Comparative Politics

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What is comparative politics?

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It is the systematic study and comparison of the world’s political systems.

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Why do we study comparative politics?

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Studying politics in other societies allows us to see a wider range of political alternatives and reveals the benefits and short comings in our own political system

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1. Case study-thick description

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a. (Oldest ways) go out and carry out extensive research.
b. Interviews, archives, specialists,
c. Gather info to establish relationships.
d. Looking for some type of correlation in history or culture.
e. There is no real theory involved.

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2. Statistical analysis/quantitative data analysis:

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a. 1950’s take a large number of cases (all countries in South America for example)
b. Taking statistical information and putting into formulas to look at correlation with cause and affect relations.
c. Seen as to mechanical, it ignores the people, very shallow.
d. Where did the numbers come from? ( a lot of people rely on statistical data over detailed conversations

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3. Combination of the above

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a. Case studies that are broader, longer time span.
Include the statistical data along with the case studies

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Taxonomy

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Create a Taxonomy—classification
a. parties
b. classify states
c. economic development
d. 1st world-3rd world
e. Put states into categories

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3. If-then statements

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looking for causality or at least a correlation
a. Correlation: (ex. Democracies will not go to war with each other, but does that mean you will not go to war? Will you become non democratic if you go to war?)
b. Causality: (ex. Higher education will cause more people to vote.)

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4. What will happen?

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5. Intervention or Prevention
a. Intervention for prevention: get rid of Saddam Hussein to create a shining beacon in the Middle East.

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What are some disadvantages of comparison?

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• Countries can be classified and compared in many different ways.
• People believe “their” values are the best way to go on in life.
• Inaccurate interpretation of an event.

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What are some advantages of comparison?

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• Sometimes the predictions are true
• Gives us valuable information
• A baseline for countries so we have points of reference
• We can identify our weaknesses compared to other countries
• Enriches us as human beings by providing insight to other cultures
• Giving us different perspectives.
• Educate other cultures about our own culture

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States must possess all of the following qualifications

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 A permanent population
 Defined territory (borders)
 A government capable of maintaining effective control over its territory (and population, and has the ability to conduct its business effectively) and of conducting international relations with other states. In the same vein, a state must have legitimacy: when its people believe that its laws should be obeyed, and that its rules conform to commonly accepted political values. (does not have to be a democracy, Saudi Arabia for example) – do the people see it as legitimate?
Recognition- accepted by other states as a member of the international community.

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o Internal sovereignty:

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supreme decision making authority with regard to a particular territory and population

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o External Sovereignty

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the absence of a supreme international authority and thus the independence of sovereign states.

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Intergovernmental Organizations (IGO’s):

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their members are states, e.g. The international monetary fund (IMF), the World Bank (WB)

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Non Governmental Organizations (NGO’s):

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their members are usually individuals e.g. the Catholic Church, world council of churches, American red Cross, care international, green peace.

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Nation:
• the members of which share some or all of the following:

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o A sense of common identity
o A history
o A language
o Ethnic or racial origins
o Religion
o A common economic life
o A geographical location and political base

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U.K. Is what? (political classification)

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Democracy (Parliamentary)(legislature: Parliament) (Lower House: House of Commons)(Upper House: House of Lords)

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France is what? (political classification)

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Democracy (Semi Presidential)(Legislature: Parliament) (Lower house: Assemblee Nationale)(Upper house: Senate)

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China is what?

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Communist Party) (Legislature: Unicameral National Peoples Congress)

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India is what?

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(democracy) (Prime Ministerial) (Legislature: Parliament) (Lower house: House of the People) (Upper house: House of States)

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Nigeria is what?

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(Democracy)(Presidential) (Legislature: National Assembly)(Lower house: House of representatives)(Upper house: Senate)

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Brazil is what?

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(Democracy)(Presidential)(Lower house: Chamber of Deputies)(Upper House: federal Senate)

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The executive consists of:

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o Prime Minister or President
o Cabinet or Council of Minister
o Leaders of Bureaucracy
o Bureaucracy

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• Characteristics: of executive

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o Ceremonial leader: a dignified role; symbolic; Head of State.
o Effective leader: efficient role; Head of government.
o Or both roles in one person

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• Functions: of executive

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A. Implementation- policy making
B. Delegate powers
C. Political education- affect attitudes and opinions about politics
D. Recruitment-through cabinet members

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Characteristics of legislatures

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1. Represent the will of the population or economic and social groups
2. Legislate: debate, amend, formulate and deliberate to enact laws
3. Can set parameters for what is and is not permissible
4. Political socialization: help create popular beliefs and attitudes about the political system
5. Socialize future leaders
6. Shape attitudes about what is appropriate for the state
7. Recruitment of political leaders; brings people into the system
8. Oversight function: keeps an eye on the bureaucracy; enforces accountability
9. Provides an example for the maintenance of the system

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Power Structure in legislatures

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1. Submissive: little power, with little popular support (China)
2. Assenting or Truncated: some popular support, but the issues it addresses are limited; the government has most of the control
3. Inhibited Legislature: broader range of issues open to the legislature, but it still does not openly challenge the executive. Debates about fundamental issues do not occur. Generally, it has the peoples’ support
4. Open or Assertive Legislature: very powerful and effective. Has strong support from the citizens. Involved in all functions of the legislature. Has equal or sometimes greater power than the executive (US, Great Britain, France, India…)

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Exec UK

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PM Gordon Brown & Cabinet. Elections every five years.
Head of State: Queen Elizabeth II

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Exec France

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Seperately elected President Nicolas Sarkozy. He chooses a Cabinet and PM (Francois Fillon) 5 year term for president. Can be re elected.

