1. Understanding Politics
POL 102
BA Course (School Core undergraduate)
Fall Semester 2015
Dr. Azər Babayev
School of Public and International Affairs
(SPIA)
ADA University
2. Introduction to Political Science
Contents
• Introduction
• What is Politics?
• What is Comparative Politics?
3. Introduction
• What is Political Science (PS)?
– a systematic study of governance/authority
• by the application of empirical and generally scientific
methods of analysis
• (Main) Fields of PS
– Political Theory, Comparative Politics,
International Relations
• Also: Domestic Politics, Public Administration, Public
Policy, etc.
4. Introduction - II
• Political Theory
– dealing with classical political philosophy and
contemporary theoretical perspectives > e.g.,
constructivism, critical theory, and
postmodernism
• Comparative Politics
– focuses on politics within two and more countries
and analyzes similarities and differences between
them
5. Introduction - III
• International Relations
– studies the political relationships and interactions
between nations, and the structures influencing
the policy options available to governments
• Domestic Politics
– study of politics within one country (parties,
public opinion, elections, national government,
and state, etc.) > e.g. Azerbaijani Politics
6. Introduction - IV
• Public Administration
– Studies the role of bureaucracy > most oriented
toward practical applications within political
science
• Public Policy
– Examines the passage and implementaion of all
types of government policies > e.g. policy of
health, education, economic growth, regional
development, environmental protection
8. What is Politics?
• Etymology
– the Greek word from
which the title of
Aristotele's Politika
derives
– „Affairs of state/city," a
book on governing and
government
9. What is Politics? - II
• An attempt to define >
– The human activity of making public and
authoritative decisions
• Public > they concern the whole of a society
• Authoritative > they are binding and compulsory
– Politics > also the activity of acquiring (and
maintaining) the power of making such decisions
and of exercising this power
• It is thus the conflict and competition for power and its
use
10. What is Politics? - III
• Important Question regarding politics
– How does politics work?
– Also, three specifically important questions
• What decisions are made?
– E.g., the decision to increase taxation is a political decision
• How decisions are made?
– E.g., in democracies, citizens are directly involved through
elections and referendums
• Who makes or influences decisions?
– E.g., the decision to introduce high taxation for polluting
industries is heavily influenced by lobbies and pressure groups
(such as ecological activists)
12. What is Comparative Politics?
• Comparative Politics > a science of politics
– Focuses on politics within two and more countries
and analyzes their variety between them
• studies internal political structures, actors, and
processes, and
• analyzes them empirically by describing, explaining,
and predicting their similarities and differences across
political systems
• It is particularly interested in exploring patterns and
regularities among political systems
13. What is Comparative Politics? - II
• CP and Political Theory (PT)
– Whereas PT deals with normative/ideational
questions
• about equality, democracy, justice, etc.
– CP deals with empirical phenomena
• CP analyzes political phenomena as they appear in the
‘real world’
• E.g., not primarily whether participation is a good or
bad thing for democracy, but rather which forms of
participation people choose to use and why
14. What is Comparative Politics? - III
• CP and International Relations (IR)
– Whereas IR deals with interactions between
states/political systems
• (balance of power, war, trade, etc.)
– CP deals with interactions within states/political
systems
• E.g., not analyzing wars between nations, but rather
which party is in government and why it has voted in
favor of military intervention, what kind of electoral
constituency has supported this party
15. What is Comparative Politics? - IV
• What does CP do in practice?
– (1) Description, (2) Explanation, (3) Prediction
– (1) Description
• What is to compare? > real-world similarities and
differences are described
– Establishing classifications/typologies > E.g., classification of
different types of electoral systems or political regimes
16. What is Comparative Politics? - V
• (2) Explanation
– Similarities and differences are explained > why
are there these ones?
– E.g., why is there no socialist party in the US whereas they exist in
all other Western democracies?
• (3) Prediction
– CP aims also at formulating (future) predictions
• E.g., Change of electoral systems > Change of party
systems
17. Appendix: Types of CP studies
• There are several different kinds of studies
– (1) Studies of one country
• or a particular institution (political parties, militaries,
parliaments, interest groups), political process (decision
making), or public policy (e.g., labor or welfare policy) in that
country
• In a single case study, it is necessary to put the study into a
larger comparative framework > we should tell why the
subject is important and how it fits in a larger context
– (2) Studies of two or more countries
• Provides for genuine comparative studies (e.g., Comparing
political systems of Germany and Japan)
18. Types of CP studies - II
• (3) Regional or area studies
– Studies of Africa, Latin America, the Middle East,
East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, Europe, or
other (sub-)regions
• Useful > because they involve groups of countries that
may have several things in common -- e.g., similar
history, cultures, language, religion, colonial
backgrounds
• Regional or area studies allow you to hold common
features constant, while examining or testing for certain
other (uncommon) features
19. Types of CP studies - III
• (4) Studies across regions
– E.g., comparisons of the role of the military in Africa and
the Middle East, or the quite different paths of
development of East Asia and Latin America
• (5) Global comparisons
– Now possible to do comparisons on a global basis > with
the improved statistical data collected by the World Bank,
the UN, and other international agencies
• (6) Thematic studies
– CP focuses on themes as well as countries and regions >
E.g., themes such as dependency theory, corporatism, role
of the state, process of military professionalization
20. • Reasons for studying Comparative Politics
– (1) It's fun and interesting, and one learns a lot
about other countries, regions, and the world
– (2) Studying CP will help a person overcome
ethnocentrism
• All peoples and countries are ethnocentric, and some seem
to be particularly afflicted
– (3) We study CP because that enables us to
21. • (4) CP is intellectually stimulating
– Consider these questions: Why do some countries
modernize and others not? Why are some countries
democratic and others not?
• (5) CP has a rigorous and effective methodology
– The comparative method > sophisticated tool of analysis
and one that is always open to new approaches
• (6) Finally, CP is necessary for a proper understanding
of both international relations and foreign policy
• Without an intimate knowledge of the other countries with whom
we conduct foreign relations, we cannot have an informed,
successful foreign policy
