Comparative Politics: Major Theoretical Approaches

Focus: Investigates how historical conditions, institutions, and systemic forces influence political behavior.
Core Ideas:
- Political and social outcomes are shaped by inherited structures like institutions and economic systems.
- Historical constraints affect choices and behaviors of political entities.
Applications & Examples:
- Educational Inequality: College major choices are influenced by parental income and access to resources.
- Jim Crow Laws in the U.S.: Institutionalized segregation limited African American opportunities for generations.
- Easter Island Collapse: Environmental degradation due to inherited resource constraints led to population decline.

Focus: Explores how individuals act strategically to maximize their political and personal gains.
Core Ideas:
- Politics can be likened to a marketplace where actors evaluate costs and benefits.
- Individual choices may lead to collectively detrimental outcomes despite rational intentions.
- Strategic models, like game theory, are useful for explaining political behaviors.
Applications & Examples:
- Prisoner’s Dilemma: Highlights cooperation challenges as self-interest often leads to defection.
- Easter Island Case: Immediate tree-cutting for benefit resulted in long-term environmental disaster – a rational but harmful decision.
- Democratic Decision-Making: Politicians prioritize reelection over socially optimal policies due to individual incentives.

Focus: Considers how cultural norms, traditions, and beliefs influence political choices and institutions.
Core Ideas:
- Political behavior is rooted deeply in cultural traditions.
- Social movements and changes in regime often hinge on cultural rather than purely rational forces.
- Cultural narratives can persist across generations impacting political identities.
Applications & Examples:
- Anti-Semitism in Germany: Linked historical prejudices to political persecution from the Black Death to the Nazi era.
- Civic Culture in Italy: Cooperation and trust in Northern Italy led to robust democratic institutions, while lack of engagement slowed development in the South.
- Revolutions (Soviet Union Collapse): The fall was driven by shifting norms toward individualism and skepticism of authority, not just structural factors.

Comparing Theories:
- Structuralism: Focuses on long-term constraints shaping behaviors.
- Rationalism: Emphasizes cost-benefit calculations for immediate decisions.
- Culturalism: Examines the influence of entrenched traditions on political choices.
Stag Hunt Game:
- Represents tension between self-interest and collective action, relevant in International Political Economy (IPE).
- Highlights the necessity of mutual trust for achieving collective benefits, akin to challenges in global trade negotiations.

Economic Liberalism (Adam Smith):
- Advocates free markets as a pathway to prosperity.
- Minimal government intervention in economic matters is preferred.
- Example: Multinational Corporations (MNCs) fostering global trade.
Mercantilism (Jean-Baptiste Colbert):
- Aims for national wealth to enhance state power.
- Supports protectionism as a means of economic survival.
- Example: 19th-century British Empire enforced import restrictions to bolster domestic industry.
Economic Nationalism:
- Views trade as a zero-sum game; one nation’s gain is another’s loss.
- Strong states secure economic competition using interventionist tactics.
Marxism (Economic Radicalism):
- Class struggle is central to economic relations.
- Wealthy elites are seen as exploiting labor within capitalist frameworks.
- Example: Dependency Theory illustrates how underdeveloped nations remain impoverished due to wealthy nations’ control over trade rules.

Comparative Advantage (Ricardo):
- Suggests that nations should specialize in efficient production and trade with others.
- Example: The UK focusing on financial services, while China specializes in manufacturing.
Structural vs. Rationalist Explanations of Poverty:
- Structuralism: Claims that global wealth distributions inhibit the growth of poorer countries.
- Rationalism: Argues that poor nations make choices under constraints that impact their development.

Defining Democracy:
- Schumpeter: Characterized by free elections.
- Held: Democracy must ensure political equality and freedom.
- Boix et al: Political leaders are chosen via free and fair elections that meet suffrage thresholds.
Measuring Democracy:
- Polity IV Index: Evaluates constraints on executive power.
- Vanhanen’s Index: Assesses competition and levels of suffrage.
Democratic Transitions:
- Lipset (Modernization Theory): Claims industrialization and wealth foster democracy.
- Barrington Moore: Argues that class struggles are pivotal for democratic success.
- Rustow & O’Donnell: Attributes political transitions to elite alliances.