Comparative Politics Exam One (Modules 1 & 2)

First Wave of Democracy (1828–1926)

• Began with the extension of suffrage to the majority of white males in the US

• Spread gradually through Western Europe and parts of Latin America

• 29 countries democratized

Comparative Politics

The study of political phenomena within nations.

• Why do citizens protest?

• How can oppositions parties have influence over policy outcomes?

• Why do some countries become democratic while others do not?

• How do institutions shape policy outcomes?

International politics

The study of political phenomena that occur predominantly between countries

• Why do countries go to war?

• When can sates cooperate? (e.g., military alliances)

• Can states work together to improve the global environment?

• Does international trade help or hurt countries?

Political Science

The study of politics in a scientific manner

State (Max Weber’s Definition)

The state is a human community that (successfully) claims the monopoly of the legitimate use of physical force within a given territory.

3 components of a state

1. “Given territory”

2. “Legitimate use of physical force”

3. “Monopoly on the legitimate use of force”

State vs Nation

State:

• Territory — necessary

• Common identity — not necessary

• EX: Canada, many identities and a defined territory

Nation

• Territory — not necessary

• Common identity — necessary (ex: culture, language, history, tradition, etc.)

• Can be stateless

• EX: Roma, an ethnic nation and no defined territory

Nation-State

Has a territory and shared identity.

• EX: Japan, defined territory and a shared culture, traditions, language, history, and national consciousness

State-authorized Non-State actors

• private security firms

• police auxiliaries or militias incorporated into state command

• UN peacekeepers

Non-State actors claiming legitimacy AGAINST the State

• IRA or FARC, claimed to represent" “the people” and fighting an “illegitimate” state

• al-Qaeda, religious authority

State (Douglas North’s Definition)

“A state is an organization with a comparative advantage in violence, extending over a geographic area whose boundaries are determined by its power to tax constituents.”

State (Charles Tilly’s Definition)

States are “relatively centralized, differentiated organizations, the officials of which, more or less, successfully claim control over the chief concentrated means of violence within a population inhabiting a large, contiguous territory.”

States and Violence

• State has an institutionalized capacity for coercion

• All states use force

Failed State

A state-like entity that cannot coerce and is unable to successfully control the inhabitants of a given territory.

• devastates the lives of citizens

• no access to public goods or services

• live in war-torn environment

• forced to flee

EX: Haiti, lost effective control over violence, taxation, and territory

Others — Syria, Iraq, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen, Central African Republic, Afghanistam

What does the Government Do?

• roads

• clean water

• education

• healthcare

• parks

• public transportation

• security (domestic and international)

Refugee Camps and Displacement

• designed as temporary, but often last years/decades

• restrict movement and limit legal work

• dependence on aid for food, health care, and schooling

• overcrowded and resource-scarce

• loss of property, legal status, and social ties

Contractarian View of States

States are a social contract between individuals in the state of nature. The state provides security in exchange for obedience from the citizen.

• Individuals give up natural rights (right to steal and kill) in exchange for civil rights that would be protected by the sovereign

• explores moral obligations of the state

State of Nature

Situations with no state.

• Without a “common power to keep them all in awe,” the people will choose to steal and kill (Hobbs).

• Dilemma: The prisoner dilemma

Predatory View of States

States that exercise an effective control over the use of violence can threaten the security of citizens.

• individuals seek power (security, control, and dominance), unintentional by-product

• powerful create institutions to stay in power (armies, police forces, courts, bureaucracies, and tax systems)

• this view can help us understand why actors behave like they do and is more useful for explaining political phenomena

UN Peacekeepers

• reduces large-scale violence and civilian targeting

• creates secure environment for rebuilding

• supports transitions from conflict to governance

• enables constitutional reform and institution-building by domestic actors

UN Missions and Restoring Institutions

• Facilitate negotiations among domestic actors

• Support constitutional conventions

• Help organize referenda or elections

• Help Establish New Institutions

Early Democracy

“System in which a ruler governed jointly with a council or assembly composed of members of society who were themselves independent from the ruler and not subject to [their] whim”

• Not limited to Europe, included republics of ancient India and pre-colonial societies

• Small-scale socities, often remote areas

• Direct-governance

Modern Democracy

Political system in which representatives of the people are regularly chosen in competitive elections under universal suffrage. Modern democracy is representative democracy, not direct democracy.

