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Q: -What is Comparative Politics?

A: –Comparative Politics is not concerned only with the formal institutions rather it is also concerned with the non-formal institutions  and  political  activities  such  as elections, electoral behaviour, processions etc. and non-governmental factors such as caste groups, tribes, language and religious organizations etc. and their impact on politics.

Q: -What is Comparative Government?

A: –Comparative Government includes the theoretical study of the subjects like the various forms of  government, organs of  government, their organization  and function etc. But no attention is to paid  towards  the  study  of  formal  and  informal  factors which influence the working of the government. Neither the study of the political behaviour nor of political processes etc. is made the subject matter of comparative Government.

Q: -Give any two Definitions of Comparative Politics? A: –

According  to  Edward  Freeman,  ―Comparative  Politics  is  the  comparative  analysis of the various forms of governments and diverse political institutions‖.

According  to  Michael  Curtis,  ―Comparative  Politics  is  concerned  with  significant regularities, similarities and differences in the working of Political institutions and in political behaviour.

LONG ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS

Q: -Meaning & Definition of Comparative Politics.

A: –The study of comparative politics involves conscious comparisons in studying; political experiences, institutions, behaviour and processes of major systems of government. It includes the study of even extra constitutional agencies along with the

study of formal governmental organs. It is concerned with significant regularities, similarities and differences in the working of political behaviour. Accordingly, comparative Politics can be described as the subject that seeks to compare the political systems in various parts of theglobe, with a view  to  understand  and describe the nature of politics and to build up a scientific theory of politics.

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Some popular definitions of comparative politics are:

John    Blondel:    Comparative    politics    is    ―the    study    of    patterns    of    national governments in the contemporary world‖

According to M.G. Smith,” Comparative Politics is the study of the forms of political organizations, their properties, correlations, variations and modes of change‖

According  to  E.A  Freeman,  ―Comparative  Politics  is  comparative  analysis  of  the various forms of govt. and diverse political institutions‖.

On the basis of all these definitions, we can say that comparative politics involves a comparative study of not only the institutional and mechanistic arrangements but also an empirical and scientific analysis of non-institutionalized and non-political determinants of political behaviour. Empirical study of political processes, structures and functions forms a major part of comparative political studies.

Q: -Nature of Comparative Politics.

A:-Comparative Politics seeks to analyze and compare the political  systems operating in various societies. In doing so, it takes into account all the three connotations of politics political activity, political process and political power.

Political activity consists of all the activities  involved  in conflict resolution  or in the struggle for power.  Since  the  basic  means  of  conflict-resolution  is  the authoritative allocation of values, it involves an analysis of the process by which the authoritative values are made and implemented in all societies.

In this sense, politics stands for political process. It involves the study of all formal as well as non-formal structures through which the political process gets operationalized. The political process receives information and signals from the environment and then transforms these information‘s and signals into authoritative values.

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Finally, politics, being a struggle for power or a process of conflict resolution through the use of legitimate power, involves a study of power or power relations in society. Laswell describes politics as the process of shaping  and  sharing  of  power, Robert Dahl holds that politics involves power rule  and  authority  to  a  significant extent. Hence the study of politics naturally involves the study of power.

As such comparative politics involves the study and comparison of political activity, political process and struggle for power in various political systems. It seeks to analyze and compare political systems in a holistic way as well as through a comparative analysis of their structures, functions, infra-structures and processes.

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Q: – Scope of Comparative Politics.

A: –The scope of the study of comparative politics is very  wide.  It  includes  both processes and decision making as well as the use of authority. It covers political experiences, institutions and behavior of not only constitutional but also extra- constitutional agencies having their immediate connection with governmental organs. Such a study provides a  comparative  politics  does  not  end  itself  with  the  study  of only rule making or rule implementing or even rule adjudication organs of various political systems; but it deals with much more  extra-constitutional  agencies  and political and other pressure groups.