The relevance of comparative politics
The issue of the relevance of political science in general, and then of course also the sub-discipline of comparative politics, has recently received increased attention both in the public debate as well as within the discipline itself. This chapter considers what comparative politics could be relev...
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Oxford University Press
2017
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| Summary: | The issue of the relevance of political science in general, and then of course also the sub-discipline of comparative politics, has recently received increased attention both in the public debate as well as within the discipline itself. This chapter considers what comparative politics could be relevant for, such as informing the public debate and giving policy advice. A central argument is that comparative politics has a huge but sometimes underdeveloped potential for being relevant for various aspects of human well-being. Empirical research shows that the manner in which a country’s political institutions are designed and the quality of the operations of these institutions have a strong impact on measures of population health as well as subjective well-being (aka ‘happiness’) and general social trust. One result is that democratization without increased state capacity and control of corruption is not likely to deliver increased human well-being. |
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