1. Chapter 1

3.  Comparative Politics studies how countries shape and are shaped by the world order created by watershed events called critical junctures  Activity – Write three critical junctures in your life. Be prepared to share.  Guess… what three dates do you think would mark critical junctures in the current era of world politics  The three dates, each a critical juncture, that are the markers for the current era of world politics are 1989, 2001, 2008

4.  1989 – Fall of Berlin Wall  End of Cold War/beginning of current era  Soviet Union weakened grip on East Central Europe  Peaceful revolutions against communist party-states  Regimes imploded and replaced  End of Cold War  Was the failure of communism as an alternative to liberal democracy  Fukuyama’s “The End of History” – democracy won  1989 brought three important changes  End of bipolar world  Triumph of liberal democracy  Gateway to globalization

5.  Forced rethinking of globalization ; switched from economic and political impacts of globalization to terrorism and security  Although terrorism existed previously, the scale of these attacks was larger  Not isolated  Resulted in changes to global alliances, foreign and domestic policies  Triggered United States response with lasting consequences

6.  2008 – Price of crude oil topped $140 per barrel  Oil fuels global economy: impact harder on low income  High price reflects four factors  Finite supply of petroleum  Competition for petroleum has increased: China and India  Many major petroleum exporters have unstable regimes  More dollars needed to purchase oil  World-wide recession; high cost of oil has  Impacted billions at low income levels  Risen costs of transportation and food  Given global awareness to climate change

7.  Globalization or global era: used to identify the growing depth, extent, and diversity of cross-border connections – deals with:  Economic Activities  Movement of people  New applications of information technology  Has created new types of international governance (supranational organizations like EU, WTO, and NAFTA  Grassroots movements have challenged globalization  States can no longer act in isolation and sovereignty challenged by internal and external forces

8.  This Course:  Analyzes government and politics of 6 countries in detail  Identifies common themes in their development that explain long-term causes of changes and continuities  Creates cross-national comparisons and explanations  Understanding politics requires looking beyond a single national perspective

9.  Modern comparative politics is subfield of political science and a approach to study of politics  Studies domestic politics of countries or people  Distinction between comparative politics and international relations  Focuses on selected institutions and processes when analyzing similarities and differences among countries  Empirical data – but be careful!but be careful  Normative information

10.  Good to begin with comparing countries; different from nation  Look at the state within a country which often is used to define its government and to look at its regime  National executive; legislature; judiciary; bureaucracy  Ruling regime must have some legitimacy  State formation influences how and why states differ politically  When state boundaries and national identities coincide – result is nation-states

11.  Casual theory expresses as “If X happens then Y will be the result” (X is the factors that influence, Y is the outcome)  Ways to seek information  Universal laws to explain outcomes  Identify particular patterns  Focus on unique factors that coexist in a particular case  Use a thick description  Use the Choice approach  Rational Choice Theory  Middle-Level Theory – YOUR books approach

12.  Four themes used to organize information in your book  Help explain continuities and contrasts  Help understand patterns that are applicable to group of countries or specific to a country  BUT: themes cannot capture the varied experience of politics and is theoretical

13.  Theme emphasizes the interaction between domestic policies and international forces and has two components  The State is the primary political institution in the exercise of power BUT  cannot shape world as it desires  cannot achieve aims autonomously  are affected by external influences  technology, immigration, cultural diffusion impact domestic policies and challenge state supremacy  states may collapse when rulers are challenged or violate rule of law – called a “failed state”  States are building blocks in world politics but important to analyze the variations between the states

14.  Ability to ensure adequate volume of goods and services affects state’s ability to maintain sovereignty  How state “governs the economy” is key element in overall pattern of governance – its political economy is important because believed that states domestic and international economy affects its politics  No agreement on best way to manage economy (laissez-faire to complete government intervention) but is agreement on practices that hinder economic development  Dishonesty, corruption, high tax rates, failure to provide public goods  More countries emphasizing sustainable development  Measurement of economy done with GDP, GNP, PPP, and GDP per capita

15.  Outstanding political development recently is spread of democracy  Little consensus on how or why it spreads  No one path to democracy – come to it for many reasons  Some warn of dangers associated with democracy – partisan politics  Necessary or sufficient conditions for democracy:  Secure national borders, stable state, minimum level of economic development, acceptance of democratic values, agreement on rules, Institutional design

16.  There is a gulf between transition to and consolidation of democracy  Transition occurs when authoritarian regime toppled and democratic foundations established  Consolidation requires adherence to democratic procedures and stable, durable democratic institutions  There is no single democratic point to which all countries will converge  A country can adopt some democratic features while having undemocratic elements as well  People may invoke the democratic idea to demand that their government be more responsive and accountable  Political conflicts fueled by gap between democratic idea and democratic functioning

17.  At one time comparativists believed that social class was the most important source of collective identity but today non-class identities growing in significance: especially religion  Politics of collective identities involves struggle to mobilize groups to be politically influential  Issues about collective identities never fully settled  Identity-based conflicts appear in every multiethnic society  Religion is an important source of collective identity and a source of conflict  Can impact a country’s distributional politics

18.  Over two hundred states with distinctive political regimes so create typology to facilitate comparison within and between types of states but are artificial constructs  Most Different  Most Similar  From World War II until 1980s consensus on “Three Worlds”  First World was Western industrial democracies  Second World was communist states  Third World was economically less developed  Authors suggest basing typology on extent to which governments are democratic: but is this fair?but is this fair  Consolidated democracies  Transitional democracies  Authoritarian regimes

19.  Debate over meaning of Democracy but rough consensus is  Free and fair elections to select highest public offices  Political parties free to compete  Government policies developed according to rules that include transparency, accountability  Civil and political rights and liberties for all citizens  Independent judiciary  Elected government exercises supreme power  Conflicts will be resolved peacefully  Qualifications:  Doesn’t claim electoral outcomes rational or equitable  No government has fully lived up to democratic standards  Interpretation, implementation of features politically contentious  Economic inequalities influence politics  Political institutions vary

20.  Criteria to distinguish between consolidated and transitional democracies  Whether or not democratic institutions have been solidly and stably established for a period of time  Extent of democratic practice  Authoritarian regimes lack democratic principles  Varieties include communist party-states, theocracies, monarchies, military or personal dictatorships  Power highly concentrated in person, group, or institution  Frequently claim to embody democracy  Both democratic and authoritarian states change and evolve over time in response to domestic and international influences  Some countries may straddle categories or political experiences may cause change in category

21.  Each country case study has common section and subsection heading to help reader make comparisons  Country case studies selected:  Significance in terms of comparative themes  Provide interesting samples of political regimes, economic development, geographic regions  Studies make comparative references but primarily provide detailed descriptions and analysis of countries

22.  Making of the Modern State: geography, critical junctures, past patterns, implication for our class  Political Economy and Development: state, society, and global  Governance and Policy-Making: organization of the state, the executive, state institutions, policy-making process  Representation and Participation: political parties, elections, political culture, social movements  Politics in Transition: political challenges, in perspective to this class Key Terms – at end – these are for your NOTECARDS