The Oxford Handbook of Comparative Politics

The Oxford Handbook of Comparative Politics offers a critical survey of the field of empirical political science through the collection of a set of articles written by forty-seven scholars in the discipline of comparative politics. Part I includes articles surveying the key research methodologies employed in comparative politics (the comparative method, the use of history, the practice and status of case-study research, and the contributions of field research) and assessing the possibility of constructing a science of comparative politics. Parts II to IV examine the foundations of political order: the origins of states and the extent to which they relate to war and to economic development; the sources of compliance or political obligation among citizens; democratic transitions, the role of civic culture; authoritarianism; revolutions; civil wars and contentious politics. Parts V and VI explore the mobilization, representation, and the coordination of political demands. Part V considers why parties emerge, and the forms they take and the ways in which voters choose parties. The text then includes articles on collective action, social movements, and political participation. Part VI opens with essays on the mechanisms through which political demands are aggregated and coordinated. This sets the agenda to the systematic exploration of the workings and effects of particular institutions: electoral systems, federalism, legislative-executive relationships, the judiciary and bureaucracy. Finally, Part VII is organized around the burgeoning literature on macro-political economy of the last two decades. This Handbook is one of The Oxford Handbooks of Political Science a ten-volume set of reference books offering authoritative and engaging critical overviews of the state of political science.

1972 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 38-55 ◽  
Author(s):  
Geoffrey K. Roberts

COMPARATIVE POLITICS IS EVERYTHING – OR IT IS NOTHING. Superficially, these appear to be the only logical positions that can be maintained when considering the relationship of comparative politics to the various areas and divisions of the discipline of political science. The now old-fashioned use of the title to indicate either a small number of country studies loosely linked by structural comparison, or a somewhat broader field of institutional comparison, whatever the pedagogic arguments of coherence or convenience, possesses neither logical boundary nor scientific integrity. Yet once that treacherous one step further is taken in the directions of functional comparison, or, further, consideration of the ‘comparative method’ itself and the distinctions between comparative politics and, say, political theory, political sociology or political analysis disappear completely.


2021 ◽  
Vol 54 (10) ◽  
pp. 1722-1756
Author(s):  
Dina Bishara

How do social movements sustain themselves under authoritarian rule? This remains a crucial puzzle for scholars of comparative politics. This article gains traction on this puzzle by foregrounding the generative power of protest, namely the power of protest experiences themselves to deepen and broaden movements. Some studies have started to draw attention to those questions without yet systematically examining how the form of protest differentially affects those outcomes. I argue that different forms of protest have varying effects on movements depending on their duration and geographic scope. While short, multiple-site actions, such as marches, can broaden movements by expanding their base, extended, single-site actions, such as sit-ins, are more likely to deepen movements by fostering collective identities and building organizational capacities. This article is based on field research in Egypt, Tunisia, Jordan, and Morocco and interviews with more than 100 movement participants and civil society activists.


2016 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 162-163 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elisabeth Prügl

Contemporary political science has generated extensive literatures on the themes of war, civil war, contentious politics, and social movements. But these literatures are often segregated in particular subfields, like International Relations and Comparative Politics, and typically speak past each other rather than to each other. Sidney Tarrow’s War, States, & Contention: A Comparative Historical Study (Cornell 2015) offers a single, synthetic perspective on these topics. As Tarrow states, “I hope to show that the advent of war is sometimes driven by social movements; that movements often affect the conduct of war and sometimes change its directions; and that wars often trigger the rise and expansion of movements in their wake.” Few topics are more important than the ones considered in this book, and so we have invited a range of political scientists, from a variety of subfield and methodological approaches, to comment on the book.


Author(s):  
Akhmad Ulul Albab

This thesis aims to examine the management process applied in the Madrasah Murottilil Qur'an Al-Rifa'ie 2 Malang. Beginning with the curriculum planning process, implementing the curriculum, and how to evaluate the curriculum of the Madrasah Murottilil Qur'an Al-Rifa'ie 2 Malang. This research aims to find out and describe the managerial process of the curriculum, and the inhibiting factors in the implementation of efforts to achieve the vision, mission that has been set.This thesis is a report on the results of field research using a qualitative descriptive method with a case study research approach that takes place at the Al-Rifa'ie 2 Malang Boarding School.Data collection is done by interview, observation, and documentation. Data analysis is done by reducing data, then presenting data, and finally from the compiled data conclusions are drawn. Checking the validity of the data is done with credibility which includes Triangulation, peer checking, extension of observation time, increasing perseverance.The results of the analysis show that the curriculum management implemented by p Madrasah Murottilil Qur'an Al-Rifa'ie 2 At the planning stage, the process carried out was planning the implementation time, the learning program, making the academic calendar, and how the evaluation was held. At the implementation stage, it starts with a new santri test, conducts learning and conducts an ascension test. The evaluation process is carried out at least 2x in one month, and 1 and after one semester.


