ANTI COLONIAL STRUGGLE

➢ Colonialism
➢ Anti colonialism
➢ Decolonisation

COLONIALISM

Colonialism is the building and maintaining of colonies in one territory by people from another
territory. The origin of the word ‘colonialism’ can be traced back to the Latin word “colōnia”
meaning “a place for agriculture”. The standard definition of colonialism is “a policy and practice
of a power in extending control over weaker peoples or areas”. Even though the policy has been
used by multiple civilizations in different continents since ancient times, it is broadly used today
to refer to European economic and political domination in different continents that began roughly
in the late 16th century and lasted until the early 1970s.

Colonialism is a procedure of temporally extended domination by people over other people and
as such part of the historical cosmos of forms of intergroup domination, subjugation, oppression,
and exploitation . Colonialism brings a totally new existence to the colonies. Cultures which are
unfamiliar to one another are brought together and forced to interact and coexist. The
subjugation of lands and forceful coexistence of peoples of different backgrounds (as a result of
the conquest) with different beliefs and philosophies has brought about many changes, both
negative and positive, especially in the colonies.

The reasons for the practice of colonialism at this time include:

● Economic benefits to the colonizing power, which may or may not benefit the colony
● To expand the power of the colonizer.
● To escape persecution in the colonizer.
● Obtaining military advantage, such as the creation of a buffer state or the removal of a
threat
● To convert the indigenous population to the colonists' religion.

The methods & history of colonization are unique in every case, due to many different variables
(geography, population density, resources, etc.), Despite this, there are common patterns that
can be easily recognized. In the Americas, Africa, and Asia, colonization generally consisted of
4 stages: recon, invasion, occupation, and assimilation.
● Recon - Colonialism begins first with small recon forces that map out new lands or
regions and gather intelligence. These are often celebrated today as voyages of
"exploration" & "scientific discovery.
● Invasion - The second phase is invasion, which begins a period of armed conflict as
Indigenous nations resist colonial forces. Invasion can begin immediately after the recon,
 or may be delayed by a period of trade & settlement that serve as a basis for later
invasion .
● Occupation - When Indigenous ,peoples are militarily defeated, the occupation is
expanded. A colonial government is set up to control the surviving population of Natives,
who are contained in reservations, or enslaved.
● Assimilation - an important part of imposing control is the indoctrination of surviving
Natives into the European system. In order to do this, Indigenous society & culture must
be dismantled & erased as far as possible. Once occupation is entrenched, this process
becomes institutionalized, with generations of Indigenous youth being removed from
their people & forced into government or Church-run schools.

Historians have classified four different types of colonialism that have been practised throughout
the ages. They are as follows:

● Settler Colonialism: This involves immigration on a grand scale, with political, religious
and economic factors being prime motivators. The outcome is that any local existing
population will be largely replaced. The colony in question will be exploited for mainly
agricultural purposes. The erstwhile colonies of Australia, United States of America and
Canada are examples of settler colonialism.

● Exploitation Colonialism: Exploitation colonialism focuses on the exploitation of natural

resources and the local population as cheap labour that benefits the mother country
economically. An example of this is the use of local labour in India and SouthEast Asia
where the indigenous population was used as slave labour to cultivate cash crops such
as tea and rubber.

● Surrogate Colonialism: Surrogate colonialism involves a settlement project supported by

a colonial power, in which most of the settlers do not come from the same ethnic group
as the ruling power. South Africa and Rhodesia (Modern-Day Zimbabwe and Zambia)
were examples of Surrogate Colonialism, where large numbers of British settlers
became the dominant group despite being in minority as compared to the local
indigenous population

● Internal Colonialism: It is a notion of uneven or even discriminative power structure

between different areas of a state. This is demonstrated in the way control and
exploitation may pass from whites from the colonising country to a white immigrant
population within a newly independent country.

ANTI COLONIAL STRUGGLE

Anti-colonial struggle or anti-colonialism refers to protest or fight against colonial rulers by the
suppressed colonies. Anti-colonial struggle picked up its momentum during the 20th century.
The fight against colonial powers started due to the rise of nationalism in the European
countries. Facism and Nazism played an important role in the spread of nationalist ideas in the
colonies under foreign rules across the world. The nationalist ideas had a very strong impact in
the colonies of Africa, Asia and Latin America and that helped in beginning anti-colonial
movements in their respective territories for self-determination. These struggles eventually
resulted in decolonization which means freedom of colonies from imperial subjugation. The
imperial set up across the world became destabilized due to various conflicts in Asia and wars
among European nations. As a result of this the scope for anti-colonial movement became wider
and stronger.

