COMP GOPO Unit 1: Political Systems, Regimes and Governments

Why is empirical data important to identifying and explaining political behavior of individuals and groups?

Correlation, causation, empirical and normative, quantitative, qualitative, inverse

Correlation

Relationships among variables

-An apparent connection between events. One or more variables can explain another.

-Does NOT imply causation.

-This usually occurs more because...

1) Observations are purely anecdotal

2) There are so many other possibilities for an association:

-The opposite is true: B actually causes A.

-The two are correlated, but there's more to it: A and B are correlated, but they are actually caused by C.

-There's another variable involved: A does cause B--as long as D happens.

-There is a chain reaction: A causes E, which leads E to cause B (but you only saw that A causes B from your own eyes)

Causation

Action A causes outcome B.

-One variable--an event or action--is proven to result in another variable happening.

-A proven cause and effect.

Empirical

_ Questions: What happened and why?

-example of empirical assumption: China has a low quality of life because its state is more focused on improving its economy due to its high GDP but low HDI.

Normative

_ Questions: What ought to have happened?

-_ theories are based on empirical assumptions to interpret how or what the country should be. Along with empirical assumptions, _ theories also encompass the social value systems or moral judgments of a population to base their _ questions.

-example of normative statement: Countries ought to be more industrialized to increase their GDP and HDI.

Quantitative

Data that is in numbers

-e.g. statistics

-Measured, numbers

Qualitative

Data in the form of words--no numbers

-e.g. documents, texts, essays

-Observed, patterns

Empirical Data

Evidence gathered by observation or experimentation, in other words, factual evidence. political scientists use empirical data to make hypothesis and inferences about the world.

-Evidence that is specifically measured or observed.

Example: Data gathered by political campaign polls is considered empirical data.

Normative Data

Evidence that is conceptualized data in other words, norms, or opinion based on data. It is usually used in political science to assess what is "usual" in a population.

-Interpretations of data collected; inferences drawn from empirical data.

Example: Average salary levels of a population over in a certain year.

How are regimes, states, nations and governments different?

Political system, state, regime, government, sovereignty, nation

Political System

system of government in a nation

State

All individuals and institutions that make public policy, whether they are in the government or not.

-States are political organizations that combine a permanent population with governing institutions to exercise control over a defined territory with international recognition.

-Both the informal and formal people who are involved in governments

-e.g. citizens and the government in the U.S., Russian oligarchs and the government in Russia

Regime

The institutions and practices that endure from government to government, such as the constitutional order in a democracy.

-e.g. the U.S. has a democratic regime

Government

Either a generic term to describe the formal part of the state or the administration of the day.

-The people who formally have power through a constitution

-E.g. Congress, the President, and the Supreme Court in the U.S.

Sovereignty

If a state is sovereign, it is supreme over its territory

-No other group can influence the country

-E.g. the U.S. state is sovereign over the U.S.

Nation

As used by political scientists, primarily a psychological term to describe attachment or identity rather than a geopolitical unit such as the state.

How do political systems and regimes reflect the balance of power between the government and its citizens?

-Determining degree of democracy or authoritarianism in a regime: rule of law OR rule by law, media, elections, transparency, political participation

-Authoritarianism: rule by law, illiberal democracies/hybrid regimes, one-party states, theocracies, totalitarian, military regimes

-Democracy: rule of law, political independence

Rule of Law

No one is above the law

-Democracy

Rule By Law

Government uses law as a weapons to control citizens

-Authoritarian

Media

-Independent mass media holds the government accountable=democracy

-State-owned/controlled media=authoritarianism

Elections

-Free, fair, and competitive elections=democracy

-Rigged elections where people still vote in them (whoever has power right now is going to win again)=authoritarian

Transparency

The degree to which there is openness and freedom of information between a government and the citizens of a nation

-Democracies=more transparent

Political Participation

Opportunities for citizens to take part in their country's government, such as voting in competitive elections, joining interest groups, and engaging in protest.

-Most common mode of political participation in the U.S.: voting

-Democracy: people are allowed to vote in free, fair, and competitive elections and have the right to freely associate (civil society)

-Authoritarian: Limited political participation (e.g. government-created political parties for people to join, people vote in rigged elections)

Illiberal Democracies

Democracy where people have rights on paper, but they aren't respected.

Hybrid system/democracy

Part democracy, part authoritarian

One-party states

a ruling party runs the country with no political competition

-A type of political party system prevalent in communist and fascist states where there is only one legal political party.

Theocracy

A government controlled by religious leaders

Totalitarian

Regime in which the state has all but total power.

Military Regimes

The military plays a big role in policymaking.

Political Independence

the freedom of a country, state, or other similar entity from an external government

Inverse/Negative Relationship

An increase in variable A leads to a decrease in variable B.

-e.g. a higher demand for petroleum results in lower global supply.

Human Development Index (HDI)

-Created by the United Nations

-Pros: measures quality of life (wellbeing) in a simple way, uses multiple variables.

-Con: provides an incomplete picture (e.g. per capita wealth, inequality, personal and political freedom, etc.)

-Variables to HDI: Long and healthy life (life expectancy index), knowledge (education index), a decent standard of living (GNI index)

Gross Domestic Product (GDP)

-Pro: a way to broadly measure economic progress and strength

-Con: provides an incomplete picture (e.g. non-monetary economy, non-market transactions, inequality of wealth, etc.)

-NOTE: looking at GDP adjusted for purchasing power parity--GDP (PPP)--accounts for cost of living differences

Comparative politics...

focuses on the differences between countries in order to better understand societies.

-In order to do this, comparative political scientists examine the structure of a government, the function of a government, and the political culture of a government.