Hello aspirants,
Today’s revision capsule of PSIR optional preparation covers COMPARATIVE POLITICS. There are one 20-markers, one 15-markers, and nine 10-markers from this topic in the last 12 years.
COMPARATIVE POLITICS
1 | Why Compare? (Aristotle → Sartori)
| Point | Scholars / Key ideas |
| Self-knowledge through others | Aristotle, Tocqueville (“mind cannot work without comparison”) |
| Build general rules & theory | Peter Mair, Emile Durkheim, Giovanni Sartori – comparison as “control” in lieu of laboratories |
| Newer focus | whole spectrum of political activity (Ronald Chilcote) not just governments |
2 | What & How We Compare
- Objects → systems, institutions, behaviour, culture, class/production.
- Levels / Methods
- Experimental (rare in politics)
- Case-study — Tocqueville on US & France
- Statistical — Dahl, Przeworski
- Focused pairings — India vs China population policy
- Historical / Mill’s Agreement–Difference — Skocpol, Wolf
Approach : Method : Technique (Van Dyke) → framework : step-set : actual tool (e.g., regression).
3 | Main Traditional Approaches
| Approach | Core focus | Major names | Capsule critique |
| Philosophical | Norms, “ideal state” | Plato, Aristotle, Rousseau, Locke, Kant, Green, Strauss | Abstract, a-empirical |
| Historical | Evolution & context | Beard, Sabine, Tocqueville, Barrington Moore | Descriptive, continuity-heavy |
| Institutional | Formal structures | Bryce, Duverger, Finer, Sartori | Too narrow, Euro-centric |
| Legal | Constitutions, rights | Dicey, Hobbes, Grotius, Bentham, Kelsen | Ignores informal norms |
4 | Modern / Post-1945 Turn
| Family | Distinguishing lens | Hallmark works / people |
| Behavioural | Measurable behaviour | Lasswell, Merriam, Converse, Almond & Verba |
| Systems | Whole interacting set | Easton (input-output), Almond (structural-functional), Deutsch (cybernetics) |
| Simulation / Cybernetic | Info-flows, feedback | Karl Deutsch |
| Quantitative | Large-N, stats | Przeworski, Dahl |
| Political-Culture | Cognitive, affective, evaluative orientations; parochial / subject / participant / civic | Almond & Verba |
| Political-Economy | Power–production nexus (see §5) | — |
| Political-Sociology | Society ↔ State link | Marx → Pareto, Mosca, Michels, Weber; Kothari, Béteille |
| Neo-Institutionalism | Rules + norms + historical paths | March & Olsen (normative), Skocpol, Evans |
#Interpretive (Meaning-Centred) Approach
- Core claim: politics is best explained by reconstructing the meanings, intentions and narratives through which real actors interpret their world; structures and variables matter only insofar as people believe they do.
- Method: close reading of speeches, rituals, historical “stories,” interviews and archival texts to tease out traditions (Oakeshott, Collingwood) or discourses/power-knowledge (Foucault) that guide action.
- Value for comparison: shows why the same institution can behave differently across settings, and why labels such as “authoritarian,” “liberal,” “corruption,” etc. cannot be lifted wholesale from one culture to another.
- Contrast with structural or behavioural lines: moves the field “inside” actors’ heads, complementing data-heavy or structural models and challenging universalist judgments rooted in Western experience.
5 | Political-Economy Lines
| Stream | Core claim | Representative voices |
| Liberal / Neo-liberal | Free market, minimal state | Smith, Ricardo, Malthus, Hayek, Friedman, Downs, Olson |
| Marxist | Class exploitation, surplus value | Marx & Engels, Miliband, Poulantzas |
| Modernisation | Linear stages (traditional→modern) | Rostow (five stages), Lipset, Apter, Pye, Organski, C.E. Black |
| Dependency | Development = underdevelopment | Paul Baran, A.G. Frank, Walter Rodney, Malcolm Caldwell |
| World-Systems | Core / semi-periphery / periphery | Wallerstein; Chase-Dunn; Abu-Lughod (earlier origins) |
| Modes-of-Production | Coexistence & articulation of feudal, capitalist etc. | Alavi, Shivji |
| State-centred | Relative autonomy, over-developed state | Poulantzas, Miliband, Evans, Bardhan |
6 | Systems Derivatives in Depth
| Model | Key elements | Classic critiques / merits |
| Easton Input-Output | Demands/support → conversion → policies → feedback | Abstraction; status-quo bias (Verma, Meehan) but valuable comparative grid |
| Almond Structural-Functional | Universal input/output functions | Overlooks interaction, Western tilt; yet handy taxonomy |
| Deutsch Cybernetic | Communication channels, feedback, “nerves” | Over-mechanical but spotlights info-processing |
| Kaplan International Systems | Six (later ten) world-system models: balance-of-power; loose/tight bipolar; universal; hierarchical; unit-veto etc. | Rigid linearity; ignores regionalism, but seminal taxonomy |
7 | Political-Sociology Arc
- Marx – class & material base.
