Session 3: Comparative Political Systems

1. Session 3: Comparative Political Systems BUS 430 Summer 2013 Dr. Rajiv Krishnan Kozhikode

2. Agenda • Critical reflection report 1 • Critical reflection report 2 • Comparative Political Systems

3. Towards a classification of political systems • Each government is different – i.e., idiosyncrasies exist • But there are greater similarities between some governments • These similarities can guide classification of political systems • But for classification to be meaningful, • It should NOT look at peripheral characteristics, such as regions • It should look at actions and observable behavior

4. How to understand actions? • A political system can be understood by answering the following • What actions are performed by the system of roles? • Why is it done? • How does it affect the actions and behaviors of others? • Roles are the micro-unit of analysis in a political system system • Roles are an actor’s orientation which constitutes and defines his/her participation in an interactive process… • These roles include: government agencies, political parties, pressure groups, media, public at large. • Roles are enacted based on a set of complementary expectations – i.e., actor’s own actions and those others that an actor interacts with. • Such expectations are backed by coercion • A political system comprises of a pattern of interacting roles affecting decisions backed by the threat of coercion

5. Political systems and political culture • Orientation to political action determine the what and why questions • Embedded in patterns that determine the how question • Hence, political culture refers to a political system that is embedded in a particular pattern of orientations to political action

6. Almond’s typology of political systems • Anglo-American • Pre-industrial/partially industrialized • Totalitarian • Continental European

7. The Anglo-American political system • Highly differentiated roles • Manifest, organized and bureaucratized • High degree of stability in functions • Diffusion of power and influence within the whole political system • But there could be multiple cultures within a same system • Or, multiple systems for a same political culture. • Existence of a rational political market for votes and in exchange for policies. • Broadly shared ideas of a secular political culture • Freedom, mass welfare and security • With differing emphasis on either.

8. Pre-industrial/partially industrialized • Mixed political cultures • Mixed political systems • Modernization leads to Anglo-American system • But loss of traditional values creates uncertainty • Leads to political instability • Some charismatic leaders might emerge • So a combination of modern and old world

9. Totalitarian • Manufactured homogeneity • Cannot be fully coercive • Some amount of benevolence needed • Tries to create illusion of political inclusion through one party elections

10. Continental European • Again a mix • Religion based • Class based • Economic development based • Or a mix of any of these emphasis • The political market is not for exchange of political goods and services but for particularistic ends such as transformation of political system into something other than a bargaining agency.

11. Role of religion in politics • Should the state and religion separate? • Can it be separate? • What are the evidences? • Secularization has be prophesied but not taken off • Fundamentalism has emerged in many places • How should we look at it then? • Market for religion • Different religions co-exist because not all religions cater to the needs of the entire society

12. What is secularization? • No role for religion in state/politics • Modernization will lead to scientific thinking and avoid traditional superstitions • Multiple religions preach different ideas about reality, so disagreements will lead people to neglect religion altogether.

13. What explains the rise of fundamentalism • Ironically, it is modernization • People face uncertainty in the absence of religion • There is resistance to scientific approaches • There is also identification perhaps in the presence of multiple religions • There is need to consider the existence of a market for religions, just like there is a market for ideologies • How organized are the religious institutions to warrant political clout?

14. That’s it for today • Next session we will look at: Different IR systems