Bill Newmann, The Comparative Method 

POLI 355, Asian Governments and Politics

What is Comparative Politics?

Political Science in the US is traditionally divided up into four subfields: 1)American Government; 2)Political Theory; 3)International Politics; and 4)Comparative Politics. Each has a very specific set of issues it focuses upon, and an often unique methodology for studying politics. However, a good scholar will use all four subfields in studying any given international or domestic issue or idea.

This is a course in Comparative Politics. Most people think of Comparative Politics as simply area studies. The courses at most universities are arranged that way -- separate courses on different regions (Europe, Africa, Latin America, Asia, the Middle East). However, ultimately, the advanced study of Comparative Politics will compare issues, ideas, and institutions from one region to another. In this class, we will be examining the political systems within Asia with the goal of comparing the different styles of political development within the region.

The task is rather simple. How do other governments function? How do other systems deal with competition between political parties, if competition is allowed? Are there elections? Is there Democracy? Authoritarianism? Civil Rights? At essence, we are comparing the similarities and differences in the political life of various nations.

Why study other nations?

Why should we care about other political systems? (hopefully the answer is not that you have a free elective). First, the study of other political systems allows us to understand the strengths and weaknesses of various types of political designs. This gives us insight into why some systems are stable and others suffer periodic upheavals.

Second, the study of other systems helps us to realize that the US is not the only nation on the planet. There is often the assumption that eventually all political systems on the globe will operate the way the US system does. The assumption often adds that eventually, economically and socially, the world will resemble the US. In this view the US represents the ultimate evolution of every nation of the globe. At best, that is a very simplistic view of the way other nations work. At worst, it is egocentric and insulting to other nations. This notion should be challenged, and the study of other nations' political systems is the first step to such a challenge. There are other forms of Democracy besides American Democracy. There are political systems that might not be considered democratic by citizens of the US, but nonetheless are stable, and have substantial support of the people living within them. Americans might not want to live in them, but people in those societies might not want to live here.

Examining how other nations balance out the rights of individuals with the rights of society at large suggests that culture is a defining factor in how various societies achieve that balance. Political systems evolve within a historical context based on geography, culture, relations with other nearby states, and religion, to name a few factors. To suggest that the US model is universal ignores all the idiosyncratic influences on a nation's political development. Research suggests that the evolution of political systems is both idiosyncratic and universal, a blend of common themes and unique traditions. Scholars often remark that Communism in the USSR resembled Tsarism in pre-revolutionary Russia, while Communism under Mao Zedong seemed more of a continuation of Dynastic politics and Confucian tradition. Elements of Marxism certainly guided both nations, but the most accurate way of describing these regimes might be to suggest that Marxism was blended with traditional institutional relationships to produce something new, yet very old.

Today, scholars see a Liberal-Democratic revolution sweeping Asia. The question, though, is whether that will produce a new form or forms of Liberal Democracy that are more attuned to the cultures of the nations within which they develop or whether will they resemble European and North American forms. Given the variety of cultural and political traditions in Asia, the range of political systems that we might see is quite large.

A third reason to study Comparative Politics is that it allows us to understand our system better. Once the strengths and weaknesses of other systems are examined, we can take a fresh look at the strengths and weaknesses of our own system. We can also get a better sense of whether the political, social, and economic trends within our nation are part of larger global trends or something unique to the US. For example, in the early 1990s one of the key issues in US politics has been family values. Rising divorce rates and rising illegitimacy have been blamed on social welfare policies of the US government. However, a quick study of these issues in other nations reveals that the problem is global. Every nation, except Japan, seems to have these problems -- rich or poor, liberal-democratic or not, strong social welfare policies or not. Obviously, there is something deeper at work here than just US governmental policy. By studying the problem as it exists in many nations, Comparative Politics research suggests that rapid economic change, whether for better or worse, puts strains on the social order within the nation. So economic stagnation in the US might place the same stresses on family ties as the economic boom in China. Simply put, we are in an era of economic transformation, and social upheaval will be one result.

How to use the comparative method:

To properly compare anything, a scholar must look at different things through the same lens, or put different things through the same tests. That is what we will do in this course. This is the basic scientific method. We have all done this in our lives. Maybe as a child you discovered that small rocks sink while logs that are much larger will float. In this case, you've performed the same test on two different things; you've compared them, and you learned something. You realized that something more than size was at work. Wood and rock have different properties. We cannot run experiments on other nations, so instead we ask the same questions about, and search for the same data within, different nations. That is where the Comparative Framework developed on page 4 of your syllabus comes in. These are the questions we will try to answer as we study each nation. Asking the same questions about different nations allows us to compare those answers, and highlight the similarities and differences between the nations.

Throughout this course we will examine each nation using the Categories of Comparison contained within the Comparative Framework. In theory, you could construct a chart to record the results. Down the left side of the page you could list the categories of comparison as they appear on page 4, while across the top of the page you could list the countries we study. Then as we discuss each country you could fill in the page with the data -- each country as examined through each category. This way if someone asked you to tell them about the Electoral Process in all the nations we've studied you could just pick out "electoral Process" on the left side of the page and slide your finger to the right to examine what you have written about each nation.

