'Comparative Politics

goal:Meaning of democracy and measuring the success of a democracy & geography affecting politics

    - ex: Haiti vs. DR= same island, different life

    - indicators: infant mortality, life expectancy, hiv/aids/ disease, gdp, unemployment, environmental longevity

   -why? French vs Spanish colonization

            -French wanted to extract hella resources: set up plantations, slavery ( racial imbalance), deplete resources, imbalanced economy

            - Spain had other colonies, did not need to extract the same resources, less strict racial lines (inter marriage)

   - culture impacts economy, all of which effects democracy

\  -we are in a democracy deficit in the 2020s. Covid destroyed democracies

  - positive correlation: as economies increase, democracy increases

 - borders and citizenship: perception on immigrants ( developing & developed countries  [ex: Brexit ]) & opposition to globalization

 - compare countries! Look at factors to influence democracy

 -Factors:

     - actors: who does actions (presidents, parties, economists, religious groups) who effect outcomes

     - institutions: how they do the action (government passes, revolutions)

     -outcomes: impact of doing the action ( economic growth, democracy, genocide)

Hw: choose countries

 

Hw to do today: Ch 1, 3, and video

 

January 8th, 2025 - the states

  • States are transitory & ephemeral - change constantly

  • Ideally - centralized & monopolized control of use of force, bureaucratic organization,  and providing public serviced

  • A set of institutions w/ authority & monopoly to enforce laws  binding to a population

        * not legit if its one person - dictator

 

  • Two characteristics:

     legitimacy - value whereby an entity is recognized as right and proper

               - authority+ power to the state- ppl obey

               - reciprocal responsibility - ppl must submit

    3 types = traditional ( habit, tradition), charismatic ( personality/ beliefs), rational- legal ( laws & rules)

   sovereignty - can carry out actions w/0 interference from outside altars

                    - shows state-ness ( legitimacy) of a state

 

6State Institutions- make laws w/ coercive force via legislative, executive, and judicial methods

            - enforce laws via military, police, and bureaucracy

 

Legislative - makes laws/ checks powers of executive / democracy ( unicameral (one house) or bicameral ( two))

                * ex: House of Commons / house of lords ( taxing vs. Expertise)

Judiciary- respond to civil/ criminal cases ( judicial review) [ varies in power from country to country)

Executive - devise/ execute law ( usually head of military)

               * head of state vs. Head of government ( presidential vs parliamentary system)

Military - protect from external force/ uphold laws ( influence varied by regime type)

Police - maintain law/ order (how states exercise legitimate authority)

Bureaucracy - operating policies concerning laws of legislative/executive institutions

 

Functions of the state:

  • Taxation (most important- fund states)

  • measuring/ recording economic activity / population

  • defense/ policing

  • Economic management 

  • Human capital (public health,  education)

  • Welfare

  • Infrastructure 

 

State capacity- measure success of a state.

  • scope- reach of a state - how state regulation interfere with civilian life

  • Strength - ability for state to  perform basic functions

 

Measure capacity: compare taxes vs GDP (how much of economic activity is collected for gov use)

                   legibility -state's information (accurate) on citizens/their activities

                             - organized and dated for easy understanding

                             - age heaping -approx age w/o knowledge- see jumps @ 30,40,50, not good info!

 

 w/o state capacity:

  • State fragility- loss of capacity/legitimacy, meting states vulnerable

  • State failure -states cannot perform basic functions

 

State of nature- situation with no state

                - HOBBES-w/o central order, anarchy and self- interest world govern (PURGE)

                -LOCKE- ppl are peaceful, it'd be chill

 

Idea: states solve people-people issues, but if you give power to states for protection, it can be used @ you

 

Video- border of Pakistan /India

  • Sikhs in India cannot access Pakistani holy site by British border drawn by 1940s

  • Separated families, rivers, etc

  • Post -WWII, succession of GB from India was supposed to take 5 yr - did 4 months

  • Separated by religions - Muslim in the north, Hindus/Sikhs in the south

  • Once lawyer drew border, Muslims moved to Pakistan, Sikhs move to India

  • People forced to migrate based on religion, lead to violence

  • Partition of India ( 1950s)

  • Exploits partition to encourage nationalism

 

Chapter 1: comparative politics

Arguments - evidence in logical forms for positional gain

Comp. Politics -compare countries using cause/ effect, hypothesis, etc.

             - goal- find sufficient evidence of a factor to produce an outcome

Empirical argument- poses questions about world based on evidence

Normative arguments- posed questions based on an ideal

concepts - ideas to think about the processes of study (democracy, freedom, revolution)

          * 4 components - need to be clear/coherent, consistent, useful (specific enough to draw evidence)

Conceptualization-creating new political ideas ( ex: collective identity)

Sartori's ladder of abstraction- concepts can be grouped based on specificity/generalness

operationalize- make a concept measurable (ex: democracy )[ think chiodo- operation definition]

Evidence cannot be opinion based ( must be verifiable) (level of analysis - level of observations/can causal operatives be made]

Cases-unit/phenomenon being studied (French Rev vs 1848 rev, USA vs uk, 1960s Brazil vs 2000s Brazil

Variable- an element that could change from case to case (ex: democracy in France vs North Korea) 

Outcome- something produced/ changed via political process

 

variations - differences in case studies

MSS ( most similar system)-system to study cases w/similar factors but different outcomes

               

 MDS (most different system) - compare two cases w/ different factors but similar outcomes

 

Comparative checking- testing conclusions against evidence

Generalizability - seeing how many cases a conclusion can be applied to

within-case comparisons- looking closer at a case for variations (ex: democratic moments in Togo history)

                 -Qualitative and quantitative studies compliment each other

 

 

Chapter 3 reading

States - political organization with centralized power to enforce laws, uphold bureaucracy),and provide public goods

Modern state- different from form states w/ centralized violence (in police and military), extensive bureaucracy, and impersonality( president does not own America like old kings owned the lands)

Rule of law- consistent  imposing of laws via a system.

