Introduction to Comparative Politics

The course provides a broad overview of the comparative politics subfield by focusing on important substantive questions about the world today.  Particular attention will be paid to understanding differences between democracies and autocracies, on one hand, and between different forms of democracy, on the other.  What influences whether countries become and/or stay democratic?  On this basis, should we expect China to democratize?  Why do we care if a country is democratic or not?  Do democracies perform better (or worse) than non-democracies in policy areas of importance?  What is “good representation” and how do political institutions affect the prospects for achieving it?  How does the choice of democratic institutions influence the prospects for stable and successful democracy?  Are there particular institutional forms that are appropriate in particular contexts (such as ethnically divided Iraq), or do cultural factors overwhelm institutional considerations? 

In addressing these broad questions, the course has three ancillary goals.  The first is to teach students how to pose and evaluate falsifiable theoretical arguments about substantive questions of interest.  The second is to introduce the quantitative, formal and qualitative methodologies that political scientists use to develop and evaluate arguments.  Finally, the course will require students to develop knowledge of the political systems of a number of foreign countries.