1. BRIEF INTRODUCTION TO COMPARATIVE POLITICS AND KEY-DEFINITIONS Politics: The art or science of government or governing of a political entity, such as a nation, and the administration and control of its internal and external affairs The activities or affairs engaged by a government, politician, or political party (O’Neill) The Methods or tactics involved in managing a state or a government

13. Key-concepts: Constitution, Ideology, and Regime CONSTITUTION REGIME IDEOLOGY

23. Each constitution tells us different things on each of these levels: Legal Framework Amendment And Constitutional Flexibility Organizational Framework II (Levels of Organization) Organizational Framework I (Interaction pattern) Expression Of ideology And Philosophy CONSTITUTION

32. Pros and Cons of each System: Confederation Difficulties in having a common foreign policy and for the central state to collect taxes (-) Particular interests are too strong (-) As a result, confederations tend either to fragment into unitary systems or to become federation Ex.: the U.S. and Switzerland (although one still talk about the Helvetic Confederation) European Community and European Union? Federal Responsive (both spheres compete for the citizen; when one level does not work, the citizen can appeal to the other level of government)(+) Yet , paradoxically confusing (who’s the boss?; no one knows whose sphere of responsibility an issue belongs to)(-) Redundancy (dual taxing)(-) Can be a good solution for states that have strong regionalism (Canada for instance)(+) Such states are however subject to fragmenting dynamics (-) Out of 185 states, about 21 are federations Unitary Efficiency (+) Works better with small states and states with one nation Does not leave much space for regionalism and other forms of particularisms (-)

48. Democracy Polity Many Oligarchy Aristocracy Few Tyranny Kingship One SELF-INTERESTED RULE “ bad governance” RULE IN GENERAL INTEREST “ good governance” NUMBER OF RULERS