What is Comparative Politics?

After taking this class I think I have a pretty good idea of what comparative politics is. It is a method of comparing other countries to find out what combinations of policies result in sucess. Comparing and contrasting the strengths and weaknesses of each country help determine what makes the countries successful and what makes them fail. In a nutshell, we are trying to find out the perfect formula for proseperity. In that way, comparative politics is like anything else in life, you are trying to find the best recipe for success. We learn from our experiences and other people’s experiences and try to either follow them, or not based on their previous decisions and outcomes. The study of comparative politics answers these questions: “How can we make this country better? What is causing this country to fail? Why is this country so successful?” Obviously it is more complex then this synopsis and these questions, but this is what I would tell someone who was interested in exactly what comparative politics is. The thing that I enjoy about the study is that there is no restriction on what variables you can isolate to prove your theories and facts right. There are many different reasons that influence what the status of a country is and we are all trying to find out what the answer is. The most important question though is this: What are we going to do to help make the world a better place ?

Comparative Politics

What is Comparative Politics? Well in definition, it is the study of domestic politics in nations all over the world, and comparing aspects of state, economy, and society. But in what I have learned throughout the year, Comparative Politics departs from dry facts and figures and asks us more pressing questions, for example: what does our government need to do in order to help starving people around the world? How can support for a growing economy bring political freedom to developing nations? Or, what political goods and democratic ideals can we export to other nations to increase equality outside our borders? These are all internationally based questions, but as Comparative Politics has taught me, the world is more interconnected and similar than it is divided or different. Sure, Africa and Asia share different histories than Western nations, but different civilizations all share the same goal: improving the lives of people. Though this may be hard to accomplish everywhere, especially where authoritarian nations are in power, people can still improve their standards of living and gain political freedom and rights if they fight for it, work for it, and occasionally get help from IGOs such as the U.N. and NGOs. Even multi-national corporations can help boost the economy in developing countries, and people can live better and get the chance of having democracy, which is in many ways a luxury good. So, Comparative Politics is the study of how countries produce political goods, develop economies, and react to cultural movements, but more than anything else, it has proven to not be just about the governments of countries across the world, but the lives of the people who live there.

German Politics

Like Davey, I agree that the simulation we were a part of taught each of us what it’s like to be a politician. Though the simulation was far from a complete and realistic setting, it was easy to see the policies, goals, and compromises made by different political parties and individuals on our “parliament” floor Thursday. I was even swept up in it. The need to make gains for my political party came first and foremost, and then my own personal beliefs and principles came second. This isn’t something I’ve ever encountered, but in a political arena where you are basically split into teams, it only makes sense to score points for your own team. Not that I didn’t think without my own ideas in mind. I noticed that other groups shared policies that my party agreed with, and that by bringing together these ideas we could form coalitions of minority rights, education, economic growth, and social reform that could really improve the country. Although this wasn’t a real situation, the foundation of politics was there, and I was able to see that people of differing views all want the same thing in the end: to make life better for people and help the country as a whole. So really, this very “human” simulation opened my eyes and my mind to a new view of politics, and it’s really taken my interest. I only hope that there is as much pursuit of change in our current government. But as Davey says, we can’t expect our government to be perfect. Yet I feel we can all strive to improve it.

German Elections

After doing the mock German Election simulation, I feel as though I got a little taste of what it means to be a politician. The first thing that I realized, is that it is not easy making decisions for your country. You are pressured so much by the desires of the people. You want to stay in power and by satisfying the people’s desires, you can achieve a long life in a position of power. At the same time, the people don’t always want what is best for them, so you want to make decisions that will benefit them in the long run even if they don’t agree with you. There are pros and cons in this political warfare and there are sacrifices that you must make; you’re constantly facing tough decisions that won’t go away until you make a choice. Nothing goes completely the way you want it to. People may sometimes view you as a bad political party or individual for standing up for what you believe is right. There are surprises everyday and like a point guard, you have to make split-second decisions that hold the weight of changing the game forever. I definitely have a new respect for government officials and politicians. I know our government isn’t perfect; we expect them to be perfect and that is too much weight to put on anybody. We don’t live in a perfect world and human beings aren’t perfect, so why do we expect our government to be?

Iraqi deaths spike in March

Deaths among Iraqi civilians, security forces and insurgents jumped in March because of the recent spasm of violence in the country’s Shiite regions, an Iraqi Interior Ministry official said.

As an Iraqi woman grieves over the body of a Shiite militiaman during his funeral Monday in Najaf, Iraq.

“It’s obvious that the [number of] killed and wounded have increased because of the military operation in Basra and the violence that erupted across the country after the operation started,” the official said.

A government offensive that started last week in the southern city of Basra targeting “outlaws” resulted in tough fighting between troops and Shiite militants. Clashes spread to other southern cities and parts of Baghdad, leaving hundreds dead and wounded.

