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Comparative Politics

Andrew Clem
Adjunct Instructor
Department of Government and International Affairs
Sweet Briar College 

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Required textbook:

Mark Kesselman, Joel Krieger, and William Joseph (gen. eds.), Introduction to Comparative Politics (Houghton-Mifflin, 2006).

In addition, all students are strongly urged to read the Washington Post or similar nationally-recognized newspaper to keep up with current events in foreign countries. First, it will help you understand the significance of the course material, and second, there will be a few current events questions on the quizzes and exams.

Announcements

Occasional announcements about class activities, information sources, world news, etc. will be posted here.

NEW! Final Exam Study Guide

Must-see video:

The great Mexican standoff: 2006 election (youtube.com) 15 minutes; well worth your time! (hint)

TIPS FOR QUIZ #4: The format will be mostly multiple choice and matching questions, with more emphasis on leaders than on the first two quizzes. For both Brazil and Mexico, you should be familiar with the key historical turning points, contemporary issues, the nature of their governing institutions, and the major political parties. There will be no timeline on this quiz, but there will be a map section. You should know the approximate location of the capital cities and one or two other major industrial cities, as well as key rivers or particular regions where political conflicts have taken place.

Midterm Exam Study Guide (PDF download)

TIPS FOR QUIZ #3: The format will be similar to the first two quizzes, but there will also be a brief written section, as described below. For both Japan and India, you should know the essential facts: key historical turning points, leaders, governing institutions, and the major political parties. The timeline will be briefer than before, concentrating on the last two centuries. For the map section, you should know the approximate location of the capital cities and one or two other main cities, as well as key rivers, industrial centers, or particular regions where political conflicts have taken place. Finally, you should also understand the leading contemporary issues in Japan well enough to write two or three sentences to explain one of them. This will be practice for the midterm exam, which will consist almost entirely of brief written answers and longer essays.

TIPS FOR QUIZ #1: The multiple choice questions will be mostly factual in nature, with one or two comparative-analytical questions. (For example, what factor or factors best explains why Country A is more stable than Country B?) Also, the section on identifying leaders will be in matching format, not short answer. Finally, for the map section, you should know the location of the 12 countries we will cover in this course, and which ones are considered "great powers" (i.e., permanent members of the United Nations Security Council). For the time being, don't worry about the cultural regions or which ones are major oil exporters.

The World Without US (documentary video -- isolationist?)

The map and table below cover all of the countries we will study in this course. By "political system" we are referring to the form of government (parliamentary, presidential, etc.) and to the form of state (monarchy vs. republic). There is no need to memorize the numbers of legislative seats or terms of office in the various countries, but you should at least browse through the data long enough to get a rough idea about general patterns in terms of upper house vs. lower house, large countries vs. small countries, etc.

Maps of the World:

Roll over the links below to see different perspectives:

Political systems

Country names

Country names, 1900

Cultural regions

Human settlement

Geopolitics

North vs. South

OPEC

War

(NOTE: Some maps are outdated and will be revised soon.)

Political systems and election cycles in selected countries

NOTES:
SOME OF THE INFORMATION ON THIS TABLE IS SUBJECT TO REVISION.
"National leader" is the executive official with the most power, either head of government (as in Britain) or head of state (as in France).
x Countries with no senate have "unicameral" (single chamber) legislatures.
* Recent change (since Jan. 1, 2001).
Legislative representation (the column labeled "Repres.") is usually in terms of which subnational constituencies choose members for the upper house, or in terms of voting tabulation procedures for the lower house.
SMD: Single member district
PR: Proportional representation (nationwide unless otherwise indicated)
SNTV: Single non-transferable vote (Japan only)

NOTE: The content on this Web site is intended for the exclusive use of students who are currently enrolled in this course.