Comparative Politics

What are some comparative economic measures?

1. Economic wealth 2. Economic structure 3. Economic freedom 4. Income distribution

What 3 sources are a measure of economic structure?

* Industry: tangible goods such as vehicles, building materials, TVs, etc. * Services: intangibles such as retail, utilities, financial services. * Agriculture: you know about. Rule of thumb: richer countries produce more from services, poorer from agriculture.

What is the starred definition of legitimacy?

Authority refers to specific role; legitimacy refers to system. System has legitimacy if recognized by those it affects. US is legitimate; ISIS is not.

What are the features of a full democracy? Examples?

Competitive elections, rule of law, limited govt, individual rights. US, UK, Germany and Japan

What are the features of a hybrid regime?

Flawed elections, weak political culture and rule of law, corruption. Egypt, Pakistan, Turkey

What is Freedom in the World? What does it rate on?

Freedom in the World (Freedom House). Rates countries Free, Partly Free, Not Free using two measures: Political rights (electoral process, political participation, functioning of government). Civil liberties (freedom of expression and belief, rights of association, rule of law, individual rights). Ratings of 1 to 7, best to worst. US = 1 on both, Syria = 7 on both. 2013: Free 90 (46%), Partly Free 58 (30%), Not Free 47 (24%).

What is the starred definition of government?

If politics is process, then government is structure = institutions, people, groups, rules, ways people can influence or take part in political process. Politics drives government.

What is the key measure of comparative social measures?

Key measure: Quality of life when measured by provision of basic needs of citizens: nutrition, education, health care. Three indicators: Life expectancy (US 80, World 70, Afghanistan 44). Infant mortality (US 6 per 1,000 live births, World 68, Afghanistan 257). Primary school completion (US 95%, World 86%, Afghanistan 38%). One major rating system: Human Development Index. Maintained by UN. Uses combination of economic, health and educational data to rate all states as High, Medium, or Low.

What is a key measure in democracy and what are the ratings available?

Key measure: different levels of democracy. Several ratings systems available: * Freedom House - Freedom in the World * The Economist - Democracy Index * Transparency International - Corruption Perception Index

Talk about Income distribution comparative economic measure

Measure 4: Income distribution. ◊ Gini coefficient measures inequality of wealth. Developed by Corrado Gini in 1912. Zero=perfect equality, 100=maximum inequality. US/Canada/Europe lowest inequality at 25-50, South Africa highest at 70. US at higher end of rich countries (49) because of growing income inequality, Norway best at 26. But Afghanistan 27 because almost everyone equally poor.

What is the starred definition of political system?

More than government. Space within which government takes place; aka regime. Every country has government which does approx. same thing, but systems often different.

What is comparative politics?

One of sub-fields of political science in US: ● American politics ● Comparative politics ● International relations ● Political theory ● Public policy

What are the features of an authoritarian regime?

Poor democratic records, limited participation, limited freedom of expression, sometimes military govt. China, Iran, Russia, Nigeria

What is the starred definition of authority?

Power is capacity to act, authority is acknowledged right to act. Max Weber: tradition (accepted way of doing things), law (office rather than person), charisma (person rather than office).

What is the primary purpose of comparative politics?

Primary purpose: to understand how and why they are similar or different, effects of similarities/differences, and what we can learn from this.

What are the features of a flawed democracy?

Problems in governance, underdeveloped political culture, low levels of political participation. France, India, Mexico, Mongolia

What is the starred definition of politics?

Process by which people decide collectively how to manage/ share resources. Resources = money, land, minerals, education, jobs, health care, consumer goods, etc. Collective activity involving two or more people. One person on desert island = no politics. Two people = politics.

Tell me about the process of comparative politics.

Process by which politics and political systems are systematically studied and compared so as to better understand how they work.

What is the starred definition of governance?

Process of making collective decisions, in which institutions may or may not be involved

How does the Corruption Perceptions Index (Transparency International) score?

Scores countries out of 100 based on how corrupt public sectors seen to be.

What is the secondary purpose of comparative politics?

Secondary purpose: to decide if and why one system works better or worse than another.

What rating systems are available for comparative economic measures?

Several ratings systems available, including Fraser Institute - Index of Economic Freedom. Uses 42 measures to rank countries according to size of government, property rights, access to sound money, freedom to trade, regulation of credit. Ranks them on scale of 100 to 1.

Talk about the democracy index

Two types: Democracies - either full or flawed Authoritarian - hybrid or authoritarian regimes

What is the unit of comparison in classifying states?

Unit of comparison: could be cities, counties, provinces, institutions, political parties, elections, constitutions, etc. But core unit of comparison is the state (more detail later). Legal and physical entity with population, legitimacy, territory, sovereignty. About 200 in existence. To help us study, best if we can group them in types.

Economic freedom starred definition?

how much of a role governments play in economy.

What is the starred definition of ginicoefficient?

measures inequality of wealth. Developed by Corrado Gini in 1912.

What is the starred definition of typology?

system of classification that clusters states into groups with common features; helps make sense of complex system. No agreement on how best to do this.

What is the starred definition of gross domestic product?

total value of goods and services produced by a country in one year. Not measure of income or personal wealth.

What is comparative method? Starred.

◊ Comparative method: drawing conclusions from study of samples or case studies. Something we all do every day when making choices, mostly unconsciously.

What is the starred definition of power?

◊ Power: Quality that allows "actor" (person, group, community, tribe, nation, state) to make decisions that help it achieve objectives, or encourage or persuade another to change how they think or act. Ability to bring about intended effects.

What are examples of power?

● Legal authority. ● Ability to threaten or use violence. ● Promise of rewards or opportunities. ● Promise of penalties or sanctions. ● Ability to inspire and encourage = leadership.

What are the big three institutions of governance?

● Legislature: makes laws. ● Executive: executes laws. ● Judiciary: rules on constitutionality of laws.

How do govts intervene in the economy?

● Taxes ● Price controls ● Regulations ● Welfare ● Anti-monopoly laws ● Subsidies ● Health and safety stds ● Labor laws ● Affirmative action

What is the value of comparison?

●Helps us describe political systems. ● Gives us context (US system unusual in many ways). ● Helps us draw up rules about politics. ● Helps us predict political outcomes. ● Helps us make choices. ● Helps us understand ourselves. ● Helps us understand others. ● Helps us make (more) sense of the global system.