INTRODUCTION TO COMPARATIVE POLITICS Political Science 135
Fall 2021
(Prof. Emizet F. Kisangani)
Office: Calvin 114/Phone: 532-6842 (main office) Office Hours: by appointment:
1. Purpose of the Course:
The principal objective of this introductory course is to introduce students to important features of political systems, structures and processes as well as to make them acquainted to exciting work being done at the cutting edge of comparative politics. In brief, the course intends to challenge students by confronting them with this work being done in the field. With this in mind, the course is organized around a number of questions. (1) What is comparative politics? (2) What is a state and how did it emerge? (3) What is the constitutional basis of political authority? (4) Why some countries are democracies and others dictatorships? (5) How does economic life affect political outcomes? (6) What are the bases of citizens’
political cognition, values, and beliefs? (7) How and why do people participate in politics? (8) Why do some countries have many political parties whereas others have only a few? (9) How do governments form and what are the material/normative implications associated with different types of government? (10) How can executives and bureaucracies be kept responsive and responsible? (11) What factors account for changes in political institutions and policies? (12) What are the policy consequences of democracies? We will probe each of these questions according to the timetable provided below by relying on the game theory.
Once we have completed this course, you should be able to analyze any country across the globe and discuss their related policy issues as well as advice public officials in crafting institutional design of their choosing.
2. Textbook and Supplements:
William R. Clark, Matt Golder, and Sona N. Golder, Principles of Comparative Politics third edition (Los Angeles: Sage/CQ Press, latest edition).
3. Use of the web to access students’ materials
Students can access online resources such as quiz questions, flashcards, brief chapter summaries, links to important data as well as materials on games at http://college.cqpress.com/principlescp.
4. Projects, Examinations, and Holidays:
Attendance is required and will be done randomly. You will not be competing against each other; therefore, you have every incentive to help each other improve or succeed in this course so that your group gets a decent grade. Here is the grading system:
Attendance will be done randomly: 10%.
Short Quizzes 30%
You will have three quizzes.
1. September 17, 2021 2. October 8, 2021 3. November 19, 2021
Mid-term 20%
October 22, 2021
Final-exam 40%
December 16, 2021.
(Make sure to check the accuracy of this information.) Student Holidays/Thanksgiving Break: November 22-26, 2021
5. Teaching strategy and philosophy:
My strategy is to use “engaged lecture.” During the lecture, I will routinely stop and ask you to state in your own words your understanding of what I say. I will do this by a random process. Here is also a thought to keep in mind throughout this semester and your life here at K-State:
“Books are not made to be believed, but to be subjected to inquiry” Umberto Eco, The Name of the Rose.
Memorization of major concepts and critical thinking are required. Thus, you should memorize concepts raised in the course, such as democracy, and subject these concepts to critical inquiry. Ask yourself whether or not they help you understand what you see happening in the world around you. Political scientists and politicians argue vociferously over many issues and concepts you will encounter this semester. Try it and you will feel “Great.”
6. Student Conduct
Students should show civility in the classroom and to each other. Students should not disrupt or obstruct teaching.
7. Arrangements for students with disabilities:
I would like to hear from anyone in this class who has a disability that may require some modification of the seating, testing, or other class requirements. I am reasonable sure we can work out whatever arrangements are needed. Please see me after class or during my office hours.
8. COVID-19 K-State Policy
All students are expected to comply with K-State’s face mask policy. As of August 2, 2021, everyone must wear face masks over their mouths and noses in all indoor spaces on university property, including while attending in-person classes. This policy is subject to change at the university’s discretion.
TOPICAL OUTLINE AND READING ASSIGNMENTS (Tentative outline)
WEEK 1
I Introduction
Objectives. The purpose of this introduction is to provide an overview of comparative politics by distinguishing it from international politics. The former is the study of politics predominately within countries, whereas the latter is the study of politics predominately between and among countries.
Furthermore, we outline the central questions in comparative politics as to the causes and consequences of political systems as well as our methodology.
Read: pp. 1-18.
II What is Science?
Objectives. The topic here defines science and the scientific method to help us build and test scientific explanations. We also highlight the fact scientific inquiry is just one of many methods to understand the universe around us. In order to better appreciate the important connection between theory construction and theory testing, we devote some time to the study of logic. The study of logic is about learning to be careful about how we construct and evaluate arguments. Finally, the comparative method is briefly discussed.
Read: Chapter 2
WEEKS 2-3
III What is Politics?
Objectives. Here we intend to understand politics in a scientific manner as involves power or the use of influence. We introduce citizens’ strategic reactions to capture key elements of many political situations.
These reactions include Exit, Voice, and Loyalty (EVL) Game to analyze the balance of power between citizens and states.
Read: Chapter 3
IV The Origins of the Modern State
Objectives. Can people cooperate and live happily without a state? We first define the state and distinguish failed state from strong state. We present the contractarian and predatory theories of the origins of the modern state. We then use game theories to illustrate both. We finally present a situation of cooperation among citizens in the absence of the state.
