Recitation 1: What is

Comparative Politics?
I N T RODUC TI ON TO COM PA R ATIVE P OL I TI CS. P S 0 300
E LI A S CHAVA R RIA - MOR A. E LC1 1 7 @PI T T.EDU
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Housekeeping
Office hours: Thursday, 10-12. 4433 Posvar Hall.
Next week: Choose a country
Do the readings and know the syllabus
Participation (10 %)
This is a political science class: Facts and theories, not opinions!
What is the recitation for?
Review and discussion of key concepts and theories. Any question from the lecture?
Activities for applying those concepts and theories
Why compare?
-Comparative method:
A way to examine patterns of facts or events to narrow down what is important in terms of building a
convincing argument
-How to ask a good question?
Look for patterns
Look beyond the characteristics of one case
-Hypothesis
An argument linking cause to an effect
How to make a good hypothesis?
Therefore, it must be causal
MUST be falsifiable: There has to exist the possibility that the hypothesis can be proven wrong
Methods of Agreement
Country Poverty Terrain Religious Ethnically Civil war
(Outcome)
1 Poor Mountains Homogenous Divided 1
2 Middle Flat Divided Divided 1
3 Middle Mountains Divided Divided 1
4 Poor Flat Homogenous Divided 1
5 Poor Flat Homogenous Homogeneous 0

Method of Agreement: Compares and contrasts cases with different attributes but shared
outcomes, seeking the one attribute these cases share in common to attribute causality.
Other names: Most different system design, most different similar outcome
Method of Difference
Country Poverty Terrain Religious Ethnically Civil war
(Outcome)
1 Poor Flat Divided Divided 0
2 Poor Flat Divided Divided 0
3 Poor Flat Divided Divided 0
4 Poor Flat Divided Divided 0
5 Poor Mountains Divided Divided 1
Method of Difference: Compares and contrasts cases with the same attributes but different
outcomes, and determines causality by finding an attribute that is present when an outcome
occurs but is absent in similar cases when the outcomes does not occur.
Other names: Most similar system design, most similar different outcome
Exercise
Does oil have antidemocratic properties? (Ross,2001 )
Hypothesis: Oil hinders democracy

Get together in groups

How can this question be addressed? Think of argument, competing theories, countries and
variables
Share with the group