Abstract
To introduce midshipmen to the methods and theories that are fundamental to the study of major questions in comparative politics, to provide midshipmen opportunities to explore the use of these methods and theories in seminal works of political science, and to provide opportunities to deploy them through written and oral assignments.
Major questions in comparative politics:
Comparative politics is a broad sub-field within the discipline of political science, but there are major questions that provide a general structure to comparative politics. These are questions of the origins of the modern state (why are some countries democracies and others dictatorships?); the consequences of different types of regimes; the variety of institutional forms of regimes; and how different types of democracy affect regime performance and survival.
Methods:
The fundamental methods for the study of comparative politics are methods of comparison, qualitative research, quantitative analysis, and game theory. Each of these will be discussed and particular emphasis will be placed on the use of game theory and the role of quantitative analysis.