Comparative Politics: Guiding Questions
How do we know whether a country is democratic or not?
Accountability -Kick rulers out of office -peaceful transition of power -fair & frequent elections Participation -universal adult suffrage Contestation -not just one person running for office -elections (frequent and fair... equal chance)
What causes political violence?
Can occur in the form of interstate warfare, Civil War, Revolutions, Terrorism, or Genocide. Civil War Causes: weak state b/c of colonial legacies, international environment, poverty, geography Revolutions Causes: weak state b/c of international environment, poverty, geography Terrorism Causes: Strong States- "hard targets" Genocide Causes: Ethnic divisions, ongoing warfare, permissive international environment
Is there a relationship between state capacity, state strength and political violence?
Capacity: Space/Ability to use own resources capable, generate order, potential to protect Autonomy: enforcement of power, not just borders but internal conflict aka ability to make policy without internal opposition. enforcement of power, no foreign intervention, policy for greatest number of people High Capacity/High Autonomy = Strong State, complete sovereignty, economic independence, lots of resources. No internal resistance. (ex: China, Soviet Union) Low Capacity/High Autonomy = Strong Central Gov w/ a lack of ability to provide for its citizens.(ex: North Korea, Russia) High Capacity/Low Autonomy = lots of resources + ability but low autonomy. (ex:US,UK,canada) Low Capacity/Low Autonomy (failing) = weak gov w/ in ability to access/use resources. (ex: DRC, Mexico, Somalia, Congo)
What is a Democracy and why have one?
Democracy: a political system in which the rulers are accountable to the ruled A country deemed a democracy enacts three principles Accountability: a political mechanism that offers citizens regular and realistic opportunities to remove rulers from office through peaceful and constitutional means. Participation: Democracy must have clear and consistent rules that define membership in electorate (institutionalized participation) Democracy must have universal suffrage (all adults can vote) Participation is unforced (can't be forced to vote against will) Contestation: must be real competition for power; number of competitors for power (political parties, candidates, etc) must be greater than one.
Why are some countries democratic: economic factors
Economic change: poor to rich may cause political transformation as seen in Industrial Revolution: industrial to rural... need for modernization 2 ways economic change leads to political change: #1: interests: the way economic development can bring rise of new social classes #2: identities: the way economic modernization changes values
Is the "failed state" a failing concept?
In comparison to early, western states Places deemed "failing states" that are controlled by terrorist or militant groups often better off than w/o ex) somalia, Afghanistan States declared failed when it effects the US States w/ natural resources that are failing are not declared "failed" so that larger global powers can extort their nature resources (ex: Nigeria) Boaz + Jennings article = be careful when declaring a state failed, often when convenient for west
Can Islamic countries be democratic?
Islam is incompatible with democracy Arab world... non democratic What is is about the Arab World that leads to non democracy? Hypothesis #1: Non Islamic countries, but instead oil rich, which causes authoritarianism Discredit -democracies that still produce oil -countries (Syria) not oil rich Hypothesis #2: Western interests supporting non democracies in own interest, especially oil (strategic interest causing non democracy) Discredit -people aren't blaming the best -geopolitics/western influence not necessarily to blame
What is the relationship between modernization, development and democracy?
MODERNIZATION Modernization theory: Modernization= industrialization= economic growth = education =demand for political rights =democracy -the richer the country, the higher the probability of democracy -DISCONFIRMED hypothesis rich & secular / rich & not desperate for traditional forms of gov/rely on religion = more secular Growth with equity: Not 1 portion of population can get wealthy/grow... has to be more of population (inequity but still democracy) EX: U.S. Endogenous vs. Exogenous Endo: economic development (creations conditions for dem.) leads to democracy -democracy is result of socio-economic development within Exo: external force causes democracy economic development follows democracy -India & Botswana RICHER the country = more likely democracy will SURVIVE DEVELOPMENT (more) if authoritarian regime can't provide = civil war/revolution people don't care because life is fine or supression of information -Arab Spring (social media) -China (outlawed Facebook, google, etc.)
How do we distinguish between Strong States, Weak States & Failed States?
