Comparing Political Systems Comparative Politics

How We Compare The ways to study political systems Describe them Explain them Predict them

Description We describe political systems using a conceptual framework The conceptual framework has a System Structure Function

Political Systems: Environment & Interdependence System means that the parts are working together, they depend on each other. Political system is the institutions and agencies that society uses to accomplish its goals Government is the policy or law making part of a political system Political Systems involve international and domestic environments Political Systems and environments try to shape each other Political Systems have become so internationally dependent on each other that globalization has occurred Globalization has resulted in interdependence among nations for imports and exports.

Political Systems: Structures & Functions Structures are Parliaments Bureaucracies Administrative Agencies Courts Each of the structures above perform a function These functions all the government to … policies Formulate Implement Enforce

There are six smaller types of political structures that are formal organizations working within the political system Political Parties Interest Groups Legislatures Executives Bureaucracies Courts

The reason we need to know the smaller six structures is because The main six structures may be in several systems/countries, but have vastly different powers In other words, just because it says it’s a parliament, doesn’t mean there’s free voting By understanding how the smaller six in each country work, we can begin to compare the larger six of each country Thus allowing for accurate comparison of political systems

To begin with, we have to analyze the smaller six (basically their process functions) under five different headings: Interest Articulation – this is where political parties and interest groups make their concerns/demands known to the government Interest Aggregation – this is where the legislative body takes the concerns/demands and puts them into public policies, aka LAWS Policymaking – this is where the Legislative and Executive work together to formulate the laws Policy Implementation – this is the bureaucracy enforcing the laws Policy Adjudication – this is the courts interpreting the law when disputes arise.

When we explain the five different process functions from the previous slide, we usually use the STRUCTURAL-FUNCTIONAL APPROACH The S-FA has two very important points that we must keep in mind: Different countries may have the same structure, but it may do different things in each country Institutions often share functions, they don’t have total control over their area

For all of these aspects to work together smoothly, there are three system functions needed Socialization Recruitment Communications

Political Socialization – attitudes are formed by Family Education Media Church Political Recruitment – the selection of people for political activities Political Communication – what is presented to the public about politics. In an authoritative gov’t, the ruler controls it all. In a democracy, people can say almost anything.

How We Explain By understanding the process functions and overall system functions, we can explain how they work together to run a particular government

How We Predict Predicting is difficult at best… If we can describe the functions we will be able to… Explain how they work together By explaining how they work, we can attempt to predict attitudes and decisions that could be made