The colonising country in order to fulfil their commercial interests used political power and force
of the state and changed the existing feudal mode of production into the capitalist mode of
production. The colonies were exploited economically, politically and socially by their colonial
masters. As a result, people in the colonies opposed colonial rule in various ways and fought for
their liberation. Hence, in the 1950s, after the II World War many new countries emerged out of
colonialism. The local anti colonial struggles were diverse in their nature and process; they were
conscious about each other’s situation and were sharing an emotional bonding of solidarity
against colonialism.Some of these independence movements were while mainly diplomatic in
nature, some were violent and in some places anti-colonial forces planned to join hands
together through political and military means to achieve their objective .

Anti-colonialism refers to opposition to colonial rule. In other words, the term may be used to
any idea or movement against some form of imperialism. In general, anti-imperialism involves
opposition to occupy territories by wars, predominantly backward areas. Anticolonialism was
against imperialism which is in actual sense, a political concept signifying power of one country
upon another country. Colonialism is a form of domination or control by individuals or groups
over the territory and its people. Anti-colonialism actually means protest against colonial
empires, their hegemony and imperialism. The term also includes political opposition to the
territorial expansion of a country beyond its established boundary.

Factors responsible for anti colonialism wave

● The mission of the euro exam countries to civilise backward countries
● The aim of colonialism was to exploit the economic resources of a country and create
conditions for economic dependency .Economy of the colonies was no doubt affected
adversely by colonialism. There were devastating impacts on agriculture and industries
of the colonies too.
● In some of the colonies racial mixing as well as racial discrimination took place and in
some the cultural orientations of the people were also affected. The people in almost all
colonies became frustrated, grew critical and even hostile towards the rulers because of
their exploitative nature. The AfroAsian people protested the attempts of the West to
establish its dominance on them.
● In other words, native intellectual leaders in the colonies had exposure to “modern
western political culture such as the form of nationalism, nation-ness, and nation-state.”5
Many anti-colonial nationalist leaders in Asia and Africa had studied and learnt the
development of political culture in the imperialist countries. That knowledge prompted
 and encouraged them for self-determination. They tried to find ways and means for
liberation from foreign dominance.

Anti colonial movement in Africa

In 1830 the territory of Algeria in North Africa was invaded by France . There was a prolonged
Algerian resistance to French power. After France got established in Algeria, in 1992, it imposed
its authority at first on Tunisia in 1881 and then on most of the areas of Morocco in 1992.And,
when the First World War started the French government involved people of North Africa in its
army. After the end of the War these soldiers started organizing themselves and preparing the
groundwork for national movements for freedom of their own territories. The Algerian National
Liberation Front (FLN) started armed struggle in 1954 in support of independence of Tunisia
and Morocco in 1956. Nevertheless through strategic and effective diplomatic initiatives along
with armed resistance the FLN could achieve independence of Algeria in 1962.

In 1957, Ghana, formerly known as Gold Coast was the first country in sub-Saharan Africa to
get independence from European colonial domination. In the next thirty-five years the number of
independent states in Africa continued to grow with the abolition of apartheid in South Africa. In
these countries the struggle for independence was prolonged and violent.For example,
Portuguese colonies of Angola, Mozambique, and Guinea-Bissau achieved their independence
only after more than a decade of armed struggle. In the case of Namibia and Zimbabwe, the
white settlers violently resisted the rule by black majority for a long time before giving them
independence. A war of national liberation was also waged in Eritrea by the Eritrean People’s
Liberation Front (EPLF) in May 1993.

The Fifth Pan-African Conference took place in England in the year 1945 after which Nkrumah
gave a radical thought to the anti-colonial movement in Ghana and edited a newspaper called
‘The New Africa’ in 1946.Hence he formed the Convention People’s Party in 1949 after he got
disappointed by the moderation of the UGCC. He also initiated a protest movement called
‘Positive Action’ based on the Gandhian model of campaign. He became quite popular and that
forced British government to negotiate with the nationalist leaders of Ghana and declare
independence.. Nkrumah in 1958 organised an All-African People’s Conference in Accra which
got attendance of anti-colonial forces from all over the African continent .In 1952, a trade union
member Ahmed Sekou Toure headed the Democratic Party of Guinea. He convinced people of
Guinea to vote for independence from France in 1958 by a referendum organized by the then
President of France Charles de Gaulle. During this time, the Algiers–Accra–Conakry axis gave
birth to a new political momentum which enabled anti-colonial forces to throw away colonial
authority in 17 African countries in 1960 which is known as the ‘year of Africa’.