Measure based off of a state's ability to generate order through Use of power (& its effectiveness) Voluntary Compliance (legitimacy) Strong State Weak State Rulers, institutions of gov, and form of gov lack legitimacy. Citizens less likely to obey laws, pay taxes, etc. Failed State Gov doesn't have control over entire country Can't control its borders Unable to provide security to its citizens State Fragility Index Tool used by political scientists to measure state effectiveness and legitimacy on four dimensions: security, political, economic, and social. ex) Security Effectiveness Score & Security Legitimacy Score Political Effectiveness & Legitimacy Score....etc Each country scored from 0-3 with higher score indicating lack of effectiveness or legitimacy.
Is there a correlation between religious values and democracy?
NO. democracy requires majority rule religion requires personal beliefs Historical & political factors explain why no primordial connection sits between Christianity & democracy/Islam & non-democracy
What are the consequences of a state that is weak/failing?
Rulers, institutions of gov, and form of gov lack legitimacy. Citizens less likely to obey laws, pay taxes, or contribute to resolution of society's collective action problems. Can also result in the competition between central gov and outside groups for power. Therefore results in proliferation of armed groups outside of the control of state security forces, corruption, civil conflict, and trafficking in drugs, weapons, and humans. State weakness can turn into a vicious circle Inability to control crime/corruption = tax evasion, therefore investment is low and gov provision of services is minimal b/c no taxes
How are parliamentary democracies different from presidential democracies in separation of powers?
See chart
How does vertical separation of powers work?
See chart
What is the state and how does it originate?
State: a political-legal unit w/ sovereignty over a particular geographic territory and the population that resides in that territory. *Two Views on State Formation* Hobbes Contractarian: State formation: social contract necessary to establish order I anarchy Early State Formation: (Tilly War Making) Triggered by war preparations and competition over territory/taxing. War + Tax needed to maintain sovereignty Military Context: as military expanded, increased need for larger, more complex bureaucracies & centralization of power in order to facilitate raising taxes and preparing for war. Economic Context: growth of trade, commerce, industry, & agriculture = new class of merchants wanting political stability. Cultural Identity Context: Cultural shift from preordained station in life (feudalism) to individual self interest. Occurred, in part, b/c of reformation
What does it mean to be unitary vs federal?
Unitary example: UK uniformed centralized smaller states minority might have less say in policy Federal example: US, India, Brazil no uniformity of law not centralized checks & balances tension national discourse
What are the twin tolerations
a. Boundaries of freedom of elected government need to be free from religious groups b. Religious groups/individuals must have freedom from elected government The MORE this criteria is met... better chance of democracy
Is there a separation of church and state in "western" democracies?
blurred line today -LGBT rights -abortion laws BUT still democracy without church + state consolidated countries: democracy, but not christian -India -Israel -Japan
What are the methodological hurdles confronting comparative political scientists?
correlation vs causation Identifying Causation: Arguments about causality in the social sciences must rest on scholars' ability to accumulate evidence and construct a convincing argument that logically holds together. Assessing Reliable Information: difficult to control/isolate factors to determine causality. Information can be ambiguous or downright confusing Quantitative vs Qualitative research: Mixed methods research = uses both qualitative and quantitative techniques, in an effort to build convincing claims about the relationships between attributes and outcomes.
What is comparative politics and how do we compare?
is the systematic search for answers to political questions about how people around the world make and contest authoritative public choices compare by asking questions, general hypothesis, test hypothesis Comparative method method of agreement method of difference
Why are some countries democratic: religion & politics
religion = motivator for social movements, political parties, & civil war
Why are some countries democratic: the role of culture
some country's citizens value political equality & individual freedoms... more likely for democracy Problems with the civic culture argument: #1: Not all organizations have similar goals #2: Chicken & Egg problem: Does a citizen with "civic-ness" cause democracy to emerge, OR does having a democracy cause citizens to become more civic? civis culture=asian values=asian system (not necessarily democracy) western culture=western values=western democracy Text: Fareed Zakaria Interview Ethnocentric: researcher bias trying to measure culture from our own bias of having a system that works