WESTERN MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY
DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL SCIENCE
COMPARATIVE POLITICS
Political Science 6410 (Fall 2007)
Mondays 6:30-9pm
Dunbar 2212
Instructor:
Dr. Priscilla Lambert
Office hours: Tues. 10-11:30, Wed. 11:30-1 or by appointment
Friedman Hall Rm. 3410
Telephone: 387-5693
e-mail: priscilla.lambert@wmich.edu
Course Description: This is the core course for comparative politics for the doctoral
program and fulfills the comparative politics requirement for the master’s program. This
course is an introduction to comparative methods and theories, dominant approaches and
great books in comparative politics. The main objectives of this course are to help
students prepare for the comprehensive exam in comparative politics and for comparative
research. This course covers a wide range of subjects but cannot cover the very large
subfield of comparative politics exhaustively. Students preparing for the comprehensive
exam should seek other opportunities to study these and other topics in greater detail. We
will begin with a brief overview of methods in comparative research and follow up with
some of the early comparative classics. The readings are then organized according to
dominant approaches: political economy, cultural, and institutional approaches to
comparative politics. The last portion of the class covers the welfare state literature.
Books on order at the bookstore:
 Bates, Robert. 1981. Markets and States in Tropical Africa. Berkeley: University
of California Press.
 King, Gary, Robert Keohane, and Sidney Verba. 1994. Designing Social Inquiry:
Scientific Inference in Qualitative Research. Princeton: Princeton University
Press.
 Lichbach, Mark and Alan Zuckerman. Comparative Politics: Rationality, Culture
and Structure. New York: Cambridge University Press.
 Lijphart, Arend. 1999. Patterns of Democracy. New Haven: Yale University Press.
 Moore, Barrington. 1966. Social Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy. Boston:
Beacon Press.
 North, Douglas. 1990. Institutions, Institutional Change and Economic
Performance. New York: Cambridge University Press.
 Putnam, Robert. 1993. Making Democracy Work: Civic Traditions in Modern
Italy. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
 Skocpol, Theda. States and Social Revolutions: A Comparative Analysis of
France, Russia, and China. New York: Cambridge University Press.
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Dahl, Robert. 1971. Polyarchy: Participation and Opposition. New Haven: Yale
University Pres.
Poggi, Gianfranco. 1978. The Development of the Modern State. Stanford:
Stanford University Press.
Also assigned but not on order:
 Almond, Gabriel and Sidney Verba. 1965. The Civic Culture: Political Attitudes
and Democracy in Five Nations. Boston: Little, Brown and Co.
 Lipset, Seymour. 1997. American Exceptionalism: A Double-edged Sword.
 Sartori, Giovanni. 1976. Parties and Party Systems. New York: Cambridge
University Press.
 Lipset, Seymour M. and Stein Rokkan. 1967. Party Systems and Voter Alignments.
New York: Free Press.
 Duverger, Maurice. 1954. Political Parties. London: Methuen.
 Cox, Gary. 1997. Making Votes Count. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
 Popkin, Samuel. 1979. The Rational Peasant: The Political Economy of Rural
Society in Vietnam. Berkeley: University of California Press.
 Laitin, David. Hegemony and Culture: Politics and Religious Change among the
Yoruba. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
 Tsebelis, George. 1990. Nested Games: Rational Choice in Comparative Politics.
Berkeley: University of California Press.
Course requirements and grading:
Critical Reviews. Students will submit a total of seven short papers (up to five pages)
analyzing and critiquing the week’s readings by 8 a.m. on Monday to the professor and
fellow students. These critical reviews should briefly recap the basic argument, methods
and data, and offer some analysis of the strong and weak points of the books and articles
assigned that week.
Research Design. At the end of the semester, students will submit a research design of
no more than 15 pages at the end of the semester. This research design will build upon
one of the critical reviews submitted during the semester and will include a research
question, literature review, and plan of research that you would complete if you had the
time to complete the research for this project. Further instructions on research designs
will be handed out later in the semester.
Presentations & Participation. Students will also be responsible for leading class
discussion on a rotating basis. For these presentations, students will summarize and
compare the major arguments and methods in the readings on the required list and at least
one from the recommended reading list. (Students are welcome to present on the topics
they cover in critical reviews or in the research design). Class attendance, preparation of
readings, and participation in seminar discussions are essential for a successful seminar.
Students are expected to attend all classes and to participate regularly in discussions.
During any seminar you may be asked to begin the discussion with some questions or to
summarize key arguments of the assigned reading.
