Chapter 1 What is Comparative Politics?

1.1 What is science

Approach to scientific knowledge consists of following stages;

• First, Research question

• Second, Causal theory

• Third, Testable hypothesis

• Fourth, Empirical test

• Fifth, Evaluation of hypothesis

• Sixth, Evaluation of causal theory

• Seventh, Scientific knowledge

Scientific knowledge should evaluate questions of fact (what) and questions of theory (why) question.

1.2 What is political science and Comparative Politics?

Political Science implies the scientific study of political phenomena. Comparative Politics is a subfield of political science. Then, how can we define Comparative Politics? There are three typical definitions of Comparative Politics.

Definition 1

the study of “the rest of the world”

Definition 2

the study of political phenomena through the “comparative method”

Definition 3

the study of political phenomena that are predominantly within country relationships.

1.3 Concepts you should know

You should know the approaches to scientific knowlege and the definitions of Comparative Politics.