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Exec China:

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Head of State: President Hu Jintao 5 year term by NPC. Premier Wen Jinbao 5 year term. Head of CCP has most power

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Exec India:

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President Pratibha Patil
PM Manmohan Singh
elections every 5 years
no term limits

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Exec Nigeria

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Presiden Umaru Yar Adua
4 year term
VP

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Exec Brazil

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President Luis Inacio Da Silva
2 terms

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Legislature UK

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Main: Lower house: House of Commons
Unelected: House of Lords.

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Legislature France

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Bicameral
Main: National Assembly
Senate (less power)

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Legislature China

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Central Planning Committee: The national peoples congress.

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Legislature Nigeria

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bicameral: House of representatives,
senate

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Legislature India:

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Bicameral: House of the People (dominates)
House of states (weaker)

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Legislature Brazil:

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National Congress,
Chamber of Deputies & Federal Senate
(same as USA)

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William the Conqueror:

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King of England from Christmas, 1066 until his deathTo press his claim to the English crown, William invaded England in 1066, leading an army of Normans, Bretons, Flemish people, and Frenchmento victory over the English forces of King Harold Godwinson (who died in the conflict) at the Battle of Hastings, brought Norman-French culture to England, had an impact on the subsequent course of England in the Middle Ages

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Scottish:

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are a nation[16] and an ethnic group indigenous to Scotland. Historically they emerged from an amalgamation of the Celtic peoples the Picts, the Gaels, and the Brythons.

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Welsh:

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Wales a country that is part of the United Kingdom,[3] bordered by England to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. Wales has a population estimated at three million and is officially bilingual; both Welsh and English

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Neville Chamberlain:

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as a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from May 1937 to May 1940. Chamberlain is best known for his appeasement foreign policy, and in particular for his signing of the Munich Agreement in 1938,

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Winston Churchill:

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He served as Prime Minister from 1940 to 1945 and again from 1951 to 1955. Known chiefly for his leadership of the United Kingdom during World War II.

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Margaret Thatcher

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1979-1990 Conservative Prime Minister)

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The French Revolution: (1789-99)

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After Louis XIV dubbed himself the Sun King and famously declared that he alone was the state the eighteenth century reduced the French commoners to famine and bankrupted the state. The third estate argued that all three houses should meet together as one assembly to vote (allowing the commoners to prevail) the king resisted, stirring the anger and protests of the commoners. Rising bread prices in Paris prompted Parisians to storm the Bastille, the old Paris jailhouse, on July 14, 1789. The revolution became a catalyst for standardization and reform.

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Contributions and conflicts of Napoleon

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Pro: In 1799, General Napoleon Bonaparte seized power in a coup d etat that brought the decade of revolutionary turmoil to an end. The Coup retained and codified key elements of the revolutionary order. All men are equal, sovereignty, church separate state etc.
Con: Proclaimed emperor for life in 1804, increasingly resembled tyranny . Ruled for another 10 years then in a wake of military defeats, permanently defeated in 1815 by British and died in exile.

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The 5th Republic:

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New constitution that established a strong executive and address the ills of the 3rd and 4th republics was put into place.

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Charles de Gaulle:

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Lead the military resistance and ultimately embodied the French anti Nazi movement. Served as the last prime minister of the forth republic, became the first president of the 5th republic in 1958. Served for 10 years (1968).

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Confucianism

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(206-220 BCE) influenced the imperial leaders, with its emphasis on a fixed set of hierarchical roles, meritocracy, and obedience of authority. Confucianism in turn helped foster the development of the Chinese civil service, a corps of educated men chosen on the basis of exams testing heir familiarity with Confucian thought. But over centuries it became inflexible and outdated, holding china back into isolation.

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Opium Wars

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(1839-1842) The first opium war with great Britain resulted in a defeat forcing china to cede Hong Kong to the British. Other western powers demanded similar access and subsequent wars with the French and Japanese further extended imperial powers.

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October 1, 1949

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Students once again played a major role in expressing discontent. In 1989 Tiananmen Square demonstrations, hundreds of protesters were killed for daring to openly call for political reforms. Swift and violent response still occurs today to public protest in order to prevent another instance

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Mao

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Mao Zedong (1893-1976) Took control of the CCP. Mao believed that a communist revolution could be won by building an army out of the peasant class. Mao and the CCP established their own independent communist republic within China, but KMT attacks forced the CCP to flee westward in what came to be known as the Long March. Mao drew the conclusion that the problem was not that the CCP had been too radical but that it had not been radical enough. Mao died in 1976.