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Final grades are based on the following formula:
Critical reviews
50%
Research design
20%
Participation and oral presentations
30%
Academic Integrity:
Students are responsible for reading and understanding the policies and procedures for
Student Academic Conduct in the Undergraduate (pp. 268-271) and Graduate (pp.26-28)
catalogs. These policies include cheating, fabrication, falsification and forgery, multiple
submission, plagiarism, and computer misuse. If there is reason to believe that a student
have been involved in academic dishonesty, I will report the student to the Office of
Student Conduct. See me if you have any questions about academic honesty prior to
submitting an assignment or taking a test.
Course schedule
Week 2
September 10 (First class).
Week 3
September 17
A. Comparative Methods (I) and Definitions
1. Lijphart, Arend, 1971. “Comparative Politics and the Comparative
Method.” APSR. 65(3): 682-693.
2. Lichbach, Mark and Alan Zuckerman. Comparative Politics: Rationality,
Culture and Structure. New York: Cambridge University Press. chapter 1,
p. 3-16.
3. Dahl, Robert. 1971. Polyarchy. Ch. 1-2.
4. Philippe Schmitter and Terry Karl, “What Democracy Is…and Is Not.”
Journal of Democracy 2 (Summer 1991): 75-88.
Recommended:
 Dogan, Mattei and Ali Kazancigil eds. 1994. Comparing Nations: Concepts,
Strategies, Substance. Oxford and Cambridge: Blackwell. Ch. 1.
 Przeworski, Adam and Henry Teune. 1970. The Logic of Comparative Social
Inquiry. New York: Wiley.
 Ragin, Charles. 1987. The Comparative Method: Moving Beyond Qualitative and
Quantitative Strategies. pp. 1-68.
 Collier, David and James Mahony. 1993. “Conceptual ‘Stretching’ Revisited:
Adapting Categories in Comparative Analysis.” APSR. 87(4): 845-955.
 Sartori, Giovanni. 1970. “Concept Misinformation in Comparative Politics.”
APSR. 64(4): pp. 1033-53.
 Fearon, James. “Counterfactuals and Hypothesis Testing.” World Politics. Vol. 43
(1991): 169-195.
 Schumpeter, Joseph R. [1942]. Capitalism, Socialism, and Democracy. Part IV:
Socialism and Democracy, (ch. 20-23).
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Weeks 4 & 5
September 24 & October 1
B. Political Economy: Democracy and Development
1. Lipset, Seymour Martin. 1959. “Some Social Requisites of Democracy”
APSR 53(1): 69-105.
2. Dahl, Robert. 1971. Polyarchy. Ch. 3-10.
3. Moore, Barrington. 1966. The Social Origins of Dictatorship and
Democracy. Boston: Beacon Press. Ch. 1-3, 5, 7-9.
4. Gerschenkron, Alexander. 1962. Economic Backwardness in Historical
Perspective. pp. 5-30.
5. Diamond, Larry. 1992. “Economic Development and Democracy
Reconsidered.” American Behavioral Scientist, vol. 35, No. 4/5
(March/June): 450-499.
Recommended:
 Hall, Peter. “The Role of Interests, Institutions, and Ideas in the Comparative
Political Economy of the Industrialized Nations.” Lichbach & Zuckerman, pp.
174-207.
 Rustow, Dankwart A. 1970. “Transitions to Democracy: Toward a Dynamic
Model.” Comparative Politics. (April): 337-363.
 Lipset, Seymour Martin. 1959. Political Man: The Social Bases of Politics.
Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.
 Skocpol, Theda. 1973. “A Critical Review of Barrington Moore’s Social Origins
of Dictatorship and Democracy.” Politics and Society. (Fall): 1-34.
 Hall, Peter. 1986. Governing the Economy: The Politics of State Intervention in
Britain and France. New York: Oxford University Press.
 Burkhart, Ross and Michael Lewis-Beck. 1994. “Comparative Democracy: The
Economic Development Thesis.” APSR. 88(4): 903-910.
 Rueschemeyer, Dietrich; Evelyne Huber Stephens, and John D. Stephens. 1992.
Capitalist Development and Democracy. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
 Luebbert, Gregory. 1991. Liberalism, Fascism, or Social Democracy: Social
Classes and the Political Origins of Regimes in Interwar Europe.
 O’Donnell, Guillermo. 1973. Modernization and Bureaucratic Authoritarianism.
