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