Read: Chapter 4
WEEKS 4-5
V Democracy & Dictatorship: Conceptualization & Measurement
Objectives. Our first goal is to look at both democracies and dictatorships in historical perspective.
Although a strong consensus exists today that democracy is the most desirable form of political regime, historically, democracy was commonly viewed as an obsolete system that was both dangerous and unstable.
What makes it so appealing today? We assess how a country becomes a democracy and what helps it to survive. To understand these issues requires that we conceptualize and measure democracy and dictatorship. We analyze three measures of democracy and dictatorship and assess both their reliability and validity.
Read: Chapter 5
VI Economic Determinants of Democracy & Dictatorship
Objectives. Here we test the different variants of modernization theory that countries are more likely to become democratic and to stay democratic as they develop economically. We also show that countries rich in natural resources such as oil, gold, and diamond tend to be dictatorships.
Read: Chapter 6
VII Cultural Determinants of Democracy & Dictatorship
Objectives. This topic provides a different process in the emergence of democracy. According to students of political culture, economic development produces certain cultural changes or “a civic culture
” that leads to democracy and also helps democracy to survive.
Read: Chapter 7 WEEK 6
VIII Democratic Transitions
Objectives. How does democracy emerge and develop? Our first goal here is to examine bottom-up and top-down processes by which democratic transitions occur. We rely on the collective action theory by looking at the preference falsification and tipping models to explain why insurrections against dictators are always surprises yet appear so inevitable in hindsight.
Read: Chapter 8
IX Democracy or Dictatorship: Does It Make a Difference?
Objectives: According to Economist Nobel Laureate, Amartya Sen, “No substantial famine has ever occurred in any independent and democratic country with a relatively free press.” This statement seems to suggest that democracies produce “good” social outcomes and dictatorships produce perhaps “bad” social outcomes. Quite often we do not have theoretical reason to expect such outcomes. Our goal is to test Sen’s statement in the light of theoretical framework and empirical analysis.
WEEK 7
X Varieties of Dictatorship
Objectives: Here we examine different types of dictatorships and how their features influence their durability. Our empirical evidence suggests that dictators who respond to pressure from opposition groups by “institutionalizing”—allowing multiparty legislatures, might be able to extend the length of their rule in office.
Read: Chapter 10 WEEK 8
XI Problems with Group Decision Making
Objectives: Democracies are usually praised because they are “rule of the people by the people” or more specifically because the majority rules. Thus, policy outcomes, the argument goes, are supposed to be fairly appealing and morally or normatively attractive compared to dictatorships. We will learn here that it might be impossible to reach a stable group decision using majority rule. This is the Condorcet’s paradox. We will also learn that no method of group decision making can guarantee a stable group decision while simultaneously satisfying minimal conditions of fairness. In sum, we have so many types of democracies because there is no ideal decision-making mechanism that can provide both increasing fairness and increasing equality.
Read: Chapter 11 WEEKS 9-10
XII Democratic Regimes: Making and Breaking Governments
Objectives: Our goals here are threefold. First, we compare different types of democracies along the relationship between the government (prime minister or president) and the legislature. This relationship provides presidential, parliamentary, and semi-presidential democracies. Second, we assess the formation of government and its length in office. Third, we evaluate the way the three systems differ in the way they represent the people within the principal-agent framework.
Read: Chapter 12 WEEKS 11-12
XIII Elections and Electoral Systems
Objectives: We all know that elections represent one of the most important features of democracies and provide the first mechanism by which democratic governments obtain the authority to rule. Our goal here is first to analyze the three types of electoral systems: majoritarian, proportional, and mixed systems. Then, we illustrate how they work in practice and finally provide their effects on ethnic accommodation, proportionality, accountability, minority representation, and revelation of sincere preferences.
Read: Chapter 13
WEEK 13
XIV Social Cleavages and Party Systems
Objectives: Social cleavages are divisions along either ascriptive lines (ethnicity, race, gender) or socioeconomic lines (religion, class, linguistic, regional). We examine why some political party systems are divided along ascriptive lines while others are divided along socioeconomic lines. We also assess why some countries have few political parties and others have many.
Read: Chapter 14 WEEKS 14-15
XV Institutional Veto Players
Objectives: Our main goal is to examine the origins and consequences of federalism, bicameralism and constitutionalism. In other words, we will learn that these three institutional frameworks are conceptually the same because they all act as checks and balances, thereby influencing how easy it is to change the political status quo. We rely on the idea of veto players to understand these political institutions.
Read: Chapter 15
XVI Consequences of Democratic Institutions & Concluding Remarks
Objectives: In this final topic, we intend to compare the two fundamentally different perspectives of democracy, majoritarian vision and consensus vision, and discuss how they should work because they have important implications for accountability, government mandates, and representation. In a sense, political institutions influence policies. Finally, we will look at how particular institutional choices, parliamentarism or presidentialism, affect the survival of democracy.
Read: Chapter 16
FINAL EXAMINATION: December 16, 2021.