COMPARATIVE POLITICS COMPREHENSIVE EXAMINATION

SECTION I ANSWER ONE OF THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS

A Several analysts have proposed "process-tracing" as a solution to the small-n problem, in other words when few cases are available for study. Assess the strengths and weaknesses of process tracing, specifically: can causal claims be Eased on narratives."

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 Historical institunonalists claim to explain the preferences of people embedded in political processes, whereas other approaches tend to treat preferences as pre-existing or given. What difference does it make to the study of compmanve politics whether preferences ere treated as endogenous or exogenous? Address this question m teens of at least one major area of research and debate in the field.

B. Some theorists argue that countries are so unique, and function as holistic systems to such a great degree, that it is not useful (and is perhaps deeply misleading) to compare isolated political factors from countries across regions of the world, whether for purposes of farming concepts or theorizing about causal connections. 'they therefore support region-spemfic or "area studies." However, others respond that cross-regional comparisons are well-suited to the study of factors such as institutions, democratization, voting, policy-making, or other political phenomena. Given these contrasting claims, what basis is there for area-studies? Support your arguments with concrete examples from at least two regions of the world.

SECTION III ANSWER TWO OF THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS

A The literature on social movements employs the concepts of political opportunity structures, mobilizing structures, and cultural framing. Apply these concepts to the analysis of at least one social movement, and evaluate the usefulness of these concepts in explaining the dynamics of social movements in general. In particular, consider the extern to which they are complementary or contradictory.

B. Does a revolution duffer from other forms of political change, violence, or upheaval? Examine several influential theories of revolution w all respect to at least two cases.

C. Kirin Aziz Chaudhry asserts that "neuliherals disregard the political nature of institutions that undergird market economies. Markets are conscious contracts. . in that they ere based by design or default on 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 'neural' and `natural' obscures the political chooses that are embedded m the institutions that govern the market:' Examine the politics of economic reform in at least once country in order to explain whether you agree with Chaudhry or the ueo-liberal position.

D. Comparativists have revived the concept of "civil society," which includes but is not limited to social capital. Assess the strengths and weaknesses of the concept of civil society as it is used in a significant causal argument of your choice, addressing studies by at least two authors.

E. To whetextentdoesrecentdemocratizationliteraturerepeattheerrorsofmodernization theory?