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Department of Political Science

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Comparative & International Politics

Comparative Politics

Numerous factors shape a country’s political life, ranging from cultural and religious values to economic processes and formal political institutions. Comparative politics seeks to understand political life through the comparative analysis of politics. The study of comparative politics ask questions like the following: How does the organization of formal political institutions (legislatures, executives, courts, electoral systems) influence the exercise of political power and policy outcomes? What are the prerequisites for different pathways to democracy? How do cultural values influence political life in different countries? Answering these questions enables us to pursue other larger questions: Are there better ways to organize power to achieve justice?

For example, suppose we asked the question: Why do some countries find a pathway to democracy and others fail? Three explanations dominate the debate: socio-economic, cultural, and institutional. The first stresses the importance of such factors as a large middle class, economic development, and education. The second examines cultural values such as trust, tolerance, cooperation, and civic virtue. The third focuses on the importance of formal institutions such as electoral laws, constitutional arrangements, federalism. By examining numerous cases of successful and failed democratization, comparative politics can weigh the importance of each explanation. Courses such as “Taming Tyranny: How Constitutions Frame Freedom” and “Democratization” explore these questions.

International Politics

International politics examines parallel issues found in domestic political life, but the international arena lacks the crucial feature of domestic politics: a central, legitimate authority to resolve differences. Students examine the possibilities and constraints of social structures, institutions, ideologies, and culture within and across societies, and they look at the interplay of economic and political forces in the world arena.

For example, globalization is a source of considerable debate. International politics might ask such questions as: What are the consequences of globalization? Does globalization increase or reduce inequalities across and within countries? Why do some countries respond differently to globalization than others? Will globalization lead to cultural homogenization or to a “Clash of Civilizations”? What can we learn by examining previous periods of globalization, for example, the 19th Century Atlantic Economy from 1820 to 1914? Courses such as “Globalization and Its Discontents,” “Wealth, Power, and Justice in the EU,” and “Anarchy or Order: World Politics” examine these questions.

Courses include:

Anarchy or Order? World Politics

Capitalism and Democracy

Citizenship

Democratization

Globalization and Its Discontents

Modern Totalitarianism

Taming Tyranny: How Constitutions Frame Freedom

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