Another important anti-colonial struggle which created a history in itself was by the South
African National Congress (ANC formed in 1912). ANC was one of the oldest members of the
collective anti-colonial movement in Africa. After a prolonged anti-racial and anti-colonial
struggle, South Africa gained full independence under majority rule in 1994. Nelson Mandela,
the leader of ANC became the first President of South Africa in 1994.
 DECOLONISATION

Decolonization is a process by which colonies become independent from the imperial powers. It
refers to undoing of colonialism. Decolonization picked up its speed after the II World War. In
the decolonization process often methods are used such as diplomatic peaceful negotiations,
violent armed protests by the nationalist leaders of colonized countries against colonial masters.
The process of decolonization becomes complete when the colonies declares themselves
independence and their sovereignty is ensured. While, the process of Decolonization was
peaceful and gradual for some colonies at the same time for some it was bloody and violent. It
was after the II World War European colonial powers faced economic scarcity and lacked the
political support needed to suppress the revolts of their colonies at far. There was also
opposition from the newly emerged superpowers- the United States of America and USSR as
both had taken a position against imperialism.

Decolonization requires the dismantling of the colonial government and its entire social system
upon which control & exploitation are based. would be a mistake to conceive of decolonization
as a single event. Instead, it is a process that begins with individuals & small groups. The
primary focus in the first phase of decolonization is on .disengaging from the colonial system"
and re-learning one's history, culture, etc. This phase places a heavy emphasis on rejecting
European society & embracing all that is Indigenous as good & positive. Some common steps in
this phase include returning to one's community, re-establishing family relations, re-Ieaming
culture (inc. art, language, songs, ceremonies, hunting, fishing, etc.).

methods and stages of decolonisation

World opinion began favouring the idea of decolonisation following the end of World War I. The
Leauge of Nations (Dissolved on April 20, 1946) was the first international body that took a
collective effort towards decolonisation. A number of mandates were created for this purpose
but these were interpreted as mere redistribution of control over the former colonies to that of
other colonial powers at the time, the notable example being German colonies in Africa being
divided among France and Britain.

It was the devastation following World War II when the colonial powers on their own accord
began taking steps towards decolonisation. As they had other priorities such as rebuilding their
own countries, there was little finance or enthusiasm for military action to hold into overseas
territories against their will

Through referendums, the dependent territories have chosen to retain their dependent status as
was the case of Gibraltar and French Guiana. Colonial powers have at times favoured
decolonisation in order to rid themselves of the financial and military burdens in light of
independence movements that grew in the colonies
The final phase of decolonization may concentrate on handing over responsibility for foreign
relations, security and soliciting and de jure recognition for the new sovereignty. However even
following the recognition of statehood a degree of continuity can be maintained through bilateral
treaties between now equal governments, such as military training, mutual protection pacts etc.

Role of UN
The UN after Second World War took the responsibility to ensure independence of all the
nations and support them in their all-round development. The Chapter XI (Articles 73 and 74) of
the UN Charter refers that the UN in the principles will continue to put its efforts to decolonize all
the colonies, including respect for self-determination of all people. In 1960 the UN General
Assembly made the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and
Peoples. This was also called the Declaration on Decolonization. The primary objective of this
declaration is to realize that all people have a right to self- determination. With this, UN viewed
to speed up the decolonization process make an unconditional end of colonialism. Further, the
General Assembly created a Special Committee on Decolonization in 1962 to monitor the
implementation initiatives of the Declaration and to make required recommendations on the
applications it receives.

The General Assembly declared 1990-2000 as the International Decade for the Eradication of
Colonialism and adopted a Plan of Action in 1990 and also hoped that it would achieve total
elimination of colonialism by 2000. A Special Committee was created under the Plan of Action
to formulate specific proposals for elimination of remaining colonies . However, the colonization
process was not smooth as there were lots of challenges created by many member countries of
the UN. In January, 1986, the United Kingdom informed that it does not want to take part in the
work of the Special Committee as some colonies under its rule still want to remain in close
remaining territories under its administration had chosen to remain in close alliance with the
United Kingdom.

