1. Dec 18 – Comp Gov – Introduction
Agenda:
Questions to consider
Intro to Comp Theory
Pretest/ Check out Books
Terms and Themes
Take out:
Notebook
Pencil
Homework:
Read Section 1 of O’Neill (Page 1-30) and create a working vocab definition list (time Friday to work as well)

2. Some Questions to Consider
Can democracy be “imposed” upon other countries, or does it need to “come from within” to be successful?
What are the causes of political violence? Is anyone capable of political violence, or is it a product of a particular type of society or culture?
How can we effectively understand and explain the ideas behind these questions?

3. Why COMPARATIVE? In order to UNDERSTAND and EXPLAIN, you must TEST
Experimental Method OR Comparative Method
Which of these works for politics?
Comparative Politics
A SUBJECT and a METHOD of study
So what is the purpose of Comparative Politics?
When we make claims about society, economics and governments, we use the comparative method to…
TEST
EXPLAIN
UNDERSTAND

4. Why COMPARATIVE? Not a new idea – comparing and contrasting
Hamlet vs. Claudius
Athens vs. Sparta
COMPARATIVE asks you to go beyond similarities and differences to understand factors that influence:
The formation of governments
How governments respond to challenges
The implications for future challenges and concerns
We will learn about countries in context, but in doing so we will be observing and attempting to understand the connected patterns and processes

5. This Course
This course focuses on government and politics in other countries and provides a theoretical framework to compare political systems around the world.
We will examine six countries in detail: Great Britain, Russia, China, Mexico, Nigeria, and Iran.
We will be examining each country in regards to five major themes of government.
Sovereignty, Authority and Power
Political Institutions
Citizens, Society and the State
Political and Economic Change
Public Policy

6. This Course I. Unit 1--Introduction to Comparative Politics
II. Unit 2--Democratic v. Authoritarian Regimes
A. Great Britain
B. Iran
III. Unit 3--Communist and Post-Communist Countries
A. Russia
B. China
IV. Unit 4--Emerging Economies
A. Mexico
B. Nigeria

7. Critical Thinking in CompGov
In order to UNDERSTAND, we need to…
Define
Use the specialized vocabulary of CompGov
Describe
Categorize and consider the systems of study
So that we can…
Explain
Cause and effect
In order to use that knowledge to…
Predict
Consider worldwide trends and patterns
Prescribe
Suggest remedies and ideas based on understandings

8. Pretest
Complete the pretest to the best of your ability as I check out your texts.
Don’t help others, I just want to see what you know!