Study Questions - STV1300 - Spring 2021

STV1300 – Introduction to Comparative Politics
Study Questions Spring 2021
Lecture 1
1. What defines, above all, “comparative politics” as sub-discipline of political science?
2. Why is variation at the heart of comparative political science?
3. Clark, Golder and Golder (2017, p. 100) present a "continuum of stateness". How do
they define this concept? Moreover, the authors present data measuring the
continuum (map 4.1). How would you ideally like to measure the continuum of
stateness (assuming you have generous funding for research)?
Lecture 2
4. How would you conceptualize democracy? Which “components” seem especially
important to measure? Finally, which of the measures discussed by CGG chapter 5
and Lührmann et al. fits the concept best?
5. Markoff/Burridge discuss four types of processes that can contribute to waves of

democratization. Identify real-world examples of each type (using the assigned
reading).
Lecture 3
6. What are the key differences between “modernization theory” and the “survival
story”? Discuss the ideas/assumptions underlying these theories as well as the
empirical evidence presented by CGG. Is there anything else we could/should
investigate in order to tell which theory works best?
7. Why does it take time for “action resources” and “emancipative values” to have an
impact on democracy?
Lecture 4
8. Based on the following information from the Chilean constitution, is Chile
presidential, parliamentary, or semi-presidential?
•1980 Chilean Constitution:
•Article 4: Chile is a democratic republic.
•Article 24: The government and administration of the State are vested in the President
of the Republic, who is the Chief of the State.
•Article 25: The President of the Republic shall hold office for a term of eight years and
may not be re-elected for the consecutive period.
•Article 26: The President shall be elected by direct ballot, with an absolute majority of
the votes validly cast.
•Article 32: The special powers vested in the President of the Republic are the following:
. . . To appoint, and remove at will Ministers of State, Undersecretaries, Intendants,
Governors and Mayors appointed by him.
•Article 33: The Ministers of State are the direct and immediate collaborators of the
President of the Republic in governing and administering the State.
9. What is a “minority government” and what explains, according to scholarly literature,

why such governments are more common in some countries that in others?
Lecture 5
10. What is (are) the key difference(s) between majoritarian and proportional
representation (PR) electoral systems?
11. Taking any country as example, what differences would we expect to see in politics if
it changed from a PR electoral system to a non-PR-system?
12. Does the use of referendums threaten representative democracy, enhance it, or does
it generally have little impact? Discuss.
Lecture 6
13. What are the core tasks of a legislature in a democratic society?
14. What are the different tools a legislature might have at their disposal to influence
policy making, and do these differ between presidential systems and parliamentary
systems?
15. Imagine a country with an ethnically heterogeneous population. The different ethnic
groups are geographically clustered so that if you consider particular areas of the
country in isolation, they have relatively homogeneous populations. If such a country
were to adopt a federal system, which type of federalism would you expect it to
adopt and why?
Lecture 7
16. How did parties of internal origin typically differ compared to parties of external
origin? Do you think the general development towards the mass party model in many
old democracies altered parties’ “purposes”/“functions” in democracy, and if so
how?
17. What is the effect(s) of electoral systems on party systems?
18. What are the different “micro-level” factors argued to explain variation in
participation? Give examples for each.

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STV1300 – Introduction to Comparative Politics

Study Questions Spring 2021

5. Markoff/Burridge discuss four types of processes that can contribute to waves of

9. What is a “minority government” and what explains, according to scholarly literature,

13. What are the core tasks of a legislature in a democratic society?

17. What is the effect(s) of electoral systems on party systems?

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