State capacity 1) monopoly over use of force 2) bureaucracy w/ little corruption 3) rule of law is maintained

Fragile/failed state-states that has little/no function

civil society - place outside organization where civilians organize themselves (social clubs, churches, etc) ( more civil societies= more democracy)

Bureaucracy- organization operating under complex, specific rules (orients behaviors to pursue a common goal)

Citizenship- relation bruh state & people- offer submission it exchange for protection or opportunity

Sovereignty- legitimate control over a territory (bolstered with recognition from other states)

 

Functions of a modern state:

  • Defending citizens (military)

  • Policing via laws, national guard, jailing

  • Taxation- funding state affairs while providing a sense of connection to citizens

  • Recording - knowledge of a state & its people

 

State system- condition that many international actors are states

 

Why states arise:

  • Bellicist theory - Charles Tilly - states energy from interstate conflicts (needs centralized power, extracted revenue, and ability to mobilize population for collective endeavors) (war is useful)

  • Economic theories- rises from economic modernization

  • Cultural- arises from cultural and nationalistic shared identities

 

  • diffusion- ideas, states, practices spread throughout the globe

         * bellicist- states expand the to military dominance

         * economic- spread to expand capital

          * cultural- a state is a manifestation of culture

  • Organizations- institutionalized states (isomorphism- when 2+ state have similar structures)

  • World society theory- state system’s features are cultural/globally diffused- john Meyer

 

  Quiz section - January 11th, 2024

  • note= need to submit 1-2 discussion questions to canvas by Thursday 5pm

 

  • w/ 1-2 discussion qs (CANVA PRESENTATION)

  • Connect to weekly topics (w/ dq and presentation)

 

Chapter 6 Reading

  • Democracy- regime w/ rule by the people (emphasizing rights/liberties of citizens)

     * political rights- to participate in political life (vote, speech)

     * civil rights- participate in civil life ( assembly, access information)

  • Regime - a ruling institution characterized by rules and standards

  • Democratic regime - characterized by civilian rights and free elections

  • Procedural definition of democracy-states follow certain procedures/rules









  • Substantive definitions of democracy- democracy measured via satisfaction of categories (ex: reduction of inequality)

 

  • Regime type - what rules

  • Democratization- a regime becoming democratic

  • Democratic breakdown-a regime loosing democratic status

  • transition - regime goes from authoritarian to democratic (democratic transitions) (a gov is turned over 2+ times [ppl who governed step out and replacements then step out])

  • consolidation- a democratic regime institutionalizing (more likely to endure) (polity ↑ democracy)

  • Constitutional republic- no monarch-policy set out

  • Constitutional monarchy- monarch under rules of democratic constitution

  • Representative democracy- politicians/ institutions represent the majority

  • Multi party democracy- two+ parties compete for power

  • referendum- vote on a specific issue.

  • Direct democracy - emphasis on civilian involvement in politics

      * ex: civilian assemblies, community councils

 

Modernization theory- traces democracy to broad social change (due to economics/urbanization)

Cultural theory- democracy arises from cultural values (ex: Asian valves (harmony/stability) over individuality- authoritative)

Structural theories-emerging democracies determined by global trends (democracy ↓ post -WWII)

Domestic institution theories- democracy increases w/ rise of domestic peace-keeping institutions (police, government)

Actor/agency theories-smaller actors (ex: individuals [Nelson Mandela], interest groups) cause regime change

              *democratization is usually due to multiple theories in combination

 

State capacity and economics - January 11th, 2015

-state-a political hierarchy that contains tax collectors to gather revenue, a police force and military to help provide security, and a judiciary to administer legal justice. A chief executive (i.e., “the ruler”) presides over this political entity, in conjunction with a noble or parliamentary council.

-state capacity- a country's ability to obtain its political goals

 

Indicators of state capacity:

  • fiscal: the more money a country generated, the more action they can commit.

  • informative: the more into a country has on its people, the more power it exerts

  • Infrastructure: post offices, gov agencies (can the people be readily reached)

 

Absence of the state:

  • Higher homicide: (500 per 100,000 people vs 10 per 100,00 people [w/ state])

  • Poverty: (to present violence, society may limit material goods)

  •  “Cage of norms": w/o state, people cling to norms, restricting themselves

               society can be established w/o state, but w/ costs listed above

 

  • Rules of the game: law and order, private property rights, external defense (basic ways to ensure state capacity)

Other ways:

  • Competitive market for exchange of goods+ services

  • Public transport (railroads, roads [spread of ideas])

  • Communications (post offices, telephone lines [spread of ideas])

  • Mass education (human capital)

 

Why some States cannot achieve state capacity:

  • geography (too vast a region to rule over)

  • Euro colonization ( weakened from get go)

  • Elitist resilience to centralized reform

 

Downfall of State capacity: state can impose horrible systems (slavery) on civilians

  • Therefore, institutions (parliament) and rules (pm) must balance each other out