Decolonisation in India

Nations in India, Southeast Asia, & Africa gained independence from imperialists
(decolonization) . At the end of World War II, many nations in Africa & Asia gained
independence from European imperialists This trend was known as decolonization The first
major colony to gain independence was India in 1947 . Mohandas Gandhi emerged as the
leader of the Indian independence movement in the 1920s Gandhi urged Indians to use
non-violent means to achieve their goals Gandhi’s tactics included deliberately breaking unfair
British laws (called civil disobedience) Gandhi encouraged peaceful protests & boycotting British
goods in order to hurt the British colonial economy . But, self-rule created tensions between the
Hindu majority & the Muslim minority who feared giving power to Hindus In 1935, British granted
India limited self-rule but not total independence . When World War II broke out, Britain
committed Indian troops to the war with asking India’s self-governing assembly This led to
protests & renewed calls for independence from Britain When World War II ended in 1945,
Britain was in debt & ready to grant India its independence But, violence between Hindus &
Muslims made granting independence difficult. In 1947, Britain agreed to a partition (division) of
India & granted independence to two nations: India & Pakistan India was a nation made up
largely of Hindus Pakistan was dominated by Muslims (East Pakistan later became Bangladesh
) During the partition, 10 million people relocated; Violence broke out leaving 1 million dead,
including Gandhi who was assassinated in 1949 . In 1947, India became the world’s largest
democratic nation; Jawaharlal Nehru was elected India’s first prime minister Nehru emphasized
democracy, unity, & modernizing India Under Nehru, women & lower caste Hindus gained rights
In 1966, Nehru’s daughter, Indira Gandhi, was elected prime minister In the Cold War, India was
a leader among non-aligned nations

INSTITUTIONALISM
Under the institutional approach to comparative politics , there is comparative study of
institutions of various countries . It was an exclusive and dominant approach in comparative
politics up to the 1950s . Some of the important work in this field was done by Herman Finer and
Carl Friedrich . Comparative politics till the 1950s was associated with the comparative study of
institutions only .

The main focus of the institutional approach was-

(a) law and the constitution
(b) historical study of government and the state
(c) the manner in which the structures of government functioned

The study of institutions under comparative politics was confined to the institutions of western
countries only . Western liberal democracy was considered to be the most important and best
form of governance according to this approach and it should be adopted everywhere .

Bryce and Lowell are considered to be the true founder of comparative government .
Comparative study of governments was associated with legal and constitutional aspects and it
was concerned with facts regarding the legal constitutional frameworks and structure of
governments . They mainly studied the formal institutional structure with emphasis on their legal
powers and functions . The content of institutional approach comprises both the context of
government that is the legal constitutional framework and governmental institutions and
practices of government .

Another significant component of this approach was the emphasis on facts . In order to study
the context and practices it was considered important to study the facts such as facts about
political life, parties, executives, referendums, legislatures etc.

The search for facts also led Bryce and Lowell towards the use of quantitative indicators in the
study of government . their studies extended geographically to a large number of countries
which, at the time, had institutions of a constitutional or near constitutional character.They
therefore, attempted to focus their study on governments of western, central and Southern
Europe .

The criticism to this approach was made by Roy Macridis in 1955 , who argued that the
institutional approach was non comparative and parochial . He called for change in comparative
politics and that it should change its focus from institutions to political process that is the factors
that shape formal institutions for eg. religion , social group .

SYSTEM APPROACH

Under the system approach possible empirical and comparative study of political institutions .
System theory analyses the interaction , structures , institutions and processes pertaining to
politics . Political system is a part of larger social systems in which there are other subsystems
as well . In order to understand the political system it is important to understand the general
social system of which it is part of the other non political systems and its interlinkages . In a
social system the roles of different or different actors are difficult to identify and classify .

Internal structure of a political system is the pattern of power and authority that characterise the
relationship between the ruler and the ruled . Analyzing a political system means analysing the
role and people performing them . The role deals with decision making performing actions such
as decisions to implement and allocation of scarce resources. The traditional way of analysing
gave inadequate information about the political system .

More variables are added to the study of political systems called ‘pattern variables’ by Talcott
Parson. Analysis should also take into account relationships across boundaries as systems are
subjected to external influences . Gabriel Almond suggested classifying structures based on-
(a) the degree of differentiation between structures
(b) the extent to which the system is “manifest” or “visible,”
(c) the stability of the functions of the various roles
(d) the distribution of power
Internal processes within the system are also important to understand the system and Mitchell
said that it consisted of goal attainment , adaptation , system maintenance , tension
management and integration .

