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In this course, some of the critical tools for
comparative analysis will be introduced.
The units of comparative analysis can vary.
Sometimes what is compared is the
historical transformation on the road to
becoming nation-states which may shed some
light onto different political regime outcomes
in various countries. Comparative
analysis is done through pattern depiction,
for instance, in three different countries
such as Germany, Italy, and Japan that
have experienced fascist regimes. Students
learn to see what these cases have in
common in terms of their political
transformation that explains the rise of fascism
in these particular cases and not in
others. It is through such analyses that
students equip themselves with tools
towards making predictions about political
regime changes. In sum, it is such
tools that make political analysis possible.
This course involves an analysis of the
major modes of transformation and political
modernization leading to various regime
outcomes in the twentieth century. In the
first part of the semester, the meaning of
pre-modern and modern politics will be
unraveled and particular state-formation and
nation-building processes will be studied
in the Western European context. In the
second part, some of the critical features of
the emerging political ideologies that accompany
these processes will be studied. The
third part of the course will focus on comparative
electoral systems, political party
structures, the dynamics among the legislative,
executive and judiciary bodies of
government in key West European countries
throughout the twentieth century.
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