Then and Now: Comparative Politics
| DOI | 10.1111/1467-9248.00194 |
| Published date | 01 March 1999 |
| Date | 01 March 1999 |
| Author | Jean Blondel |
| Subject Matter | Article |
Then and Now:
Comparative Politics1
JEAN BLONDEL
European University Institute, Italy
Is Comparative Politics Special?2
In a collective volume published about half-way between THEN and NOW, in
1970, The Logic of Comparative Research, the editors, Holt and Turner, stated:
`The subject matter of ``comparative politics'' . . . has always been ambiguous '.
They continued: `In anthropology and in at least a part of the sociological
tradition, the term comparative refers not to a substantive ®eld, but to a method
of research and analysis. But in political science few studies in comparative
politics have employed the comparative method . . . Nor have political scientists
#Political Studies Association 1999. Published by Blackwell Publishers, 108 CowleyRoad, Oxford OX4 1JF, UK and 350 Main
Street, Malden, MA 02148, USA.
Political Studies (1999), XLVII, 152±160
1The expression `comparativepolitics' is used throughout this article, as this is the one which the
editors of the Journal chose to adopt. Yet a distinction between `comparative politics' and `com-
parative government'should be made, the former being markedly broader and relating to politics in
the most general fashion and in particular outside the state.Such studies are scarcely undertaken: as
things are, what passes and is typically referredto as `comparative politics' is in reality `comparative
government'; it is concerned exclusively with politics within the state or in relation to the state.
2The books referred to here are only those mentioned or alluded to, directlyor indirectly, in the
text. They are in no wayan exhaustive bibliography of comparative politics works, which would of
course be massive, especially for NOW.No journal article is listed. The full references for the works
mentioned in this article fall into these categories:
Classics, pre 1945
W. Bagehot, The English Constitution (London, Fontana, 1963 edn); Lord Bryce, Modern Demo-
cracies (New York, Macmillan, 1891); J. Locke, Second Treatise on Civil Government (New York,
Van Nostrand, 1947 edn); A. L. Lowell, Government and Parties in Continental Europe, Vol.2,
(Cambridge MA, Harvard University Press, 1896); R. Michels, Political Parties (New York, Free,
1949 edn); Montesquieu, The Spirit of Laws (New York, Hafner, 1949 edn); G. Mosca, The Ruling
Class (New York, McGraw-Hill, 1939 edn); M. Ostrogorski, Democracy and the Organization of
Political Parties (New York, Macmillan,1902); J. J. Rousseau, The Social Contract (London, Dent,
1973 edn); A. de Tocqueville, Democracy in America (Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1947 edn).
THEN, immediate post-war
G. A. Almond and J. S. Coleman, The Politics of the Developing Areas (Princeton NJ, Princeton
University Press, 1960); G. A. Almond and G. B. Powell, Comparative Politics (Boston MA, Little,
Brown, 1966); G. A. Almond and S. Verba, The Civic Culture (Princeton NJ, Princeton University
Press, 1963); J. M. Buchanan and G. Tullock, The Calculus of Consent (Ann Arbor MI, University
of Michigan Press, 1962); K. W. Deutsch, Nationalism and Social Communication (Cambridge MA,
MIT University Press, 1953); K. W.Deutsch, The Nerves of Government (New York, Free, 1963); A.
Downs, An Economic Theory of Democracy (New York, Harper, 1957); M. Duverger, Political
Parties (New York, Wiley,English edn, 1954); D. Easton, The Political System (New York, Knopf,
1953); H. W. Ehrman, Interest Groups in Four Continents (Pittsburgh PA, University of Pittsburgh
Press, 1958); H. Finer, The Theory and Practice of Modern Government (London, Methuen,1949);
S. E. Finer, The Man on Horseback (London, Pall Mall, 1962); R. T. Holt and J. E. Turner (eds),
The Methodology of Comparative Research (New York, Free, 1970);S. P. Huntington, The Soldier
and the State (New York, Free, 1957); M. Janowitz, The Professional Soldier (New York, Free,
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