Question

A generally accepted understanding of "comparative politics" is that it is a method of explaining similarities and differences between states (countries) based on analysis of their political systems. In applying this method, what types of issues or dynamics do comparativists focus on the most? What kinds of questions do they ask? (15 points)

Answer 1

Answer:

Comparative politics is investigating internal processes within countries or political entities by comparing their characteristics according to a specific model. Though it can potentially address a wide range of aspects, comparative politics is most widely applied to such issues as politics of democratic and authoritarian states, political identity, regime change and democratization, voting behavior and a number of others.

Comparativists often ask how certain processes, for example, democratization, differ in specific states that still can be placed under the same analysis because they share certain characteristics.  

Following the democratization example, let us take post-soviet countries. Comparativists may take most similar countries that share many similarities, such as Baltic states (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania), or most different countries, such as Estonia and Belarus. Here comparativists may ask, why Estonia developed a strong democratic regime, while Belarus fell into a consolidated authoritarian regime.