 Rostow. 1960. Stages of Economic Growth: A Non-Communist Manifesto.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
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Weeks 6 & 7
October 8 & 15
Political Economy: Rational Choice Approaches
6. Levi, Margaret. “A Model, a Method, and a Map: Rational Choice in
Comparative Analysis.” Lichbach and Zuckerman, pp. 19-41.
7. Bates, Robert H. 1981. Markets and States in Tropical Africa: The
Political Basis of Agricultural Policies. Berkeley: University of California
Press.
8. Popkin, Samuel. 1979. The Rational Peasant: The Political Economy of
Rural Society in Vietnam. Berkeley: UC Press. ch. 1, 2, & 6.
9. Hirschman, Albert O. 1978. “Exit, Voice and State.” World Politics. Vol.
31. No. 1 (October): 90-107.
Recommended:
 Alt, James and Kenneth Shepsle. 1990 “Introduction.” in Alt and Shepsle, eds.
Perspectives on Positive Political Economy.
 Cox, Gary. 1987. The Efficient Secret.
 Hirschman, Albert O. 1970. Exit, Voice and Loyalty: Responses to Decline in
Firms, Organizations, and States. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
 Olson, Mancur. 1965. The Logic of Collective Action. Cambridge: Harvard
University Press
 Olson, Mancur. 1982. The Rise and Decline of Nations: Economic Growth,
Stagflation, and Social Rigidities. New Haven: Yale University Press.
 Ostrom, Elinor. 1990. Governing the Commons: The Evolution of Institutions for
Collective Action. New York: Cambridge University Press.
 Levi, Margaret. 1988. Of Rule and Revenue.
 Ames, Barry. 1987. Political Survival: Politicians and Public Policy in Latin
America. Berkeley: University of California Press.
 Ramseyer, Mark and Frances Rosenbluth. 1993. Japan’s Political Marketplace.
Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
 Geddes, Barbara.1994. The Politician’s Dilemma. Berkeley: University of
California Press.
Weeks 8 & 9
October 22 & 29
C. Political Culture
1. Ross, Marc Howard, “Culture and Identity in Comparative Political
Culture,” in Lichbach and Zuckerman, ch. 3 (pp. 42-81)
2. Almond, Gabiel A. and Sidney Verba. 1965. The Civic Culture: Political
Attitudes and Democracy in Five Nations. Boston: Little, Brown and Co.
(selections).
3. Putnam, Robert. 1993. Making Democracy Work: Civic Traditions in
Modern Italy. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
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4. Laitin, David. 1986. Hegemony and Culture: Politics and Religious
Change among the Yoruba. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
5. Lipset, Seymour M. 1997. “American Exceptionalism and Japanese
Uniqueness,” in American Exceptionalism: A Double-edged Sword. pp.
211-263.
Recommended:
 Inglehart, Ronald. 1997. Modernization and Postmodernization: Cultural,
Economic and Political Change in 43 Societies. Princeton: Princeton Unversity
Press.
 Weber, Max. 1904. The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism.
 Tocqueville, 1848. Democracy in America.
 Tarrow, Sidney. 1996. “Making Social Science Work Across Space and Time: A
Critical Refection on Putnam’s Making Democracy Work,” APSR. 90: 389-97.
 Laitin, David. 1995. “The Civic Culture at 30.” APSR. vol. 89 (1): 168-173.
 Putnam, Robert. 1995. “Bowling Alone,” Journal of Democracy. 6(1).
 Inglehart, Ronald. 1990. Culture Shift in Advanced Industrial Societies. Princeton:
Princeton University Press
 Huntington, Samuel P. 1993. “The Clash of Civilizations?” Foreign Affairs.
72(3): 22-49.
Week 10
November 5
D. The State:
1. Poggi, Gianfranco. The Development of the Modern State.
2. Skocpol, Theda. States and Social Revolutions: A Comparative Analysis of
France, Russia, and China. New York: Cambridge University Press.
3. Migdal, Joseph. “Studying the State.” In Lichbach &Zuckerman (pp. 208235).
Recommended:
 Evans, Rueschemeyer, and Skocpol eds. 1985. Bringing the State Back In. New
York: Cambridge University Press.
 Evans, Peter. 1995. Embedded Autonomy: States and Industrial Transformation.
Princeton: Princeton University Press.
 Krasner, Stephen. 1978. Defending the National Interest.
 Nordlinger, Eric. 1981. On the Autonomy of the Democratic State.
