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Comparative Politics and Government

Notes 4. The factor of the complexity of the political systems and political behaviour should also be
taken into account here.
5. The roles that the people play in the politics of their country cannot be subjected to uniform
rules as evolved or framed by a student of comparative government and politics.
6. Much of the study of this subject is concerned with the issues of stability and maintenance of
a political system perhaps on account of this basic assumption that ‘power is always
conservative’.
7. The adoption of the inter-disciplinary approach has so much widened the field of this subject
that a student often feels perplexed as to what it includes and what not.
8. A value-free or thoroughly empirical study of this subject becomes a source of problem for one
who has preference for a normative approach.
9.Above all, there is the problem of bias. Western writers have all appreciation for the advanced
political systems of the world and, for this reason, they use derogatory terms like the ‘second
world’ and the ‘third world’. Their explanations may be thoroughly empirical, but they have a
subjective appreciation of the norms and values of their own political systems.
A question arises as to why a study of comparative government be made. Following cogent
reasons may be given:
1. It is to find out more about the countries we know least about.
2. It is to formulate and test hypotheses and scrutinise important questions as do plurality electoral
systems. Verified hypotheses are valuable not just for their own sake, but because they can
then help to account for the particular. Without comparison we would lack general knowledge
of politics and therefore that ability to explain particular observations.
3. Generalisations which emerge sometimes have potential for prediction. Sometimes researchers
choose to study specific countries precisely for their predictive value.
4. It improves our classification of politics. Classification is a stepping stone as the journey to
understand distinction between democracy, dictatorship, authority, power etc.
Comparative focus is the methodological core of the scientific study of politics as well. Comparative
analysis helps us to develop explanations and test theories of the ways in which political processes
work and in which political change occurs. Here the logic and the intention of the comparative
method used by political scientists are similar to those used in more exact sciences.”
In brief, There may be different forms of comparisons, but for a student of comparative government
and politics it is required that he should move ahead in a way so that the conceptual units chosen
by him are precisely defined and the theories that he has evolved should be empirically verifiable
and testable. He should keep it in mind that in an effort to discover general principles, the diversity
of conditions and circumstances, such as differences of the temperament and genius of the people,
economic and social conditions, moral and legal standards, political training and experience, are
not apt to be ignored or minimised.

Comparative method is the life-breath of the subject of comparative politics and a
writer on this subject, whether he likes it or not, “has to examine, account for and,
as many would want him to do, find recipes to redress the structure and behaviour
of government.”

Politics is commonly defined as the struggle in any group for power that will give a person or
people the ability to make decisions for the larger groups. This group may range from a small
organisation up to an entire country or even the entire global population ..... Politics is essentially
the struggle for the authority to make decisions that will affect the public as a whole. Within
political science, comparative politics is a sub-field that compares this struggle across countries.

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