Comparative Politics: How Do We Compare

Question

Instructions

After carefully reading Lijphart, Collier, and Landman. Please develop a 750-word (this is minimum word count; you can write more but not less) response to the following question:

How should we compare?

It is important that you compare and contrast how the different authors describe the central 

aims of comparison, the different factors that affect our selection of cases to compare, and how to approach single and multiple country comparisons (and everything in between). Please make sure you use the texts to support your answers, and please remember to quote properly.

To help you answer this question, keep the writing guidelines in mind: 

Summary – of required readings, including key

ideas, concepts, and questions to be used as a foundation for the analysis. In

your summary, you can demonstrate that you read carefully and thoroughly.

Analysis – comparison and contrast of ideas,

concepts, and questions between the readings. In your analysis, you demonstrate

your ability to fully address or answer the questions I posed in the prompt.

This is where you can demonstrate your understanding of the material and that

you are thinking for yourself. Therefore, no external sources can be accepted

for the analysis because it must be based on your close reading of the required

texts.

Coherence – this means organized, step-by-step,

progression of ideas. In other words, ideas should flow in orderly fashion from

sentence to sentence and paragraph to paragraph. Coherence is very important

because it helps you to demonstrate that you read carefully and fully, that you

can develop a thesis or argument, and that you can impose order on your

thoughts – thus making your claims and arguments easy to follow for the reader.

Otherwise, good ideas or claims go to waste because they become disconnected or

fragmented and the reader gets lost.

Clarity – this refers to grammar, mechanics,

and style, and command of writing conventions such as in-text citations,

quoting, balance between paraphrasing and quoting, and so on. Poor sentences

make it difficult to get your point across.

Requirements –adhering to basic requirements,

particularly on-time submission, word count, and academic honesty.