According to David Easton system is any set of variables and the interrelationship among them.
Political system is different from other systems, Easton argued, because it is concerned with
interactions through which values are authoritatively allocated for a society . Political system
consist of two parts-
● INTRA SOCIETAL- it includes various sub systems in a social
system which requires non political . These systems create
 conditions in which the political system operates . It includes
economy , culture , social structure etc.
● EXTRA SOCIETAL - the system outside the social system is
called extra societal . It is a form of suprasystem of which the
political system may be a part . For example , international cultural
system

Intra societal factors and extra societal factors influence and cause stress on the political
system . If a political system has to continue then it has to allocate values (decisions) to society
and make society accept those values . Identifying these factors can tell how and when
disturbance can cause stress in the system . The capacity to counter stress is crucial for survival
of any system . System theory will help to analyse the response of a system to disturbance by
analysing the history of responses to such stress and whether the behaviour of members could
reduce stress upon these variables . System analysis helps in determining the impact of many
diverse environmental influences on a system .

According to Easton input and output are environmental influence indicators . Input summarises
variables in the environment which can cause political stress and it is broadly defined as any
event external to a system that alters , modifies or affects the system in any way . There are 2
major inputs -
● Demand -material and political demand
● Support
There are the key indicators by the way in which the environment influences and conditions ,
modify and shape the political system . Output means decisions and actions of authorities . It
influences events in broader society and determines a succeeding set of inputs . Then we have
the ‘Feedback Loop’ which consists of production of outputs by the author , response by
members of society to outputs , communication of information about the response to authorities
and possible succeeding action by authorities . A little drop in support will cause stress in the
system . Information about consequences of each round of output and changing cons dictions
that impact members is essential to take action to keep support at minimum level .

The criticism of the system's approach is that it only shows a mature political system and
various phases of transition or development in political systems, especially decolonised states
whose political system have not reached mature stage and in transition .

STRUCTURAL FUNCTIONALISM
This approach tried to combat some of the criticism levelled against system approach . It
identifies certain necessary functions of a political system regardless of structures performing
them . According to Social Darwinist there are certain functions which need to be adopted or
performed by the political system . Comparison will be more efficient when done on functions
and not structures as structures are not always similar but functions are .

According to Almond and Coleman , political system is a system of interaction found in all
independent societies , which performs the function of integration and adaptation by means of
employment or threat of employment of more or less legitimate physical compulsion (there is a
compulsion to follow the functions by the structure of the system ). Functions of political system
are -
● Universality of political structure
● Universality of political functions
● Multi functionality of political structures
● Culturally mixed character

Structural functional approach is premised on systemic approach of input and outputs . Almond
and Powell realised the need to present a progressive model to explain different stages of
political development in various countries.they call their model as the ‘7 output -input functions
model’ to elaborate essential functions performed by the political system . However the
structures performing these functions may vary depending upon the phase of development of
society .
Seven functions are -
INPUT FUNCTIONS
● political socialisation
● Interest articulation
● Interests aggregation
● Political communication
Political system connect them to output functions

OUTPUT FUNCTIONS
● Rule making
● Rule application
● Rule adjudication
According to Gabriel almond , political development of any society and its system is
characterised by :
1. SPECIALIZATION - role of specialisation of political system increases with political
development and less overlapping of roles
2. SECULARIZATION - rational , analytical and empirical approach of doing things
on the basis of political development categorised the political system as (1) primitive
(2)traditional (3)transitional (4)modern . Development stems out of the failure of existing
structures and political culture to cope with the challenges (demands) without structural
differentiation and secularisation . According to Almond , a structurally differentiated political
system with a secularised political culture will have increased capability to shape its domestic
and international environment .

Functions of political system

Broads function of a political system happens at three level -
1. Capability level - how effectively a political system behaves as a unit of environment ,
how it responds to inputs from the environment and converts it and how its behaviour
impacts other social systems . Capability function includes -
○ Regulation - policies for regulation of behaviour
 ○ Extraction - policies for extraction of material and Human Resource
○ Distribution - policies regarding allocation of goods and service
○ Symbolic response
2. Conversion level - it deals with the operational aspect and how conversion processes
are controlled and directed . It includes political socialisation ,Interest articulation ,
Interests aggregation and Political communication .
3. System level - it deals with the maintenance and adaptation of the system wherein a
political system is able to efficiently convert input into outputs . Political socialisation and
culture are used for this purpose .

