1. COMPARING THE POLITICAL SYSTEM THROUGH SYSTEMS THEORY
All figures are taken from Ken Wedding’s “What You Need To Know”.

2. What is comparative politics?
Why did you chose to take the course?

3. COMPARATIVE POLITICS A subfield of political science
A way to analyze the political world
Examination of the similarities and differences of political phenomena or political entities.
The reasons for the similarities and differences

4. MAJOR QUESTIONS CONSIDERED IN COMPARATIVE POLITICS
Why are some countries poor and others wealthier?
What enables some countries to "make it" in the modern world while others remain locked in poverty?
Why are the poorer countries more inclined to be governed autocratically while the richer countries are democratic?
What accounts for the regional, cultural, and geographic differences that exist?
What are the politics of the transition from underdevelopment to development and what helps stimulate and sustain that process?
What are the internal social and political conditions as well as the international situations of these various countries that explain the similarities as well as the differences?
What are the patterns that help account for the emergence of democratic as distinct from Marxist-Leninist political systems?
These are the kinds of questions that lie at the heart of the field of Comparative Politics.

5. Systems Theory
Systems theory allows us to see how a state’s components interact over time and how nonpolitical and international forces shape what the state can and can’t accomplish.
The foundation to answering our fundamental questions

6. Systems Theory Made up of 5 key concepts:
inputs: the ways average citizens and groups engage in political life -interest groups -political parties -individual actions. There are inputs that support and there are inputs that put demands on the state
decision-making: controlled by the state, done through the workings of the government. Dependent on state institutions, state values and leader personality
outputs: public policy; some regulates the behavior of individuals and organizations
feedback: the process through which people find out about public policy and their reactions that may shape the next phase of political life
environment: everything outside the political system. Usually divided between domestic and international environments

7. Political System Model
Feedback
Domestic Environment
Government
Outputs/Policies
Inputs
Feedback
International Environment

8. Political System Model
Social, economic, physical conditions
Feedback
Domestic Environment M e d i a
Government
Outputs/Policies
Inputs
Feedback
International Environment
Culture
History
Individuals
Interest groups
Political parties
Protests
International events
Global forces