- Elite theorists – Pareto, Mosca, Michels (iron law).
- Weber – bureaucracy & authority types.
- Post-war behaviouralism (US) adopts survey/psych tools.
- Huntington warns of “sociological reductionism”; Skocpol & neo-institutionalists “bring the state back in”.
8 | Political-Culture
| Type (Almond-Verba) | Citizen role |
| Parochial | Unaware / indifferent |
| Subject | Aware, passive |
| Participant | Active influence |
| Civic culture = balanced blend enabling stable democracy |
9 | Limits of the Comparative Method
Experimental control impossible; culture bias (“compare the comparable”); small-N generalisation risk (Eckstein); data scarcity; over-mechanistic or presentist tendencies; Euro-/US-centrism; difficulty capturing rapid change & informal power.
Some key points
- Approach–Method–Technique chain (Van Dyke).
- Input, Conversion, Output, Feedback (Easton).
- Functions: socialisation, articulation, aggregation, communication, rule-making/applic/adjudic (Almond).
- Modernisation vs Dependency → internal vs external causation.
- New Institutionalism’s six forms: normative, rational-choice, historical, sociological, discursive, feminist.
Scholars Index
Janet Abu-Lughod | Hamza Alavi | Gabriel Almond | David Apter | Aristotle | Paul Baran | Pranab Bardhan | Charles Beard | Jeremy Bentham | Cyril E. Black | James Bryce | André Béteille | Malcolm Caldwell | Christopher Chase-Dunn | Ronald Chilcote | R. G. Collingwood | Philip Converse | Harold Lasswell | Charles Merriam | Anthony Downs | Émile Durkheim | A. V. Dicey | David Easton | Karl Deutsch | Harry Eckstein | Friedrich Engels | Peter Evans | Michel Foucault | André Gunder Frank | Milton Friedman | Friedrich Hayek | Thomas Hobbes | Samuel P. Huntington | Immanuel Kant | Morton Kaplan | Hans Kelsen | Rajni Kothari | T. H. Green | John Locke | Peter Mair | Thomas Malthus | James G. March | Karl Marx | Eugene Meehan | Robert Michels | Ralph Miliband | Barrington Moore | Gaetano Mosca | Michael Oakeshott | Johan P. Olsen | Hugo Grotius | A. F. K. Organski | Mancur Olson | Vilfredo Pareto | Nicos Poulantzas | Lucian Pye | David Ricardo | Walter Rodney | Walt Rostow | Jean-Jacques Rousseau | Giovanni Sartori | Theda Skocpol | Issa Shivji | Adam Smith | Leo Strauss | Sidney Verba | S. P. Verma | Vernon Van Dyke | Immanuel Wallerstein | Max Weber | Eric Wolf
Practice Questions
Question 1. Discuss the interpretive approach to the study of comparative politics. [2024/10 m]
Question 2. Discuss David Easton’s model of systems analysis. [2015/15 m]
Question 3. Discuss the subject matter of comparative politics. Outline the limitations of comparative political analysis. [2020/20m]
📌 Model answers drop this evening on the Telegram channel: https://t.me/psirbyamitpratap – keep notifications on.
See you tomorrow on Day 28. Keep practicing!
—Amit Pratap Singh & Team
A quick note on submissions of copies and mentorship
- 2025 Mains writers: Cohort 1 of O-AWFG started on 12 June and ATS on 15 June. The above practice set will serve as your revision tool, just do not miss booking your mentorship sessions for personalised feedback especially for starting tests. Come with your evaluated test copies.
- 2026 Mains writers – keep uploading through your usual dashboard. Act on the feedback and improve consistently.
- Alternate between mini-tests (O-AWFG) and full mocks (ATS) has been designed to tackle speed, content depth, and structured revision—line-by-line evaluation pinpoints your weaknesses and errors. Follow your PSIR O-AWFG & ATS schedule and use the model answers to enrich your content, as rankers recommended based on their own success.