2021 ◽  
pp. 001041402110242
Author(s):  
Sidney Tarrow

Descriptive or ethnographic studies were once the stock-in-trade of the comparative politics of non-Western areas and illiberal states. The last few decades have seen a dramatic growth in quantitative—or at least systematic—studies of these systems. This marks real progress, but, in the process, some of the advantages of ethnographic and “unit-contextual” studies have been lost. The contributors to this symposium have used ethnographic methods—often in combination with other methods—to examine and compare episodes of contentious politics in a number of these countries. Drawing on some of the “classics” of comparative politics, this article emphasizes both the continuities and the departures of the new generation of “ethnography plus” research efforts represented in this symposium.


2021 ◽  
pp. 001041402110255
Author(s):  
Diana Fu ◽  
Erica S. Simmons

How should we study contentious politics in an era rife with new forms of contention, both in the United States and abroad? The introduction to this special issue draws attention to one particularly crucial methodological tool in the study of contention: political ethnography. It showcases the ways in which ethnographic approaches can contribute to the study of contentious politics. Specifically, it argues that “what,” “how,” and “why” questions are central to the study of contention and that ethnographic methods are particularly well-suited to answering them. It also demonstrates how ethnographic methods push scholars to both expand the objects of inquiry and rethink what the relevant units of analysis might be. By uncovering hidden processes, exploring social meanings, and giving voice to unheard stories, ethnography and “ethnography-plus” approaches contribute to the study of contention and to comparative politics, writ large.


2015 ◽  
Vol 48 (02) ◽  
pp. 353-357
Author(s):  
Luis F. Jiménez

ABSTRACTA central topic in the comparative-politics subdiscipline is the study of democratic transitions. Despite a growing role-playing literature, there are currently no simulations that illustrate the dynamics of democratic transitions. This article proposes a role-playing simulation that demonstrates to students why it is difficult for countries to transition to democracy and why protests are a necessary but not sufficient condition to topple a dictatorship. As surveys and teaching evaluations subsequently showed, this exercise succeeded in clarifying the more difficult theoretical concepts as well as in making a potentially dry subject more accessible.


2010 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 171-208
Author(s):  
Thomas B. Pepinsky ◽  
Barbara Geddes ◽  
Duncan McCargo ◽  
Richard Robison ◽  
Erik Martinez Kuhonta ◽  
...  

Comparative politics has witnessed periodic debates between proponents of contextually sensitive area studies research and others who view such work as unscientific, noncumulative, or of limited relevance for advancing broader social science knowledge. In Southeast Asia in Political Science: Theory, Region, and Qualitative Analysis, edited by Erik Martinez Kuhonta, Dan Slater, and Tuong Vu, a group of bright, young Southeast Asianists argue that contextually sensitive research in Southeast Asia using qualitative research methods has made fundamental and lasting contributions to comparative politics. They challenge other Southeast Asianists to assert proudly the contributions that their work has made and urge the rest of the comparative politics discipline to take these contributions seriously. This symposium includes four short critical reviews of Southeast Asia in Political Science by political scientists representing diverse scholarly traditions. The reviews address both the methodological and the theoretical orientations of the book and are followed by a response from the editors.


2014 ◽  
Vol 47 (02) ◽  
pp. 468-476 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erin R. Graham ◽  
Charles R. Shipan ◽  
Craig Volden

ABSTRACTWhat factors inhibit or facilitate cross-subfield conversations in political science? This article draws on diffusion scholarship to gain insight into cross-subfield communication. Diffusion scholarship represents a case where such communication might be expected, given that similar diffusion processes are analyzed in American politics, comparative politics, and international relations. We identify nearly 800 journal articles published on diffusion within political science between 1958 and 2008. Using network analysis we investigate the degree to which three “common culprits”—terminology, methodological approach, and journal type—influence levels of integration. We find the highest levels of integration among scholars using similar terms to describe diffusion processes, sharing a methodological approach (especially in quantitative scholarship), and publishing in a common set of subfield journals. These findings shed light on when cross-subfield communication is likely to occur with ease and when barriers may prove prohibitive.


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