Comparative Politics Approaches

All the countries around the world have different political system and types of governing. Hence, there are also factors to consider like history, population, race, culture, traditions and even population. Political culture utterly helps to understand the political behavior of different countries. In comparative politics we get to study all of these. It also includes behavioral and rational approaches the focuses on individual. It tackles the forms on institutional theory used in comparative politics and the reasons why comparative method id called “quasi-experimental method”. Furthermore, the reasons why the “art of comparing” is necessary part of the toolkit of political scientist.

Political culture is a set of practices, ideologies and attitudes held by people that shapes their political behavior. It may include experiences, beliefs, myths and ideas. These factors help in shaping the the society which shape their political behavior. We can exemplify the past administrations that we had in the Philippines. After Marcos, we had these clean looking officials in the national government which are Cory Aquino, Fidel Ramos Erap Estrada, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and Benigno Aquino III which all became presidents of the Philippines. All of them either lead to the fall of the Philippine economy or became part of massive graft and corruption. These cases lead for the people to mourn for change until Duterte came with his charismatic authority and his use of profanity in his speeches and interviews. Because of the continuous traditional of incompetence in the government, it leads the people to for Dutere and elect him as the President. This s a great example how political culture affects the political behavior of the people. Another example is our history wherein we were colonized by the Spaniards, American and Japanese. We were victims of deprivation and abuse which lead our ancestors to fight back. If we may look at the history of the Philippines, the most content of it are how foreign countries colonized us and our experiences amid colonization. The history and these information nurtured our mind and utterly influences our attitude. If we are being oppressed or if our rights as humans are being violated, we tend to fight back. The great of it is the digital revolution that is happening right now during pandemic. Due to the incompetence of the government, making anti-terror bill a law which gives authority to policemen and military to arrest anyone without due process, and arrests of the activists gave a signal to the people to speak up and fight for these wrongness.

Behavioral and rational choice approaches both focus on individual. Behavioral approach basically tackles about the behavior of an individual. It suggests that in order to understand development, we must observe the behavior. On the other hand, rational choice approach see behavior as purposive. It tells that individuals have goals and do actions to act on their choices intended to achieve their goals. Basically it tackles about goals and decisions of an individual which also manifests sociological and psychological approaches. Both of them may be focusing on a person or an individual but they differ. Behavioral approach mainly focuses on observation on behavior while rational choice approach finds the reason behind someone’s actions of development which is mostly related to achieving goals or dreams.

The forms of institutional theory that are used in comparative politics which made a huge contribution. It is more on the central role of the institution to the politics shaping the individual behavior that affects the institution. Is is how individuals interact to the institution. The forms of institutional approaches are composed of cultural cognitive, normative and regulative elements. Cultural cognitive indicates the possibility of individuals to for create beliefs about societal dangers that mirrors and reinforce their commitments to particular vision of the ideal society it.Normative theory defines good decisions as ones that are most likely to provide decision make with wanted outcomes. Regulative elements is associated with rapid or episodic change. It includes changes in workplace habits or norms.

Comparative method in in studying comparative politics is utterly important. It is the manifestation of comparing different cases and finding the similarities and differences of it in order to gain answers under you examination. It brings out the best and worst from the system through different cases. It may be used to be educated and knowledgeable and put it into application. It is also often called “Quasi-experimental” because it focuses on the social sciences and disciplines. We use comparison of different groups, individual and countries. It is describing the real problem when comparing different countries or individuals. They differ because regulative focuses on policies and work rules, normative focuses on the work norms and habits, and lastly, cognitive focuses on beliefs and values.They are all part of the human system context that which has the element of dissatisfaction, change resistance, change capacity and organization change.

The “art of comparing” is definitely very useful and necessary part of the toolkit of any political scientist. As a political scientist or future political scientist, the art of comparing can be used to distinguish what’s good or not. It is identifying the pros and cons of every political actions of different government. By studying the political system and behavior of other country, we get to be knowledgeable about their success and failures which we can apply or reflect to our own country; Philippines. The best example that we can use is how the different governments of different nations acted amid the COVID-19 pandemic. We get to be knowledgeable about their techniques and if found effective, we can apply it to our country. This is badly needed because the active cases of COVID-19 in our country is undeniably massive. Every day, thousands of cases of COVID-19 positive are being added. Our country have not yet even in the second wave which means that we are tremendously far in beating the virus considering also the fact that we are only relying to other countries that are making the vaccines. We can use Vietnam as inspirations as their cases of COVID-19 positive is really low and how they become so competent in tracking the confirmed positive cases in their country. They are small country and near China but they are beating the virus. We must look at their country on as a model and make a research about it.

The subject political comparative gave us utmost learning and education that we can apply in the real world. As a future political scientist, I see the subject utterly helpful not just to me or in the career path that I am taking but to the whole nation. It educates the people that learning the political culture of other countries is never wrong and would give a tremendous advantage to our country. However, there are people in the government like Cynthia Villar who is degrading research and does not see the value of it. Some were uneducated about it and does not see the value of it like the said senator. Hence, we must educate more people to see the value of it. In the mere future, once I became a political scientist and a lawyer, this subject will be completely useful as I explore more knowledge and information that I could put in application.

In conclusion, the text emphasizes the significance of political culture in shaping the behavior of individuals within a society. It delves into the behavioral and rational choice approaches, highlighting their distinct focuses on observation and purposive decision-making. The discussion on institutional theory sheds light on the central role institutions play in shaping individual behavior. The text also underscores the importance of the comparative method, labeled as the "quasi-experimental method," in gaining insights into political systems. Finally, it emphasizes the "art of comparing" as an essential tool for political scientists, providing valuable lessons for understanding and improving governance.