比较政治学全_阿尔蒙德.doc

Comparative Politics lecture 1 Issues in Comparative Politics 1(a) WHAT IS POLITICS? Some people love politics. They may relish the excitement of political events, such as elections, as they would an exciting athletic contest . Others are fascinated with politics because they care about the issues and their consequences for people in their own communities or around the world. On the other hand, there are those who hate politics, either because it sets groups and individuals against each other, or because it involves abuse of power, deceit, manipulation, treachery, and violence. Finally, there are those who are indifferent to politics, who perhaps find it boring because it has little to do with the things that matter most to them. Most of us react to politics with a mixture of these sentiments, which may change with time and events. Politics has many faces and can be a force for good as well as evil. This course is about the comparative study of politics. In order to make political comparisons, we need to understand what is meant by politics as well as what it means to study it comparatively. Politics has to do with human decisions, and political science is the study of such decisions. Yet, not all decisions are political, and many of the social sciences are concerned with decisions that are of little interest to political scientists. For example, consider a situation in which you go with a friend to an event such as a concert or a soccer match. You have a certain amount of money at your dispose. You can spend this money on your tickets (to get the best seats possible) or on food and drink, or you can save it. Economists might be interested in what sorts of spending decisions you make. Psychologists might wish to know why you were going with his friend and not with someone else。 Political scientists are not likely to want to study any of these questions, unless perhaps the event you attended turned into a riot (both soccer matches and concerts occasionally do), or t