On Tuesday a U.S. airstrike targeted militia fighters in eastern Baghdad’s Sadr City district, the heart of Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr’s support in the capital. The U.S. military did not release casualty figures from that attack, but denied reports from Iraqi authorities that civilians were killed in the strike.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki on Tuesday said the ongoing military operation in Basra is a “legitimate” effort that has been a success.

Patriotism in Presidential Politics

Candidates in the 2008 Presidential campaign are subject to rumors, accusations, and ridicule from the media, the public, and their opponents, but aside from the issues, some petty and often trivial attacks can make headlines and prove important in the race for the White House.

Patriotism has been a major part of the image of the candidates, and Barack Obama has come under fire from conservatives and Republicans saying that he is unpatriotic. However, the lack of “patriotism” they are citing is not love of the state, about which Obama says “that I owe everything I am to this country”. But instead the attacks are related to Obama not putting his hand over his heart during the national anthem, him not wearing an American flag pin, and his possible Muslim background, which has been debunked.

Attacks come from every angle for a presidential candidate, and a recent attack was made about a $200 campaign contribution to his 2001 Illinois senate race from a founder of a group with possible connections to bombings of the U.S. Capitol and the Pentagon in the 1970s. But the bombings occurred forty years ago when Obama was 8 years old.

Other ridicule has been directed at him because of comments his wife made about only being proud of the U.S.  for the first time recently. Obama explained “She simply misspoke. What she was referring to was [that] this was the first time she has been proud of politics in America.” He went on further to say,

“That’s true of a lot of people who have been cynical and disenchanted. And she’s spoken about how she has been cynical about American politics for a very long time, but she’s proud of how people are participating and getting involved in ways that they haven’t in a very long time.”

Candidates are constantly under the scrutiny of the public and their opponents, and beliefs of patriotism affect their images as well as the image of the country. The U.S. needs a leader who is strongly patriotic, and citizens as well as the media will always point out the shortcomings or mistakes of a candidate for president. Patriotism in U.S. society is a requirement for political leadership, and the national politics of presidential races brings up all sorts of candidates’ characteristics. Patriotism in our nation and society is a major factor in elections, and it also affects the image of the U.S.; therefore it is an essential part of American politics.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/02/24/obama.patriotism/index.html?iref=newssearch

“The War of Ideas”

Regarding to the last post from the CNN article on Al Qaeda’s use of the Internet, I believe that this has been a lesson to U.S. government, and Glassman is well-qualified to head public diplomacy. A better image is what the U.S. needs for its own citizens and on a global level. Also, it is interesting to that Al Qeada, although not a state itself, is so good at publicizing its ideas and winning over people through digital resources. The comparison of Al Qaeda’s success versus the U.S.’s is telling of how the U.S.’s spirit of freedom can lose in a digital race to Al Qaeda’s ideals of jihad and radicalism. Future U.S. policies will test whether a nation’s public image can change from conqueror to liberator and win over the radical beliefs of Al Qaeda in the “War of Ideas” on the Internet and through all forms of communication.

U.S. needs to get more online friends than Al Qaeda

 CNN reports that James Glassman, nominated to head public diplomacy at the State Department, said that Al Qaeda is proving more effective at gaining support through the internet than the Bush Administration.  “Our enemies are eating our lunch in terms of getting the word out in digital technology,” said Glassman. Glassman is chairman of the Broadcasting Board of Governors and he operates radio, television and Internet broadcast networks paid for by U.S. taxpayers including the Voice of America, available in dozens of languages, and Arabic language Alhurra TV and Radio Sawa.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates said  “Public relations was invented in the United States, yet we are miserable at communicating to the rest of the world what we are about as a society and a culture, about freedom and democracy, about our policies and our goals”.

“Glassman said the United States must overturn a misconception in the Muslim world that it is a military threat, that it wants to weaken and divide the Muslim world and spread Christianity.

One member of the committee, Sen. Bob Menendez, D-New Jersey, asked Glassman, “Do we broadcast what people want to hear or what they need to hear?”

Glassman replied, “We have to be honest. If we tell them lies they are going to figure that out very quickly.”

Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Connecticut, introduced Glassman to the committee, saying the public diplomacy post is “the closest thing to a supreme allied commander in the war of ideas and one of the most important posts in Washington.”" -Charley Keyes, CNN

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/01/30/internet.pr.failure/index.html?iref=newssearch

Semester Topic

Our topic for this semester will deal with the public image’s a of state to its people and to people in other countries around the world. Political freedom, equality, justice, military use, imperialism, and government policies are among some of the factors we will use in our comparison of states and the public relations and images of nations to their own people and to other countries.

Kingdom Watcher

An amazing website that compares Bible scriptures and Biblical theories to economic development in predominantly Christian countries. Everything from government to political strategies.