COMPARATIVE POLITICS COMPREHENSIVE EXAMINATION

MAY 2001

Students taking the comp as a major have six hours to answer one question from Part h one question from Part II, and two questions from Part III. Students taking the comp as a minor have four and one-half hours to answer one question from Part I and EITHER one question from Part Il and one question from Part III OR two questions from Part III.

Part I. General Theory

A Barbara Geddes has contended that rational choice makes "theory building possible" white other approaches in comparative politics have at best produced "ad hoc inductive generalizations." Evaluate the strengths and limitations of rational choice in comparative political analysis. Make certain to specify in what ways, if any, rational choice can make important contributions to theory and empirical analysis in comparative politics.

B. In the conclusion of his Social Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy, Barrington Moore observes,

Cultural values do not descend from heaven to influence the course of history. They are abstractions by an observer, based on the observation of certain similarities in the way groups of people behave ...Even though one can often make accurate predictions about the way groups and individuals behave over short periods of time on the basis of such abstractions, as such they do not explain the behavior. To explain behavior in terms of cultural values is to engage in circular reasoning. If we notice that a landed aristocracy resists commercial enterprise, we do not explain this fact by stating that the aristocracy has done so in the past or even that it is the curler of certain traditions that make it hostile to such activities: the problem is to determine out of what past and present experiences such an outlook arises and maintains itself... Lo maintain and transmit a value system, human beings are punched, bullied, sent to jail, thrown into concentration camps, cajoled, bribed, make into heroes, encouraged to read newspapers, stood up against a wall and shot, and sometimes even taught sociology.

Are norms of political behavior better understood, as Moore suggests, as the results of power and control, or as the products of deep-running and at some level consensual cultural values? Develop your answer in the context of one body of theorizing about political behavior (e.g., institutional choice, democratization, or others) and make specific reference to relevant cases.

Part II. Methodology

A. What is the "small-n" problem? In light of your interpretation of this problem, discuss what role. if any, case studies have in the generation and testing of theories, and what procedures, if any, might be incorporated into case-study designs to resolve the small-n problem.

B. "Quantitative cross-national comparisons of many countries have found consistently a positive correlation between development and democracy. They thus come to relatively optimistic conclusions about the chances of democracy in the developing countries of today. By contrast, comparative historical studies that emphasize qualitative examination of complex sequences tend to trace the rise of democracy to a favorable historical constellation of conditions in early capitalism. Their conclusions are therefore fee more pessimistic about today's developing countries.'

Given contrasting methodologies, is it possible to find corroborating evidence for incompatible theories? If so, how do we resolve this problem? Discuss this matter in the context of one major area of theorizing in comparative politics.

Part III. Applied Theory

A. In his classic volume. Political Order in ChangingSoeiefies, Samuel Huntington argues that social mobilization leads to political instability and ineffective governance. In contrast, Robert Putnam. in his Making Democracy Work, contends that a mobilized civil society is crucial to effective governance in democratic societies. Assess the insights of each perspective considering Huntington, Putnam, and the work of others who support either of their arguments. Explain which argument you find most persuasive and discuss why. Is it possible to synthesize the different perspectives?

B. O'Donnell and Schmitter claim that after 194 it became impossible for authoritarian regimes to legitimate themselves. Yet a significant number of authoritarian regimes in different regions have resisted the "Third Wave" of democratization. What theoretical approach best allows us to explain divergent regime outcomes? Make reference to at least two cases.

C. McAdams, McCarthy, and Zald write, "Mediating between opportunity, organization, and action are the shared meanings and definitions that people bring to their situations." They contend further that framing, or "the conscious, strategic efforts of groups of people to fashion shared understandings of the world and of themselves that legitimate and motivate collective action," is central to social movements. Assess the usefulness of the concept of framing to the study of social movements. What does it explain? What does it fail to explain? Give empirical examples. In your view, does the concept of framing have broader applications for the study of politics?

D. What, if any, are the political requisites of late development? Discuss major theoretical approaches, and illustrate your answer by way of specific examples.

E, Which came first, the party system or electoral rules? What are the causal mechanisms connecting them to one another? Include in your answer discussion of specific cases.