Comparative Comprehensive Exam
January 2015
School of Policy, Government and International Affairs
George Mason University
Committee
Eric McGlinchey, Chair
Mariely Lopez-Santana
Enrique Arias
Methods/Methodology in Comparative Politics
Answer one (1) of the following questions.
1. What role do positivist and interpretive research methodologies play in contemporary political science research? What are the advantages and disadvantages of these scholarly paradigms and how do their perspectives influence the types of problems we research and the answers we find?
2. Recent scholarship demonstrates growing diversity in methodological approaches. Alongside qualitative and statistical analyses, comparativists now leverage game theoretic and experimental techniques in an effort to develop new insights into vexing questions. Select a major question in comparative politics (for example, regime change, social mobilization, ethnic violence) and discuss the insights four studies—one qualitative, one quantitative, one game theoretic, and one experimental—bring to this question.
Substantive and Field questions in Comparative Politics
Answer two (2) of the following questions.
1. In the early 1990s Samuel Huntington argued that the world was passing through a third wave of democratization. Going beyond Huntington’s work, what are the reasons for the progressively wider circle of democratic countries in the world? A generation later with events in the Middle East and the Former Soviet Union are we now passing through a reverse wave of democracy? If so, why? If not, why not?
2. What factors best account for social revolution? To what extent are these factors at play in Latin America, the Middle East, or Asia today?
3. Drawing on the literature on political institutions, what are the advantages and disadvantages of parliamentarism? Referencing a least one recent case of political crisis in a parliamentary democracy, please explain how these limitations can be overcome? Is presidentialism a viable alternative?
4. As illustrated by the recent cuts to the NSF budget, various political sectors distrust the “political science enterprise.” Let’s assume that the American Political Science Association hires you to write a report to debunk popular knowledge (based on outdated theories and data, and a variety of popular myths) about various types of political phenomena. Select three debates in the field of comparative politics, what do we know that the average politician does not know? When referring to these 3 debates, how the “political science enterprise” can contribute to key political and policy debates?
5. Mancur Olson highlights how collective action challenges and the free rider problem shape the politics of daily life. What are collective action challenges and the free rider problem? How can collective action challenges and the free rider problem be addressed so as to advance state and society interests? And why are some issue areas and some public goods more susceptible to collective action challenges and free riders than others?