Comparative Politics paper

Your first job is to summarize the government and politics of each country. Is it a democracy or an authoritarian government? Where does power reside in the country? How many political parties are there? How long has the current regime been in place? If there are elections, are they free and fair? How is the government structured? Is it a federal or unitary system? What are the major political issues dominating the country right now? How strong is the economy? What kind of economic system do they use?

Please DO NOT merely summarize information available elsewhere – anyone can check out Wikipedia – but try to go beyond to explain why the government and politics of your country function like they do. Is there a distinctive history that shapes current politics? Are there geographic considerations that are important? Ethnic, religious, or cultural divisions?

Once you have discussed each of the countries separately, you should compare the two. How are they different and how are they similar? What seems to explain the differences? Is it history? Geography? Political culture? Governance? Try and go beyond just saying “country X has this type of government, country Y has this type”. Your goal should be to think of reasons why your two countries might differ. This is the hardest, and most speculative, part of the paper.