Chapter 1: Issues in Comparative Politics

Governments and the State of Nature

Governments: organizations of individuals who have the power to make binding decisions on behalf of a
particular community
o Authoritative and coercive powers
State of Nature major factor in political debates in 17th/ 18th centuries
o Used to identify social contract on which to build a political system
Hobbes pessimist; thought state of nature was a situation of eternal conflict
o Main task of govt to quell disorder and protect against violence and war
o Leviathan benevolent dictator to whom the citizens would yield all their power
Rousseau optimistic; represented humanity before its fall from grace, without government corruption
o Govt = source of power and inequality
John Locke important for development of western democracies
o Thought humans more business like than war- like
o Govt main role to protect property and commerce and promote economic growth
o Favored limited government
Why Governments?
Community- and Nation- Building
o Purpose: create and maintain a community in which people can feel safe and uncomfortable
By teaching common language, instilling norms/ values, common myths and symbols, national
identity
o Nation building activities instill common world views, values, and expectations
o Governments can help create political culture defines the publics expectations toward the political
process and its role within the process
Security and Order
o Hobbes only strong governments can make society safe for citizens, provide security and law and
order
Protecting Rights
o John Locke property rights crucial to development of communities
Establish ownership, provide security against trespassers
o People must have faith that property rights will be defended
Promoting Economic Efficiency and Growth
o Governments important in providing public goods (= clean air), national defense, disease prevention
o Governments benefit by controlling the externalities (- occur when an activity incurs costs that are not
borne by the producer or the user)
Social Justice
o Government needed to promote social justice by redistributing wealth and other resources
Brazil one of most severe income inequality
Protecting the Weak
o Rely on government to protect individuals and groups that are not able to speak for themselves
o In recent decades, governments have been more involved in protecting groups that are politically weak
or disenfranchised
When Does Government Become the Problem?
20th century role of government expanded enormously
Two political philosophies critical in modern government:
o Anarchism: concerned primarily with the threats that governments pose to social communities
o Libertarianism: see greatest problem of government as its encroachment on individual freedoms
Destruction of Community
o Stronger the government, the greater the inequalities of power

Chapter 1: Issues in Comparative Politics

o

Client society people learn to be subservient to authorities and to rely on governments to meet their
needs

Violations of Basic Rights

o 20th centuries governments violated basic human rights on unprecedented scale
o Libertarians concerned about the abuses and violation of basic freedoms
Economic Inefficiency
o Govt help economies flourish but can also distort and restrict economic potential
o When govt owns economic enterprises it leads to economic inefficiency
Government for Private Gain
o Rent- seeking: politician or political group use govt to reap benefits unfairly at the publics expense
o Rents are benefits created through govt intervention in economy
Serious problem in poor societies
Vested Interests in Inertia
o Larger the govt and the more attractive the benefits it provides, the more likely it is that such vested
interests will resist change
o Make it hard to change govt policies
o Likely in political systems that contain many safeguards against rapid political change

Political Systems and States

Political system
o A set of interdependent parts
o Boundaries toward its environment
Social system that is involved in the making of authoritative public decisions
State: particular type of social system
o Sovereignty: independent legal authority over a population in a particular territory based on the
recognized right to self- determination
External sovereignty right to make binding agreements with other states
European union (EU)
Nation states: national identifications and sovereign political authority largely coincide state consists of
individuals who share a common national identity
o Desirable way to organize political system
Globalization: more open to and dependent on one another
o Increasing trade in goods and services, outsourcing and loss of jobs
o Migration across state boundaries
o Shared cultures
United Nations: formed at the end of WWII- has acquired new responsibilities with globalization and
especially since the collapse of the USSR
The Diversity of States
Size matters in politics big states often have more power than small ones
India, China largest populations
Challenges: Building Community
Challenges:
o Building a community
No homogenous population
o Wealthiest states face challenge of fostering continued economic growth and social development
o To build common identity amongst citizens
States and nations

Chapter 1: Issues in Comparative Politics

o Nation: refer to group of people with a common identity

o Multinational: consisting of multitude of different nations
Nationality and Ethnicity
o Ethnic groups- common physical traits, languages, cultures, history
o Ethnicity: need not have any objective basis in genetics, culture, or history (like nationality)
o Globalization and migration seem to increase diversity in societies worldwide
Language
o Source of social division
o English international language
o Linguistic conflicts appear over educational policies and language use in govt
Religious Differences and Fundamentalism
o Some states, religion is base of national identity
Ex. Israel, Irish Republic
o Christianity largest world religion, 2nd largest Muslims
o Fundamentalism today associated with militancy
Origin: prior to WWI Protestant Clergymen in US wanted to defend fundamentals of
religious belief
o Religious fundamentalism: emerged in some form in all major faiths in reaction to social
modernization

Fostering Economic Development

Two major forces are transforming political systems process of economic development, political
democratization
HDI improvement
o China - .52 .77
o Nigeria - .32 .51
Gross domestic product (GDP): (per capita) measure of national economic development
o 20x higher in western democracies than in Nigeria
In order to become more productive, a country needs to develop a skilled and healthy labor force and build the
infrastructure that material welfare requires
Problems of Economic Development
o Equality of income: improves because of economic development
o First stages of industrialization increase income inequality
o As health care improves, living standards increase, life expectancies lengthen, populations grow
Fostering Democracy, Human Rights, and Civil Liberties
Second major force transforming political system democratization
o Enhance human rights and expansion of freedom
Democracy: political system in which citizens enjoy a number of basic civil and political rights, and in which
their most important political leaders are elected in free and fair elections and are accountable under a rule of
law government by the people
Authoritarian: policy makers are chose by military councils, hereditary families, dominant political parties
citizens ignored
o Oligarchy: rule by the few important political rights withheld
South Africa
o Egypt party, military, personal dictatorships
Totalitarian system: systems in which govt constricts the rights and privacy of its citizens in a particularly
severe and intrusive manner

Chapter 1: Issues in Comparative Politics