Comparative politics
Comparative politics is a specialized field within political science that examines domestic political systems through comparative analysis with other countries. This approach enables researchers, known as comparativists, to investigate various factors that shape nation-states, including their economies, political institutions, ideologies, cultures, civil societies, and international relations. By comparing these elements across different countries, comparativists seek to understand correlations between a nation’s characteristics and its political outcomes.
Several theoretical frameworks inform comparative politics, including political economy, which studies the relationship between economic policies and political stability; modernization theory, which looks at how cultural factors influence development; and dependency theory, which focuses on how a nation's economic status is affected by global structures. The field has historical roots, dating back to early thinkers like Aristotle and later theorists such as Alexis de Tocqueville, but gained prominence in the post-World War II era as the discipline developed into a systematic study. Through these comparative analyses, scholars aim to draw meaningful conclusions about governance and political dynamics across diverse contexts.
Comparative politics
Comparative politics is a branch of political science that is focused on the study of domestic politics within a country through the lens of comparison with that of other countries. By definition, comparative politics is at once a field of study and a method of study. Theorists who specialize in comparative politics, typically referred to as comparativists, generally seek to prove a stated political hypothesis by comparing the various aspects of the sociopolitical frameworks and characteristics of different countries.
Fundamentals of Comparative Politics
Comparative politics is unique among the various branches of political science in that it is based on reaching a theoretical conclusion through a comparison of two entities. In most instances, the entities in question are countries, which in the context of comparative politics are referred to as nation-states. A nation-state is a large community of people who have a shared history, culture, ethnic/racial background, and political and economic value system; live within the same geographical area; and have a government that they consider their own. Although not all countries neatly fit this definition, they can still be considered nation-states or national states so long as they have an adequate national identity. Simply put, comparativists study the unique characteristics of two or more nation-states and draw conclusions by comparing those characteristics.
When examining a particular nation-state, comparativists typically consider a number of different factors, including the economy, the state, political institutions, ideology, culture, civil society, and the international environment. The economy is the system through which the inhabitants of a nation-state produce and trade the various goods and services they need for survival. The state is the central government that rules over the nation-state. Political institutions are bodies, agencies, or other organizations that make up the power structure of the state. Ideology is the worldview that determines how the inhabitants of a nation-state perceive reality and determine right from wrong. Culture refers to the characteristics and experiences of those inhabitants and how they typically live their lives. Civil society includes all the non-state social organizations to which the inhabitants of a nation-state belong, such as churches or labor unions. The international environment refers to the other nation-states the comparativist uses for comparison purposes.
Ultimately, comparativists use comparative analysis to reach a conclusion just as physical scientists use the scientific method to prove or disprove a hypothesis. By studying the similarities and differences between nation-states, comparativists seek to prove or disprove the existence of a correlation between a nation-state's fundamental characteristics and a given hypothesis. For example, a comparativist might undertake a study in comparative politics to prove that a country's economic stability is directly tied to its form of government.
Analytical Approaches
Many different schools of thought inform the analytical approach comparativists take when conducting a study. These schools provide the philosophical context that underlies such studies and accounts for their perspective. In modern comparative politics, the three dominant schools are political economy, modernization theory, and dependency theory.
Political Economy
The political economy school is primarily concerned with the relationship between economy and politics. Many researchers who approach comparative political studies from this perspective examine how state economic policy affects a nation-state's economic stability and overall sociopolitical development. When undertaking a study using this framework, a comparativist generally aims to prove a point by comparing the different approaches to economic policy taken by nation-states.
Modernization Theory
The modernization theory school focuses on how certain aspects of a nation-state's culture impede its development. According to this theory, societies are made up of both a modern sector and a backwards sector. From this perspective, development can occur only when modern progressiveness outpaces or overcomes adherence to backwards traditionalism. Comparative political studies that follow the modernization theory, therefore, center on the cultural differences between two or more nation-states and how those differences affect their overall development.
Dependency Theory
The dependency theory is notably different from political economy and the modernization theory in that it focuses on the global system rather than individual nation-states. The dependency theory states that poverty is a direct result of the global system's inherent structure. In the global system, high-value manufactured goods are produced by a few select countries, while the rest only specialize in the production of commodities. In short, this means that a country's economic well-being is dependent upon its place in the global system.
Comparative Politics in History
Comparative politics has existed for as long as people have been studying the concept of politics itself. One of the earliest proponents of comparative politics was the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle, who famously compared different political systems in The Politics. Centuries later, French political theorist Alexis de Toqueville explored the characteristics of the early American government in comparison with the British and French governments in Democracy in America. In the modern sense, however, comparative politics did not truly rise to prominence until the years following World War II, when experts such as Stein Rokkan, Harry Eckstein, and Robert A. Dahl laid down the roots of the science as it is known today.
Bibliography
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