COURSE CONTENT
POL
212 Comparative Government and Politics (1 Credit) C
The
major approaches to the study of comparative government and politics are
examined. Comparative study of government and political processes in states
such as United States of America (USA) Russia, Britain, France and China are
undertaken.
Concept of Comparative Politics
Politics is the process by which
power is distributed and decisions are made about how societies govern
themselves. The essence of comparative politics as a special branch of
political science is to compare the structures of different societies and the
functions they perform.
The term comparative politics refers
to a subject matter, a field or specialty within the academic study of politics
(that is, political science), and a method or approach to the study of
politics. The subject matter of comparative politics is the domestic politics
of countries or peoples within the study of political science; comparative
politics is one of the four areas of specialization.
When it comes to comparing countries
and political systems, the political scientists, Lasswell (1968) once argued
that comparison was so central to good analysis that the scientific method
cannot avoid making comparisons. The study of comparative politics is one of
the oldest most difficult and most important which has attracted the attention
of mankind. It can be traced back at least to the first century B.C. when
Aristotle made the first recording attempt at describing in some details the
characteristics of tyrannies, oligarchy and democracies which prevail in
various parts of the world he know.
In multi-country approach,
comparatives often analyze political institutions or processes by looking at
two or more cases deliberately selected for their mix of common and contrasting
features. The analysis then involves actually comparing similar aspects of
politics in more than one country – for example, the executive branches of
government in the United States, United Kingdom like Britain and Canada. Some
comparative political studies take a thematic approach and draw on many
different countries to analyze broad issues, such as what causes revolution.
The single country approach occurs
when they are conceptualized comparatively. The usual method here is for a
political scientist to analyze the politics of a single country within the
framework of the more general
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