1. INTRODUCTION TO COMPARATIVE POLITICS
STUDENT NOTES 2
INTRODUCTION TO COMPARATIVE POLITICS

2. GLOBALIZATION
Intensification of worldwide interconnectedness (interdependence) of economies, political systems, and societies on a GLOBAL scale
Associated with speed and magnitude of cross-border flows of trade, investment and finance, processes of migration, cultural diffusion, and communication
Economic, political, social

3. CASE STUDY: MEXICO Economic globalization Social globalization
NAFTA – bilateral trade agreement with United States and Canada
Economic liberalization – minimizing government intervention for private enterprise
Social globalization
Backlash – indigenous population (CHIAPAS) protest negative effects

4. II. Sovereignty, Authority, Power
SOVEREIGNTY: The ability to carry out actions independent of internal or external actors
Rests with those who have ultimate right to make political decisions

5. II. Sovereignty, Authority, Power
Government is the leadership or the elite in charge of running the state.
Organizations of individuals who have the power to make binding decisions
Operators of politics
Weakly institutionalized – not seen as irreplaceable
THINK: Government are the people, politics is the process by which they make decisions.

6. II. Sovereignty, Authority, Power
Governments may be democratically elected or it may be ruled by dictators.
However they are structured, each government holds its own ideas about freedom and equality and uses the state to realize these ideas.
Governments are less institutionalized than states or regimes because they may come and go, whereas, states and regimes tend to have more staying power.

7. II. Sovereignty, Authority, Power
A State is a political system that has sovereignty over a population in a particular territory, based on the recognized right to self-determination. It is one of the most basic units of study in comparative politics.

8. Early-forming states tend to be more economically developed and peaceful while late-forming states tend to be less economically developed and have yet to consolidate their sovereignty

9. II. Sovereignty, Authority, Power
Regimes are the fundamental rules and norms of politics.
Stems from regimen – guidance, rules
Regimes can be institutions and/or individuals.
Examples of changes in regimes:
French Revolution overthrowing the monarchy
South Africans overthrowing apartheid white rule
Louis XIV “I am the state”
Iraq and Saddam Hussein.

10. INSTITUTIONS Executive, legislative, judiciary, and bureaucracy
Organizations that are self-perpetuating and are intrinsically valued

11. The US has a democratic regime in which the people are sovereign but give authority to levels of government – the government are the people in charge of the regime, implementing the rules. Institutions can be thought of as procedures and tools used to support the regime in a state.
“The state is the machinery of politics and the regime is its programming, the government is the operator."

13. POLITICS
The struggle in any group for power that will give a person or people the ability to make decisions for the larger group

14. REVOLUTION Uprising of the MASSES
Usually followed by fundamental change

15. COUP D’ETAT Conducted by MILITARY forces Few individuals
Often leads to military rule

16. LEGITIMACY Acceptance of the government’s right to rule
The popular and voluntary acceptance of an authority
Usually a blend of three types of legitimacy

17. TRADITIONAL LEGITIMACY
The way its always been
Rooted in tradition, historical myths and legends

18. CHARISMATIC LEGITIMACY
Legitimacy based on the power of ideas and the ability to sell those ideas

19. RATIONAL-LEGAL LEGITIMACY
Legitimacy based on the rule of law

20. Constitution
A supreme law that defines the structure of a nation-state’s regime and the legal processes governments must follow
When followed, this establishes rule of law
Needn’t be one document
Contains a set of decision rules

21. Rule of Law
A governance system operating predictably under a known and transparent set of procedural rules (laws)
Also know as, constitutionalism
In all disputes, no matter how important or influential the person is, “the piece of paper wins!”

22. II. Sovereignty, Authority, Power
Nation: Refers to a reasonably large group of people with a common culture that occupy a particular territory
Bound by unity arising from shared beliefs and customs (religion, language, values, institutions)

23. NATIONALISM
Pride in one’s people and the belief that they have a unique political destiny

24. II. Sovereignty, Authority, Power
Some NATIONS do not have STATES
Can you provide an example?
Nation-state: territory of a state is occupied by only one distinct nation or people
Japan, Poland, Denmark