COMPARATIVE POLITICS COMPREHENSIVE EXAMINATION
MAY 1998
SECTION I ANSWER ONE OF THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS
A. What are the most important rules governing the effective use of "the comparative method" in political science? Illustrate the importance of these rules with references to prominent works that are particularly well-designed as well as to some that are less well-designed.
B. What role, if any, do case studies have in the generation and testing of theories?
SECTION II ANSWER ONE OF THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS
A. When, if ever, does the state act as an autonomous actor in the process of formulating domestic economic policy? Discuss with reference to at least two political systems.
B. A wide array of political scientists have renewed historic emphases on the role of "culture," arguing that cultural factors are indispensable both to analyzing political processes generally and to explaining specific political outcomes in the world. Critically discuss the contribution of cultural assumptions and approaches in one area of comparative politics theory, making references to at least two political systems.
C. Analysts such as Jeffrey Friedan and Ronald Rogowski contend that financial globalization will promote a convergence of countries' economic systems. Others, such as Barbara Stallings, argue in contrast that different models of capitalism will continue to diverge for the foreseeable future. The central difference between these conclusions concerns theorists' interpretations of the viability of domestic institutions to maintain or promote distinctive economic systems. Giving empirical examples to support your views, critically assess the arguments about the convergence and divergence views of the impact of globalization.
SECTION III ANSWER TWO OF THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS
A. In 1959, Seymour Martin Lipset wrote that "Perhaps the most widespread generalization linking political systems to other aspects of society is related to the state of economic development. Concretely, this means that the more well-to-do a nation, the greater the chances that it will sustain democracy" Does the theoretical literature and the empirical record ofthe past four decades support Lipset's analysis?
B. Arc some democratic political institutions better at giving voice to large, unorganized groups ("the public interest") than others? What institutions perform better on this score and why? Address these issues with reference to at least two political systems.
C. Kirin Aziz Chaudhry asserts that "neoliberals disregard the political nature of institutions that undergird market economies. Markets are conscious contracts... in that they are based by design or default, an political principles (who gets what, why, and how) and on choices of how individual resources, rights, aspirations, and possibilities are reconciled with collective ones. The assumption that markets are `neutral' and `natural' obscures the political choices that are embedded m the institutions that govern the market." Examine the politics of economic reform in at least one country in order to explain whether you agree with Chaudhry or the neo-liberal position.
D. Into the 1970's, political scientists believed that political development in the non-European world would largely mimic European state formation. What, if anything, do theories of European state formation tell us about the structures and processes of political development in the non-European world?
E. Critically discuss the proposition that over the past 700 years, trajectories of economic development have been largely a function of the snncturnl properties of individual nation states. Your answer must include reference to at least two cases, drawn from at least two different regions ofthe world.
F. Does a revolution differ from other forms of political change, violence, or upheaval? Examine several influential theories of revolution ",in respect to at least two cases.