What is Comparative Politics? (Ch. 1)

Descriptions

Answers to who, what, when, and where questions; first step in political analysis

Explanations

Answers to why questions that involve developing empirical theories and collecting evidence

Normative Theory

Argument that explains what should or ought to occur and involves prescription.

Empirical Theory

Argument that explains why a particular phenomenon has occurred.

Single Case Study

Research method that examines a phenomenon in one country

Prescriptions

Normative judgments or policy recommendations

Political Punditry

Political analysis provided by journalists, TV or radio talk show hosts

Most-similar systems design

Research method that involves examining several countries with many similarities to hold those similarities constant (e.g., civil wars in sub-Saharan Africa)

Most-different systems design

Research method that involves examining several different countries to find the common element (e.g., civil wars in Nigeria, Guatemala, Syria, China)

Quantitative methods

Research method that utilizes statistical design to examine a phenomenon in many countries, possibly across many years

Comparative Politics

Subfield of political science that examines countries' domestic-level politics.

Political Theory

Subfield of political science that examines normative political philosophy.

International Relations

Subfield of political science that examines the political interactions between countries and other political actors at the international or global level of analysis.

Research Methods

Systematic processes used to reduce bias and improve the objective study of phenomena.

Political Science

The systematic study of how human communities make collective decisions