a government is the current officeholders exercising authority.

Distinguish government from regime.

A government is the current administration; a regime is the system of rules determining how rulers acquire and exercise power.

What is a nation?

A group of people sharing a perceived collective identity, often through history, culture, or political belonging; it is distinct from a state.

What are three Weberian types of legitimate authority?

Traditional, charismatic, and legal-rational authority.

What is traditional authority?

Obedience based on custom, inheritance, and the belief that longstanding arrangements are rightful; historical monarchy is an example.

What is charismatic authority?

Obedience based on perceived extraordinary qualities and personal devotion to a leader; it may weaken when that leader departs.

What is legal-rational authority?

Obedience to impersonal laws and offices rather than an individual; modern constitutional bureaucracy is an example.

What is an ideal type in Weberian analysis?

An analytical model emphasizing distinctive characteristics; real regimes may combine several authority types.

What is patrimonialism?

Personalized rule in which officials and political resources depend heavily on the ruler's personal patronage and loyalty networks.

What is the difference between patrimonialism and legal-rational bureaucracy?

Patrimonialism centers personal dependence; legal-rational bureaucracy centers impersonal offices, procedures, and rules.

What is Weber's distinction between living for politics and living off politics?

Living for politics means treating political work as a cause or vocation; living off politics means relying on it for income or material support. The two can coexist.

What is political authority?

A recognized right to issue binding decisions or commands.

What is state capacity?

The practical ability to collect resources, implement policy, enforce decisions, administer justice, and govern territory.

What is political legitimacy?

The belief that rulers or governing institutions possess a rightful claim to authority; it is not identical to popularity.

Can an authoritarian government claim legitimacy?

Yes. It may rely on tradition, ideology, nationalism, economic performance, charisma, or perceived order without democratic accountability.

What is a strong state in state-capacity terms?

A state able to reliably implement decisions, enforce law, collect taxes, and administer public functions.

What is political stability?

Continuity and predictability of political order, institutions, and rules; it is not the same as permanent rule by one party.

What is the difference between government stability and regime stability?

Government stability concerns cabinet/administration tenure; regime stability concerns continuity of the overall rules governing power.

What is a unitary state?

A state where ultimate constitutional authority rests at the national level, though powers may be delegated or devolved locally.

What is federalism?

A constitutional arrangement dividing governing authority between national and regional governments.

What is devolution?

Transfer of defined governmental responsibilities from central government to regional institutions, as in Scotland and Wales.

What is a confederation?

A looser union of largely sovereign states delegating limited functions to common bodies.

How do Schmitter and Karl define modern political democracy?

Government rulers are accountable to citizens through competition and cooperation among elected representatives, within meaningful citizenship and participation.

What is electoralism?

The mistaken assumption that the mere existence of elections proves a regime is democratic.

What is contingent consent in democratic politics?

Political winners and losers accept the results and common rules because each expects the possibility of future competition.

What is bounded uncertainty in democracy?

Electoral winners should be uncertain, while accepted rules for competition and transferring power remain predictable.

What do Schmitter and Karl mean by political accountability?

Rulers must be answerable to citizens through representative institutions and meaningful political competition, not merely hold ceremonial elections.

What is Przeworski et al.'s minimalist democracy test?

Opposition must have a genuine chance to contest elections, win, take office, and compete again.

What is ex ante electoral uncertainty?

Before an election, the opposition has a real possibility of winning.

What is ex post electoral irreversibility?

After an election, the winner is actually permitted to assume office.

What is electoral repeatability?

Competitive elections recur, allowing losers another opportunity to compete.

What is Przeworski et al.'s key finding about wealth and democratic survival?

In the historical study, wealthier democracies were much more likely to endure; prosperity did not automatically create democracy.

What other factors did Przeworski et al. associate with democracy enduring?

Growth, moderate inflation, declining inequality, favorable international conditions, and parliamentary institutions in their historical analysis.

What is the crucial distinction between democratic transition and survival?

Becoming a democracy is different from surviving as one; economic development may support survival without necessarily causing transition.

What is parliamentary democracy?

The cabinet is politically responsible to the legislature; the prime minister usually depends on legislative confidence.

What is a presidential system?

A president holds separately constituted executive authority and does not depend on an ordinary parliamentary confidence relationship in the same way as a parliamentary cabinet.

What is semi-presidentialism?

A directly elected president coexists with a prime minister and cabinet politically responsible to the legislature; the balance of power varies.

What is first-past-the-post voting (FPTP)?

One candidate wins the district by obtaining more votes than each other candidate, without necessarily exceeding 50%.

What is proportional representation (PR)?

Legislative seats are distributed broadly in relation to party vote shares, subject to institutional rules and thresholds.

What is a two-round electoral system?

Another voting round takes place if first-round conditions are unmet; French presidential elections use a top-two runoff.

What is mixed-member proportional (MMP)?

District and party votes are combined so that total seats broadly reflect party-vote support, as in Germany.

What is a parallel mixed electoral system?

District and proportional seats are allocated separately without full overall compensation, as in Japan.

What is a critical juncture?

A period when major disruption opens multiple possible institutional paths; later choices can shape long-term development.

What is path dependence?

Historical institutions and decisions influence later political possibilities, without making outcomes inevitable.

Why is a democratic election more than a voting procedure?

Effective democracy requires meaningful opposition, public information, fair competition, and the real possibility of a peaceful transfer of power.

What is competitive authoritarianism?

A regime with meaningful formal electoral institutions but persistent incumbent abuses that make competition systematically unfair.

How does competitive authoritarianism differ from closed authoritarianism?

Competitive authoritarian regimes leave opponents some meaningful possibility to compete; closed regimes restrict that possibility more extensively.

What is political culture?

Shared beliefs, values, attitudes, and expectations regarding government, participation, identity, and political authority.

Can strong state capacity exist without democracy?

Yes; coercive or administrative effectiveness and democratic accountability are distinct dimensions of political systems.

What is political economy?

Study of the reciprocal relationship between political institutions and economic production, ownership, distribution, and policy.

What is capitalism?

An economic system organized primarily around private ownership, markets, wage labor, profit incentives, and competition.

What is communism in the historical Soviet-system sense?

A Marxist-Leninist one-party system with extensive state ownership and central economic planning; distinct from Marx's ultimate classless ideal.

What is social democracy?

Capitalist markets combined with redistribution, broad social insurance, workers' protections, and public services.

What is neomercantilism?

Strategic state intervention—such as industrial policy, export promotion, or support for national firms—to enhance economic security and national power.

What is a social market economy?

Capitalism combining private enterprise and competition with social insurance, labor protections, and coordinated economic institutions; associated with Germany.

What is dirigisme?

A French statist approach in which government actively directs, coordinates, or supports strategic economic development within capitalism.

Among the professor's four economic labels, which is dirigisme most like?

Neomercantilism is the closest conceptual match because it emphasizes strategic state intervention, though France's exact course classification should be confirmed.

What is state capitalism?

An economy with markets and some private ownership but significant government ownership or political direction of strategic enterprises.

What is industrial policy?

Government efforts to develop selected sectors, technologies, or productive capabilities through investment, incentives, and coordination.