Introduction to Comparative Politics: Chapter 1

Groups with a shared identity that also share or seek to share a territory and government

Ongoing administrative apparatuses that control territory and monopolize the use of force to govern

The transformation from poor agrarian to wealthy industrial societies

A set of fundamental rules and institutions that govern political activity

The sphere of organized, nonviolent activity by family or individual firm, interest groups are familiar elements of civil society

The study of the interaction between political and economic phenomena

An argument that explains what actually occurs, first notice and describe a pattern, then attempt to explain what causes it

An argument that explains what ought to occur

Examines a particular political phenomenon in just one country or community and can generate ideas for theories or test theories developed from different cases, cannot provide definitive proof, but gives depth and can suggest further research

Examine the same phenomenon in several cases and try to mimic laboratory conditions by carefully selecting cases that are similar in many ways but differ in the way being studied, generates new ideas and insights that can lead to new theories

Used to systematically compare a huge number of cases when evidence can be reduced to sets of numbers, can elucidate broad patterns , show the tendency of two or more phenomena to vary together

Political actors bring a set of self-defined interests, adequate knowledge and ability to pursue those interests, and rationality to the political arena, difficult to predict future activity, hard to explain variation across cases

Non-rational influences explain political behavior, explain behavior by understanding personal background and psychological state

A set of widely held attitudes, values, beliefs, and symbols about politics

The process through which people, especially young people, learn about politics and are taught a society's common political values