 Woo-Cumings, Meredith. 1991. Race to the Swift: State and Finance in Korean
Industrializtion.
 Marx, Karl. 1963. The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte, with Explanatory
Notes. New York: International Publishers.
 Spruyt, Hendrik. 1994. The Sovereign State and Its Competitors: An Analysis of
System Change. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
 Brian Downing. The Military Revolution and Political Change.
 Thomas Ertman. Birth of the Leviathan.
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Week 11
November 12
E. Comparative Methods (II)
1. Skocpol, Theda and Margaret Somers, “The Uses of Comparative History
in Macrosocial Inquiry.” Comparative Studies in Society and History. Vol.
22, No. 2 (April 1980): 174-97.
2. Munck, Gerardo. “Canons of Research Design in Qualitative Analysis.”
Studies in Comparative International Development. Vol. 33, No. 3 (Fall
1998): 18-45.
3. King, Gary, Robert Kohane, and Sidney Verba. 1994. Designing Social
Inquiry. Scientific Inference in Qualitative Research. Princeton: Princeton
University Press. Ch. 1, 3, 4.
Recommended:
 Laitin et al., “The Qualitative-Quantitative Disputation: Gary King, Robert O.
Keohane and Sidney Verba’s Designing Social Inquiry,” American Political
Science Review. Vol.89, No. 2 (June 1995): pp. 454-481.
 Bates, Robert. 1997. “Comparative Politics and Rational Choice: A Review
Essay.” APSR, 91: 699-704.
 Comparative Politics Newsletter: 7:1 (1996); 8:1 (1997); 8:2 (1997); 9:1 (1998)
(available on www.apsanet.org).
 Geddes, Barbara. “How the cases you choose affect the answers you get:
Selection bias in comparative politics.” Political Analysis. 1990.
 Sabatier, Paul, “Public Policy: Toward Better Theories of the Policy Process.” In
William Crotty, ed. Political Science: Looking to the Future. 1991.
 Yin, Robert K. Case Study Research: Design and Methods. London: Sage, 2003.
 Steinmo, Sven; Kathleen Thelen and Frank Longstreth eds. 1993. Structuring
Politics: Historical Institutionalism in Comparative Analysis. New York:
Cambridge University Press.
Week 12
November 19
F. Political Institutions
New Institutionalism
1. North, Douglas. 1990. Institutions, Institutional Change and Economic
Performance. New York: Cambridge University Press.
2. March, James and Johan Olson. 1984. “The New Institutionalism:
Organizational Factors in Political Life.” APSR. 78(3): 734-49.
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Week 13
November 26
Parties and Electoral Rules
3. Sartori, Giovanni. 1976. Parties and Party Systems. New York:
Cambridge University Press. ch. 6
4. Seymour Martin Lipset and Stein Rokkan, Party Systems and Voter
Alignments, pp. 1-64.
5. Duverger, Maurice. 1954. Political Parties. London: Methuen. pp. 4-380,
422-27.
6. Gary Cox, Making Votes Count, ch. 1 & 2
Week 14
December 3
Institutional Performance
7. Liphart, Arend. 1999. Patterns of Democracy: Government Forms and
Performance in Thirty-six Countries. New Haven: Yale University Press.
8. Tsebelis, George. 1995. “Decision Making in Political Systems: Veto
Players in Presidentialism, Parliamentarism, Multicameralism and
Multipartyism.” British Journal of Political Science. Vol. 25. pp. 289-325.
Recommended:
 Powell, Robert. 1982. Contemporary Democracies: Participation, Stability and
Violence. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
 Weaver, R. Kent and Bert Rockman, eds. 1993. Do Institutions Matter?
Government Capabilities in the United States and Abroad. Washington D.C.:
Brookings Institute.
 Shugart, Matthew and Richard Carey. 1992. Presidents and Assemblies:
Constitutional Design and Electoral Dynamics.
 Moe and Caldwell. 1994. “The Institutional Foundations of Democratic
Government: A Comparison of Presidential and Parliamentary Systems.” Journal
of Institutional and Theoretical Economics. 150(1): 171-210.
 Linz, Juan and Arturo Valenzuela, eds. 1993. The Failure of Presidential
Democracy. Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press.
 Hall, Peter. “The Role of Interests, Institutions, and Ideas in the Comparative
Political Economy of the Industrialized Nations.” Lichbach & Zuckerman, pp.
174-207.
 Lijphart, Arend. 1994. Electoral Systems and Party Systems: A Study of TwentySeven Democracies. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
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