• Competitive elections

• Co-exists with a state bureaucracy

Modernization Theory

All countries pass through the same historical stages of development. Contemporary underdeveloped countries are merely at an earlier stage in this linear historical process.

Survival Story (Przeworski)

A choice between:

• Democracy: A system in which you are guaranteed a minimal standard of consumption

• Dictatorship: A system in which you win or lose everything

If most people are well off, they want to maintain that

BUT

If most people are poor, they will take the gamble of dictatorship

Critical Tests

Identify points of conflict between the different models. Use relevant observations in the real world to help us decide between the models.

Modernization vs. Survival

Modernization Theory

• countries are more likely to become & remain democratic as they become richer.

• Or emerge & survive

Survival Story–Przeworski

• democracy is more likely to survive as countries develop and become richer, but it is not more likely to emerge

Movable Assets

Changes balance of power between king and people

• Predation no longer works

• King still needs to borrow money to fund his external wars

• Citizens are now stronger and have leverage over the ruler

King could make promises to them (e.g., policies) in exchange for borrowing money, - But, King can not commit to his promises

• His dependence on people is not fixed and he may be stronger in the future.

Credible Commitment Problems

A situation in which people cannot achieve their goals because of an inability to make credible threats or promises.

Temporal dimension

What’s in your interest to promise today may not be in your interest to honor in the future

Distribution of power

Power is in the hands of those who make the promise and not in the hands of those who expect to benefit from the promise

Commitment Device

A way of changing incentives so as to make otherwise empty threats or promises credible.

• Enforceable contracts

• Repeated Interactions

• Institutions that alter the distribution of power

Two Views of Democracy

Procedural or Minimalist View:

• institutions or procedures

Substantive or Maximalist View:

• outcomes

Democracy-Dictatorship (DD)

A country is a democracy if:

• The chief executive is elected, the legislature is elected, there is more than one party competing in elections, there has been an alternation in power under identical electoral rules

Code:
1= Democracy

0= Dictatorship

Strengthens/Weaknesses

• Purely procedural or minimalist.

• Focuses on contestation.

• Dichotomous — either democracy or dictatorship

Polity Score

Empirical scope:

• Democracy Measure 0-10.

• Autocracy Measure 0-10.

From these two measures it provides a Polity Score.

• Polity Score = Democracy Measure–Autocracy Measure.

• Ranges from –10 to 10.

• Polity: +6 to + 10 : Democracies

• Polity: -5 to +5 : Mixed regime

• Polity: -6 to -10 : Dictatorships

This measure is based on five attributes.

1. Competitiveness of executive recruitment

2. Openness of executive recruitment

3. Executive constraints/decision rules

4. Regulation of political participation

5. Competitiveness of participation

Strengthens/Weaknesses

• Purely procedural or minimalist.

• Focuses on contestation.

• Continuous: Countries can be more or less democratic

Freedom House

Evaluation of “global freedom”

Continuous Measure 1-7

• Free — Democratic

• Partially free — Simi-democratic

• Not free — Authoritarian

Substantive or Maximalist View of Democracy

Freedom has two broad categories.

• Political rights

• Civil rights

Strengthens/Weaknesses

• Substantive or Maximalist.

• Focuses on contestation.

• Continuous: Countries can be more or less democratic

Autonomous Ruler

A ruler who does not depend on people for resources.

• Natural resources

• Foreign Aid

Resource Curse

The paradox that countries with an abundance of natural resources tend to experience poor governance, low levels of economic development, civil wars, and dictatorships.

• it is about the emergence of democracy and the survival of democracy

UN Security Council

1. Five permanent members with veto power

2. Ten non-permanent members

3. Permanent members have veto power, but resolutions require the support of at least 9 member