In this article you will learn about the Scope of Comparative Politics in Political Science.
Nature of Comparative Politics
Comparative Politics is the second most important dimension of Political Science. It is a very vast area of study. A large number of political scientists treat it as an autonomous area of study within the board ambit of Political Science.
In the early 20th century, comparative study of political institutions in major countries of the world came to be designated as Comparative Government and was recognised as a major area of study in Political Science. Study of the governments of more than one country got the name Comparative Government. Zink, Ogg, C.F. Strong, Munro, Herman Finer and several other political scientists presented their studies of governments of several major countries. They compared political institutions of various states, particularly European States, in terms of their legal and historical similarities and dissimilarities. They tried to judge as to which political institutions were the best and which type of government was better than the other.
Later, modern political scientists felt dissatisfied with such studies of Comparative Government. They advocated the view that what was needed was to study the actual behaviour of all political structures and processes of all political systems. Gabriel Almond, Blondel, Powell, Coleman, A.R. Ball, Apter, S E Finer and several others strongly advocated the use of scientific-behaviour-empirical method for studying actual behaviour of Political Systems and their structures and functions. They designated their studies as Comparative Politics and not Comparative Government. As a result of their efforts, the popularity of Comparative Politics studies of politics increased excessively. It got acceptance as a very major dimension of political science. It was held to be a very useful means for scientific theory in Politics.
However, at the same time some political scientists continued to follow the traditional way of studying Comparative Government. In contemporary times, Comparative Politics is a very valuable part of the scope of Political Science and it includes a comparative study of all structures, functions, processes and institutions of all political systems of the world. It is the study of patterns of national government. The term patterns of government refers to the three parts of study (i) government structure, (ii) behaviour i.e. the study of how a particular institution works, and (iii) the laws. Comparative Politics is concerned with significant regularities, similarities and differences in the working of political behaviour and political behaviour.
This article on Nature of Comparative Politics in Political Science is contributed by Dipshikha Anand. If you like LawStudyPoint.com do follow us on our Twitter handle.