Introduction to Comparative Political Systems Systems Meelis Kitsing mkitsing@polsci.umass.edu
Two Faces of Politics Harold Lasswell defines politics as “who gets what, when, and how.” David Easton suggests that “politics is the authoritative allocation of scarce resources.” Politics is a contest over scarce resources – Politics is a contest over scarce resources – money, power, prestige or security. Politics also means cooperation because our survival depends on people’s ability to work together to achieve common goals for the community’s good.
Conflict and Cooperation Conflict management is at the heart of good government. Governments play referee. They make and enforce the rules, but because of this, political conflict centers on control of the government. Coercion, persuasion and economic rewards are the three tools winners of the political rewards are the three tools winners of the political conflict have at their disposal – but how they use conflict have at their disposal – but how they use them varies from country to country. So do the relationships between the winners and the losers. Stable, long-lived governments are those in which winners have persuaded the people of their legitimacy to rule, e.g. that letting them govern is in the people’s best interests and the rules the winners set down should be voluntarily followed.
Two Definitions of Politics – “Politics is the process of deciding “who gets what, when, and how.” Harold Lasswell (1958) Harold Lasswell (1958) – “Politics is the authoritative allocation of scarce values.” David Easton (1953)
Comparative Analysis Through comparison of different countries’ political processes it is possible to understand what, for example, leads some democracies to succeed and others to fail, democracies to succeed and others to fail, as well as characteristics of one system that might be useful to adapt in another.
States, Governments, and Political Systems • This critical subsection is divided into several components. Governments are institutions that determine who gets what, when and how. They control states with internationally recognized borders, and populations and resources that fall within those borders. There are three basic types of governments: democratic, quasi- democratic (mixed) and authoritarian. Each type has numerous variants and each has strengths and weaknesses.
Types of Political Systems and Variants • Democratic Political Systems – Presidential • (1) Two-party (United States) • (2) Multiparty (Brazil) – Parliamentary – Parliamentary • (1) Westminster model (Britain). • (2) Coalition model (Japan) • (3) Single-party dominant (India) – Mixed presidential/parliamentary system (France)
Types of Political Systems and Variants • Authoritarian Political Systems – Totalitarian (Nazi Germany, Soviet Union, North Korea) – Dictatorships – Dictatorships • Military (Sudan) • Civilian (People’s Republic of China) – Monarchies (Saudi Arabia) – Theocracies (Iran)
Types of Political Systems and Variants • Quasi-Democratic Political Systems – Some democracy, but military dominant (Egypt) – Some democracy, one-party dominant – Some democracy, one-party dominant (Russia) – Some democracy, monarchy dominant (Jordan)
Democratic Political Systems • Five fundamental requirements for democracies are: –1) leaders elected through free and fair elections; –2) elections be held regularly; –2) elections be held regularly; –3) voters can choose from a “meaningful” slate of candidates; –4) sufficient information available to the voters to make informed choice; –5) those elected must, in fact, rule.
Three Basic Elements of Governments • Legal and organizational structures • Decision makers (elites) • Decision makers (elites) • Administrative officials (bureaucrats)
Democratic Political Systems • There are two major democratic models: the U.S. presidential and the British parliamentary. Others are hybrids. The basic differences are whether power is dispersed throughout the system, as in the U.S. with its three branches of system, as in the U.S. with its three branches of government, or power is concentrated in the Prime Minister through control of parliament as in the UK. Regardless, democracy needs political parties, pressure (interest) groups, and a free and active media. These factors equate to civil society.
Authoritarian Regimes and Quasi-democratic Systems • Power is concentrated in the hands of a dictator or a clique of powerful individuals. Strengths lie in the efficiency to develop and implement a particular goal – such as rapid economic particular goal – such as rapid economic development – and to retain the state as a whole, rather than allowing it to fragment into mini-states. Weaknesses include the lack of checks, or ways to keep the leadership from pursuing disastrous policies, or to get a government back on track if it has jumped the rails.
Authoritarian Regimes and Quasi-democratic Systems • Authoritarian states include traditional monarchies (Saudi Arabia), totalitarian societies (like the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany), theocracies (Iran), and military dictatorships. Q uasi-democratic systems : These states combine elements of democracy and authoritarianism. Most possess weak legislatures with power lying in a dictator.
Transitions from Authoritarian Rule to Democracy • Since the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union, 50 new democracies have emerged. Of today’s 192 independent countries, 64% are democracies. But many fail to live up to western standards. They are plagued by weak legal systems, endemic corruption and influential systems, endemic corruption and influential oligarchs. Authoritarian tendencies are well entrenched, problems are many and reversion is all too easy despite internal pressures for reform and western pressure, particularly US, to democratize. For others, pressures towards representative government are ignored by powerful elites as in Egypt and Saudi Arabia.
Components of Comparative Political Analysis • Political institutions, actors who make them function, the economic, cultural and international environment. Elites, political international environment. Elites, political parties, interest (pressure) groups and the people (the masses) are all part of the picture.
The Structures of Government • Legal and organizational structures, decision- makers or elites, administrative officials (bureaucrats). Political structures tend to favor some groups over others. Complex needs require more political institutions. The more adaptable these institutions are, the easier the state can these institutions are, the easier the state can change to meet new demands. Democracies tend to be more flexible, dictatorship more rigid. Flexibility leads to evolutionary change; rigidity to violent change. Modern political institutions try to check excessive power and corruption through a maze of laws and procedures. But too many restrictions cause paralysis.
Five Fundamental Requirements of Democracy • Leaders are elected in fair and free elections • Elections must be held regularly • Voters can choose from a “meaningful” slate of candidates • Sufficient information must be available to the voters to make an informed choice • Those elected must, in fact, rule
The Human Dimension of Political Institutions • How a political system operates depends on the people who run it: the skills of the leaders and the bureaucrats who implement decisions. Institutions take on implement decisions. Institutions take on lives of their own: they develop organizational cultures that pass from one generation to another.
Actors in the Political Arena • The people and groups who direct the political process are called actors. The subsections of this chapter describe their characteristics. The most important are – 1) the elites who dominate the political process and a country’s resources; – 2) the bureaucrats who not only implement political – 2) the bureaucrats who not only implement political decisions but often determine which policies will be implemented because of their specialized knowledge; – 3) the masses – or the public – who may, or may not, make coordinated demands on the political system; – 4) interest, or pressure, groups that influence governmental policies and provide links between the elites and the masses; and – 5) political parties and party systems.
Actors in the Political Arena • Political parties differ from interest groups because the former seek to gain control of the government whereas the latter seek to influence the government’s policies. There are various types of political parties – the catch-all parties such as those in the U.S. that subordinate ideology to those in the U.S. that subordinate ideology to winning elections, the devotee parties with well defined ideological goals and tight organizational structures such as early Communist parties, the social-democratic parties that come in between, and the single-issue parties such as the Greens. In the third world, single dominant political parties were designed to confine conflict within the boundaries of a single party.
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