WHY STUDY COMPARATIVE POLITICS?
When defining and describing the scope of comparative politics, it is useful to
back up and recall the purpose of political science from a broad perspective. Political
science is a field of social and scientific inquiry which seeks to advance knowledge of
political institutions, behavior, activities, and outcomes using systematic and logical
research methods in order to test and refine theories about how the political world
operates. Since the field of political science is so broad, it has a number of subfields
within it that enable students and scholars to focus on various phenomena from
different analytical lenses and perspectives. Although there are many topics that can
be addressed within political science, there are five subfields that tend to garner the
most attention; these include: (1) Comparative Politics, (2) American Politics, (3)
International Relations (sometimes referred to as World Politics, International affairs,
or International Studies), (4) Political Philosophy, and (5) Research Methods and
Models. All of these subfields, to varying degrees, are able to leverage findings and
approaches from a diversity of disciplines, including sociology, history, philosophy,
psychology, anthropology, economics, and law. All of these, however, tend to be very
centered around Western history, government, and philosophy. This book will attempt
to correct for this by providing examples from the Global South. Given the vast scope
of political science, and in order to understand where comparative politics fits within
the discipline, it is useful to briefly consider these subfields side-by-side.
Comparative Politics
This subfield of study within political science seeks to advance the
understanding of political structures from around the world in an organized,
methodological, and clear way. Scholars can, for instance, analyze countries, in part
or in whole, in order to consider similarities and differences between and among
countries. While the name of the field itself suggests a methodology of comparing and
contrasting, there is ample room for debate over the best way to analyze political units
side-by-side. In following chapters, we show different ways to prepare a comparison,
whether one focuses on area studies, cross-national studies, or subnational studies.
Comparative politics involves looking first within countries and then across designated
countries. This contrasts with International Relations (which is described below).
Throughout this book, we discuss many of the themes for analysis that comparative
politics tends to focus on, such as “the state,” or democracy and democratization, or
authoritarian persistence, and so forth. After briefly considering the other subfields
within political science, we will revisit the question of the ultimate definition and scope
of comparative politics today. Comparativists have a number of interesting areas they
research and will look within countries and then also examine across designated
countries to compare and contrast factors of interest. As an example, one theme may
be considering the different types of leadership in countries along with associated
regime types. For that, student researchers might ask “Who are the heads of state and
where do they conduct their official government work?”
American Politics
This subfield of political science focuses on political institutions and behaviors
within the United States. Those interested in American politics will focus on questions
like: What is the role of elections in American democracy? How do interest groups
affect legislation in the U.S.? What is the role of public opinion and the media in the
U.S., and what are the implications for democracy? What is the future of the two-party
system? Do political parties delay important political action? Those who decide to
specialize in American politics could find themselves a variety of career opportunities,
spanning from teaching, journalism, working for government think-tanks, working for
federal, state or local governmental institutions, or even running for office.
International Relation
Sometimes called world politics, international affairs or international studies,
international relations is a subfield of political science which focuses on how countries
and/or international organizations or bodies interact with each other. Those interested
in international relations consider questions like: What causes war between states?
How does international trade affect relationships between states? How do international
bodies, like non-governmental organizations, work with various states? What is
globalization and how does it affect peace and conflict? What is the best balance of
power for the global system? Individuals interested in this field of political science may
be looking for careers with teaching, non-governmental organizations, the United
Nations, and governmental think-tanks focused on U.S. foreign policy. International
relations, the closest subfield to comparative politics, is rather eclectic in its
methodology, adopting everything from ethnography to surveys and focus groups, to
textual analysis. The study of international relations is distinct both in content as well
as method from comparative politics. International relations, often abbreviated as IR,
is the study of how states relate to each other through processes such as diplomacy,
war, and trade. Comparative politics, on the other hand, is the study of how different
states govern themselves, and using comparisons to build theories and draw
conclusions regarding the merits of different approaches to governing. Thus, IR
focuses on the international level of analysis, while comparative politics focuses on
the state level of analysis. Figure 3 is a visual depiction of the differences between the
two.
Political Philosophy
Sometimes called political theory, political philosophy is a subfield of political
science which reflects on the philosophical origins of politics, the state, government,
fairness, equality, equity, authority, and legitimacy. This field can consider themes in
broad or narrow terms, considering the origins of political principles, as well as
implications for these principles as they relate to issues of political identity, culture, the
environment, ethics, distribution of wealth, as well as other societal phenomena.
Those interested in political philosophy may ask questions like: Where did the concept
of “the state” arise? What were the different ancient beliefs regarding the formation of
states and cooperation within societies? How is power derived within systems, and
what are the best theories to explain power dynamics? Individuals who are interested
in political philosophy may find careers in teaching, research, journalism as well as
consulting.
Research Methods and Models
Research methods and models can sometimes be considered a subfield of
political science in itself, as it seeks to consider the best practices for analyzing themes
within political science through discussion, testing and critical analysis of how research
is constructed and implemented. This subfield is concerned with finding techniques for
testing theories and hypotheses related to political science. An ongoing and heated
debate often arises out of the proper or applicable usage of quantitative versus
qualitative research designs, though each inevitably can be appropriate for various
research scenarios.
1.1 Quantitative Research
Centers on testing a theory or hypothesis, usually through mathematical
and statistical means, using data from a large sample size. Quantitative
research can be beneficial in situations where a scholar or student is looking to
test the validity of a theory, or general statement, while looking at a large sample
size of data that is diverse and representative of the subjects being studied.
International Relations, American Politics, Public Policy and Comparative
politics can, depending on the subject they are considering, find practical
applicable for quantitative research methods. Someone interested in
International Relations may want to test, for instance, the influence of global
trade on conflict between states. For this, the sample size of the study may be
172 states engaged in international trade over a period of 10, 20, or even 50
years. Perhaps the theory being tested would be this: trade improves relations
between states, making conflict unlikely. The person testing this would need to
find ways to quantify conflict over time, to measure alongside, perhaps, trade
volume between states. Overall, some of the methods for quantitative research
may involve conducting surveys, conducting bi- or multivariate regression
analysis (time-series, cross-sectional), or carrying out observations to test a
hypothesis.
1.2 Qualitative Research
Centers on exploring ideas and phenomena, potentially with the goal of
consolidating information or developing evidence to form a theory or hypothesis
to test. Qualitative research involves categorizing, summarizing, and analyzing
cases more thoroughly, and possibly individually, to gain greater understanding.
Often, given the need for more description, qualitative research will have a
small sample size, perhaps only comparing a couple states at a time, or even
a state individually based on the theme of interest. Some of the methods for
qualitative research involve conducting interviews, constructing literature
reviews, or preparing an ethnography. Regardless of a quantitative or
qualitative approach, topics of interest within the subfield of Research Methods
and Models focuses on advancing discussions of best practices in research
design and methodology, understanding causal relationships between events
or outcomes, identifying best practices in quantitative and qualitative research
methods, consideration of how to measure social, economic, cultural and
political trends (focusing on validity and reliability), and reducing errors or poor
output due to selection bias, omitted variable bias, and other factors related to
poor research design. In many ways, this subfield is critical to almost all others
within political science, and this book will spend a chapter looking closer at
appropriate research methods and models to provide students with a greater
understanding in order to test or develop theories within political science.