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Great Leap Forward

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Departing from the model of highly centralized planning Mao reorganized the Chinese people into a series of communes. Mao viewed revolutionary change possible by putting responsibility into people’s hands. The great leap quickly faltered.

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Cultural Revolution: 1966

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the cult took shape as Mao accused the CCP itself of having taken the capitalist road. He encouraged the public to challenge the party state bureaucracy at all levels. Everything that had significance during that time was destroyed and marked as bourgeois and reactionary. Mao made himself the charismatic enter of all authority. PLA restored order after many years of unrest. Mao passed in 1976.

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Indian National Congress

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Anti colonial movements birthed the Indian National Congress, founded in 1885. The hopes for a gradual transfer of power were instead met with increased colonial repression, a 1919 massacre by the British killed hundreds innocent Indians

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Mahatma Gandhi

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The massacre galvanized Indian resistance and brought Mahatma Gandhi, a british trained lawyer to the leadership of congress and the broader independence movement. Gandhi led successful protest and nation wide boycotts of imports by the british. He used a strategy of non violence. Assassinated in 1948 by a militant Hindu who saw his messages as a threat to Hindu nationalism.

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Indian independence 1948

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With increased pressure, the British chose partition creating the new state of Pakistan from the northeast. Forming independent India, it led to the uprooting and transmigration of over 12 million refugees to pakistan and hindus/Sikhs to india. Gandhi was assassinated in 1948 during the movement.

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Nehru

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Jawaharlal Nehru succeeded Gandhi as the leader of the INC and became independent India’s first prime minister. Led INC to victory in Indias first general election in 1951 then two more times in 1957 and 1962. Nehru died in office in 1964.

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Indira Gandhi

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Nehrus daughter, assumed leadership of INC and became first women prime minister. Very popular leader, but later issued emergency rule to suppress civil unrest and to censor media. Gandhi lifted the rule in 1977 and called for new elections. She was re elected. She then called martial law in Punjab, then launched a military operation on the Golden Temple in Amritsar, Sikh separatists vowed for vengenance. She was assassinated by her Sikh bodyguards.

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Nigerian Independence 1960

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Elections in 1959 had given the NPC nearly half the seats in the House of representatives, leading to a coalation with the NCNC.

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Military coups

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a group of army officer, primarily igbos, staged acoup d etat, assassinating the prime minister. The Coup leaders suspended the constitution and banned political parties, and called for a government and the endto northern domination. Caused civil war instead between northern and igbo troops.

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Olusegan Obasanjo

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Continued Muhammad’s plans for the restoration of civilian rule. A new constitution enacted in 1979 ushed in the second republic where the old parliamentary system was rplaced by a presidential system. Became president in 1999 in the fourth republic.

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Sani Abacha

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Took the power for himself In yet another military coup. Regularly used violence as a means of public control. He repressed the Nigerian people and he also stole over 6 billion dollars from the state. He died suddenly in 1998 of a heart attack.

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Ken Saro Wiwa

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a critic of Abacha’ regime was arrested and executed. His execution led to Nigeria’s expulsion from the Commonwealth of nations and to sanctions by the United States and the European Union

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1500 Portuguese land on Brazilian coast

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Pedro Alvares Cabral was blown off course on his way to India. He claimed the territory for the Portuguese crown.

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1549 colonialization by Portuguese

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In the 1530’s Portuguese attempted to take more permanent control of brazil. Brazils first capital was established in 1549 in the north east coastal town of Salvador.

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gold, sugar, and then coffee

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Brazil had unlimited rich land on which to cultivate sugar, A slave based sugar economy was created and generated massive wealth for the white minority. The discovery of gold in the 1960s and diamonds in 1720’s made Minas Gerais the most populous area. The gold boom generated massive wealth. The economic development spurred by mineral wealth created demands for increased autonomy and helped establish a distinct Brazilian identity. Coffee cultivation began in the 1820’s in central and southern Brazil. Became worlds leading coffee producer.

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Independence Aug./Sept. 1852:

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Napoleon Bonapartes invasion of Iberian Peninsula in 1807 acted as the catalyst for independence movements in Spanish America. Brazil had become the center of the Portuguese Empire. Kind Joao VI designated Brazil a kingdom. Pedro declared independence on sept 7th 1822. Created a constitution in 1824.

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Brazil military coups, instability and high inflation

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Brazils military overthre the monarchy and established the Old republic (1889-1930) whose motto, “Order and Progress” still adorns the Brazilian flag.

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Fernando Collor de Mello

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president of Brazil from 1990 to 1992, when he resigned to avoid being impeached. He was elected a Senator of the republic in the 2006 general elections and began his term in February 2007.