Politics Do you love or hate politics? Where do you find politics?

Comparative Politics We must define politics We must examine how and why we compare

Politics Deals with human decisions Are all human decisions political?

Political Decisions Political Decisions are Public Authoritative Take place in a political system

Public Sphere “Collective decisions that extend beyond the individual and private life, typically involving government action.” How authoritative should it be?

Governments Must have Authoritative Power Must have Coercive Power What is the difference?

Power Authoritative Power may come from Legitimacy Coercive Power is force

Governments (Good) “create and maintain a community in which people can feel safe and comfortable”

Community What binds us into a community? Common Language Core norms and values (social institutions) Common Myths Symbols National Identity The goal is to create a national political culture

Security and Order (good) Government can provide Lockean tradeoff: Liberty for security How important is security and order Does this differ from country to country and from culture to culture?

Protecting Rights (good) Related to security and order Powell et.al: “Everything beyond a subsistence economy requires basic property rights and contracts” Read bottom of page 4 in Powell Your opinions? Are all rights property rights?

Promote Economic Efficiency and Growth What should the role of government be in the economy? How much to promote and how? Minimum intrusion into the private sector? Maximum intrusion? No private sector? Something in the middle? Or more to one side or another?

Powel on Economic Efficiency Public Goods – What are they? Name some? One person’s enjoyment or consumption of the good does not detract from anyone else's.

Public Goods Clean Air National Defense Disease Prevention More?

Public Goods How do you get people to pay for public goods Free Rider Coercion

Externalities What are they? (Econ students)

Externalities Costs or benefits born outside of the producer or user. Positive Negative Examples

Economic regulation by government Limit Monopoly Promote fair competition Other “positive” interventions?

Social Justice Powell’s description: “Governments can also play a role in dividing the fruits of economic growth in equitable ways.” Your thoughts on this idea? Is this the only thing to be considered under social justice?

Protecting the Weak Relates to Social Justice? Who or what should be protected? How much protection? At what cost?

Government Negatives. When Government is the Problem Destruction of Community Violations of Basic Rights Economic Inefficiency Government for Private Gain Vested interests and Inertia

Destruction of Community All states are artificial (Roskin) Does government destroy natural communities and bring them into “client society”? (client society: where “people learn to be subservient to the authorities and to rely on government to meet their needs.”) Can government attempt to destroy a national identity in order to replace that loyalty with a love of the nation state? Is this OK?

Violations of Basic Rights Does this really need explanation? Can a government be too strong? What are those “basic” rights?

Economic Inefficiency Abuse of Power (Rich dictator/Poor Country) Government regulation may cause inefficiency Government ownership of industry may cause inefficiency

Government for Private Gain Rent seeking: Rents are benefits created through government intervention in the economy Rent-seeking: efforts by individuals, groups, firms or organizations to “get the goodies”. Read the bottom of page 7 on Zaire Rich dictator/poor country

Lord Acton “Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” Somebody needs to be watching the store

Vested Interests and Inertia Vested interests will resist change. That applies in politics and many other places. If you are getting the goodies now why change the system? Read Powell, page 8 bottom left. House of Lords in Britain?

Political Systems Political Systems: A particular type of social system that is involved in the making of authoritative public decisions.

Political Systems and States Political system has two properties: a set of interdependent parts boundaries towards the environment Political systems are a particular type of social system Makes authoritative public decisions Elements within it are institutions of government, legislatures, bureaucracies, courts State: a particular type of political system Has sovereignty: independent legal authority Molded by domestic and international environments Constraints on external and internal sovereignty Copyright © 2012, 2010, 2008 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Political System Must have: 1. A set of interdependent parts 2. Boundaries toward its environment Who cares? Any clue what that means? Boundaries include people, territory and property.

Parts are Parts? Political organizations Political parties Any others? Government Central element of Political System What is the difference between government and everything listed that is not government?

Political Systems The systems we will be comparing are “independent states” We call them countries States have sovereignty Internal External

Sovereignty External: Right to make treaties and the like Internal: Be the boss in your own house Limits Membership in supranational organizations EU Common currency Human Rights Courts UN

Formation of the Nation State Get all the people to identify with the Nation State Began to come about in the 100 years war Did not happen by accident Rulers pushed for Common identity Common language Common religion Do societies in the developing world face the same problems?

Globalization Countries are much more interdependent What are the advantages and disadvantages of globalization?

Formation of States and Diversity When did the Nation States emerge, are they still emerging? Chart on page 11 Compare the map on 12 and 13 What does that tell you about the world?

The Diversity of States By 2010, 126 new countries joined the 68 states that existed in States share many characteristics, but also vary in many ways that shape their politics. Big and small states – in population and geography. Area and population do not determine a country’s political system. Geographic location can have strategic implications. Copyright © 2012, 2010, 2008 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Challenges: Building Community Absence of common identity can have severe political consequences. Conflict over national, ethnic, or religious identities can cause political turmoil. Easier for some nations; not for others Japan: ethnically homogenous, common language and a long national political history Nigeria: artificial creation of British colonial rule; no common pre-colonial history; sharply divided on religion; 250 different ethnic groups Copyright © 2012, 2010, 2008 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Nationality and Ethnicity Fine line between nations and ethnic groups. Ethnic differences can be a source of political conflict. In many developing countries, boundaries cut across ethnic lines. Colonization Forced migration Voluntary migration Traits related to politically significant “ethnicity” include: physical differences, language, norms against marriage, religion, and negative historical memories. Multiethnic countries Copyright © 2012, 2010, 2008 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Max Weber Defines an ethnic group as “those human groups that entertain a subjective belief in their common descent because of similarities of physical type or of customs or both or because of memories of colonization and migration…” Does this need any rational basis in genetics etc?

Copyright © 2012, 2010, 2008 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Language Common language unifies people Except Nigeria English seen as the language of the educated bureaucrat in some places. If you converse in English rather than the local language you are probably an outsider

Religion Can religion be divisive? Examples?

Religion Why can religion be so divisive? Does it go beyond the beliefs in the deity? Does it go to issues to be decided by government? Powell lists a few: Education Abortion Morality Child rearing Marriage Roles of women How does this affect the political culture and political institutions? Should religious groups be allowed to articulate interest?

Religion In some areas religion is tied to another type of cleavage Dual and sometimes cumulative cleavages

Fostering Economic Development Two major forces transforming political systems and nations Process of economic development Political democratization Copyright © 2012, 2010, 2008 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Fostering Economic Development Globalization, democratization, and marketization HDI- Human Development Index – What is HDI

Structure of the labor force Agriculture Urbanization Education levels Increased productivity requires skilled, healthy labor force and infrastructure that supports material welfare.