For example:

Categories for comparison	China	Taiwan	Viet Nam	Japan	South Korea	Indonesia	India
I. Political culture/political development	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
A. History	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
B. Culture	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
C. Foreign influence	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
1. Nationalism/ independence	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
D. Creation of modern nation-state	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
II. Actors and processes	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
A. Governmental structures	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
B. Parties/representation	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
C. Electoral process/succession/ leadership	.	.	.	.	.	.	.

And so on......This is the way you should study for the exam. It is the best way to really understand any topic.

The Categories for Comparison:

Here is a brief explanation of the categories we will use to examine the different nations in Asia.

I. Political Culture and Political Development:

A. History: Every nation has a history that shapes its political life. We will look at key events that define a nation's history, and explore how those events influenced political, economic, and social developments.

B. Culture/Political Culture: A nation's philosophical, religious, and social traditions have a deep, if not explicit, influence on a nation's political system. We will try to draw out some of those cultural influences to see how they influence traditional politics, and how that still plays a large role in modern political systems.

C. Foreign Influence: All nations have been influenced by foreign powers or regional neighbors. The impact of other nations in the form of the spread of cultural or religious ideas, and even in the form of invasion or colonialism, is crucial to a nation's development.

1. Nationalism/Independence: Most nations are born out of the backlash against such foreign influence. The development of nationalism leads to the desire for independence. All the nations of Asia have been colonized to some extent except Thailand and Japan. Thailand is unique in that it remained an independent Kingdom, while Japan was strong enough to be one of the colonial powers that swept through Asia.

D. Creation of the Modern Nation-State: The struggle to become a sovereign nation or to ward off foreign influence is the epic of the nation's founding. The myths and realities of national origins help define the modern political culture. Many of the nations we will study are relatively young. Their George Washingtons, Thomas Jeffersons, Abraham Lincolns, and King Georges are still alive, still in power, or still deeply influencing political life. The legacy of the struggle for independence is strong.

II. Actors and Processes:

A. Governmental Structure: How is the government designed? If a Democracy, is it a Presidential, or Parliamentary system? If a Constitutional Monarchy, how is this designed? Is the system Authoritarian, and if so what mechanisms are used to maintain control of the people? We are concerned here with the structures of the major governmental institutions -- legislatures, executives, ministries. More importantly, once we've mapped out the various players and their relationships to each other, we can speculate as to where real governmental power rests.

B. Political Parties/Representation: What are the major political parties? What are their philosophies and origins? Are they ideological, ethnic, regional, or personalistic? What kind of representation do these parties provide the people? Are parties only for elites? Do they serve as a tool for grass roots organizations that can influence politics, or are parties simply a tool for governmental elites to mobilize or restrict the population?

C. Electoral Processes/Succession: How are changes in leadership accomplished? If a democracy, how democratic is the electoral process? If another type of system, what is the succession process? Often there is no succession process, so changes in leadership become national turmoil.

D. Interest Groups: Every nation has important interest groups that play a huge role in politics. Within each nation we need to identify the important groups. Are they military, ethnic, regional, religious, business, or ideological groups?

E. Federalism/Centralism: The balance between the central government and the regional and local governments in any nation is crucial. In the US, this was one of the issues of our Civil War. The balance is no less problematic in many of the nations in Asia.

III. Public Policy:

A. Economics: State/Business/Bureaucracy Roles and Relationships: The most obvious development in Asia since WWII is the rapid economic growth within the region. It is often called the East Asian Miracle. How did these nations develop so rapidly? What have been their economic philosophies, and strategies (if there are any)? Importantly, what has been the role of government, business, labor, and bureaucratic institutions in the economic growth? In some nations the government has played a huge role in not simply assisting development, but in actually managing the process of economic change.

B. Political Stability and Economic Change: Rapid economic growth may have been spurred by political developments, but in turn it will have influence on the political dynamics within a nation. What have been the political (and social) consequences of economic growth? Some nations have made a transition to Democracy. Other nations are still dealing with the new balance of power that has been created by the growth of a middle class, and rise of new economic elites that could challenge the older set of elites. It seems clear that when wealth is created, new power centers develop. These new power centers will demand governmental power eventually. What has been the result?

C. Current Political/Economic trends: What have been the recent political developments within these nations? Here we will consider recent elections, new parties, new leaders, social, political, and economic crises.

D.Regional and Global Relations: How do these nations fit into current regional and global politics? Asia is becoming more and more important, and each nation's place in the post-Cold War world will be crucial to its future development. Regional rivalries and disputes still exist and will play a large role in the peace and stability of the nation, both in terms of foreign relations and domestic politics. We may not have enough time to consider this for all the nations.

Pay attention to this framework as a basic outline for the course. Sometimes we will combine sections for the sake of time, but by the end of the course you should be able to discuss each nation in terms of all the categories. You won't have to because the exams are not cumulative, but you hopefully will find that you can.