Comparative Politics - Key Concepts and Theories

Vocabulary flashcards covering foundational topics in Comparative Politics based on lecture notes, including regime types, early political theorists, modern political science frameworks, game theory models, and institutional analysis.

Comparative Politics

A subfield of political science that compares different systems to examine what causes differences in major political outcomes by analyzing interactions, institutions, people, and culture.

International Relations

The study of interactions where states and countries act as individual actors alongside international organizations (such as the UN), without addressing individual people.

Black Boxing

The practice of grouping internal complexities, individual players, and nuances of a state into a single unified entity.

American Politics

A field of study focused on the history of Congress, legislative processes, voting behavior, and institutional theory, often with a comparative sample size of one.

Plato's Five Regimes

The five forms of government categorized by Plato: aristocracy, timocracy, oligarchy, democracy, and tyranny.

Aristocracy (Plato)

Plato's ideal, knowledge-based regime led by philosophers and knowledgeable individuals, rooted in idealism.

Timocracy

A regime led by soldiers and reputable individuals based on military honor, strong reputation, and heroic virtue.

Oligarchy

A form of government ruled by the wealthiest individuals in society.

Democracy (Plato's view)

A form of government where individuals pursue self-interest over the common good, leading to mob rule, internal division, and vulnerability to demagogues and tyranny.

Demagogues

Political leaders who leverage emotional rhetoric, fear from the far-right or far-left, and insider vs. outsider divisions to manipulate populations.

Realism (Machiavelli)

An early approach to international relations and statecraft focused on practical power and state survival, standing in contrast to Plato's idealism.

Separation of Powers

Baron de Montesquieu's institutional concept dividing governmental power into three distinct branches: legislative, executive, and judicial.

Systems Theory

A framework proposing that political systems process inputs to produce outputs in a uniform way, arguing that specific institutional variations do not fundamentally change the overarching system.

Modernization Theory

A theory stating that as a society economically develops into a manufacturing and service economy, it naturally progresses toward democracy.

Post-Behavioralism

A approach focusing on mid-range theories and specific state-level questions, relying primarily on qualitative analysis and case studies.

Rational Choice Theory

An analytical approach assuming political actors act rationally according to self-interest, demonstrating how institutional structures shape individual behavior.

Game Theory

A mathematical framework used to analyze strategic interactions and understand why individuals may make decisions that conflict with their personal interests.

Nash Equilibrium

A condition in game theory where no player has an incentive to unilaterally change their decision.

Prisoner's Dilemma

A classic game theory model illustrating how two rational actors may fail to cooperate (both opting to defect), resulting in a worse combined outcome than mutual cooperation.

Stag Hunt

A game theory model representing the trade-off between social cooperation for a high reward (hunting a stag) and safe, individual defection for a smaller reward (hunting a rabbit).

Causal Theory

A theoretical model linking an independent variable (cause) to a dependent variable (effect) to formulate a testable hypothesis.

Comparative Method

A comparative political analysis technique utilizing the method of agreement and the method of difference to compare cases.

Political Culture

The system of shared social beliefs, values, attitudes, and norms within a society, categorized into parochial, subject, and participant types.

Parochial Political Culture

A political culture typical of traditional or tribal societies with low central government awareness and minimal citizen political involvement.

Subject Political Culture

A political culture typical of monarchies where citizens are aware of governmental authority but remain passive recipients of laws rather than active participants.

Participant Political Culture

A political culture characteristic of democracies where citizens actively engage with and influence political processes.

Institutions

Human-constructed rules of the game that structure political, social, and economic interactions by creating incentives.

Usury

The illegal practice of charging excessively high interest rates on loans.

Waqf

An institutional practice where wealthy individuals set aside property or capital in perpetuity for charitable or community benefit in societies lacking traditional banks.

Chesterton's Fence

A principle of second-order thinking asserting that before attempting institutional reform or removing a rule, one must first understand why it was established originally.

Redlining

The historical banking practice of deeming certain minority neighborhoods as high-risk blank areas to deny loans and protect bank property values.