POLITICAL CULTURE
Political culture is the set of values , beliefs and attitudes within which the political system
operates . The assumption of those who use cultural approach to investigate politics is that
certain norms , rules , habits , traditions are at the heart of each political system that affects the
behaviour of main participants in the political process . Political culture is the pattern of
orientation to political objects such as parliament , political parties etc. , political practices and
rituals of a given community and how we behave politically . Political culture is transmitted
through political socialization which affects the political behaviour and then it affects the stability
of the political system . The purpose of studying political culture is to establish the nature of
relationship between regime stability and structure of beliefs , aliens and traditions at any given
time .

The behavioural study of political culture is represented by the work of Gabriel almond and
Sydney Verba called ‘The Civic Culture’. It is a survey report in which three types of questions
were asked in the survey -
1. Cognitive questions- factual knowledge and belief about political system
2. Affective question - attitudes of people towards political object
3. Evaluative question - options and judgment about political object
On the basis of the survey they identified three types of individuals and collective political
culture . These are -
1. PAROCHIAL- in this type of culture there is general ignorance about political objects and
lack of involvement in political activity
2. SUBJECT - in this culture there is widespread knowledge about political object and not
inclined to participate in political activity
3. PARTICIPANT - in this culture there is knowledge about political object and willingness
to participate in political activity
Almond and Verba argued that a combination of subject and participant political culture would
be best for a stable democratic system where citizens possess high knowledge about political
process , feel empowered as a citizen , recognise legitimacy of elites to make decisions on their
behalf and elites would be sensitive to the preferences of the masses .

Criticism
● ANGLO AMERICAN BIAS - Almond and Verba said few European countries lack civic
culture required for a stable democratic system which is present in those countries .
Arendt Lijphart questioned the dismissal made above and said that consensual
behaviour among political elites with appropriate institutional support could ensure
effective governance of societies which are deeply divided . Institutions matter and can
improve the impact of political culture upon the system through intervention .
● Almond and Verba understood the degree of democratic stability as being determined by
political culture . The alternate position of this was that democratic stability creates and
sustains civic culture and the other provided by Carole Pateman .
● Regarding methodology - Dennis Kavanagh argued that the sample taken by Almond
and Verba is not large enough to make a generalisation about political culture . It is a
mistake to assume that there is a national political culture because there might be many
sub groups which reflect plurality of political cultures .

NEO MARXITS PERSPECTIVE ON POLITICAL CULTURE

Political culture is the value system and knowledge structure which is dispersed throughout
society by the dominant classes at any given time . Althusser argued that through ideological
state apparatuses , hegemony is dispersed through private institutions .the criticism of this
argument is that it leads to the conclusion that institutions in civil society lack any autonomy by
saying that those institutions support prevailing regime , multiple conflicts that occur within
ideological state apparatus and between get hidden . Antonio gramsci rejected the base -
superstructure model of Marx . He said that dominance is exercised through force only to some
extent and it is also created through ideas .Culture is deployed to legitimise changes that
happen within the underlying economy .

According to the post modern variant culture is about meaning making and inter subjectivity
which means it is a shared process of meaning making . Narratives and interpretations act as
tools to study culture . Narratives are a more accessible form of cultural manifestation and
include beliefs , practices , forms of worship etc. in order to understand a culture it is important
to become part of the community that practices that culture . The contribution of culture to
comparative politics according to Marc Howardross are -
● Culture frames the context in which politics occurs.
● Culture provides resources to link self to other
● Culture denes group boundaries and organizes actions within and between them
● Culture provides a framework for interpreting the actions and motives of others.
● Culture provides resources for political organization and mobilization.
Therefore Political culture is important to achieve a comprehensive evaluation of why people
engage in certain political behaviours while others don’t. Humans are essentially, culturally
embedded and their thoughts, actions and activities are a corresponding manifestation of that
culture. People can overcome some but hardly all of its influences. In a world where identity
reigns supreme, analysis of culture becomes an imperative since we derive a sense of who we
are from the culture we belong to.

NATURE AND SCOPE

Comparative politics is concerned with the comparative analysis of the political systems . The
distinctive feature of comparative politics is that it consciously and systematically uses the
method of comparison to study two or more countries in order to identify and then explain
differences or similarities between them . However the comparison is not limited to similarities or
differences but extends beyond it to study the larger framework of relationships of the political
phenomenon . It is concerned with study of all forms of political activity , governmental as well
as non governmental .

The nature and scope of comparative politics has varied according to the changes which have
occurred historically in its subject matter. the thrust or the primary concern of the studies kept
changing .

ORIGIN
Aristotle was the first prominent person to use a comparative method to study 158 different
regimes on the basis of two principles (1)number of people governing (2)purpose of governance
. On the basis of these principles he divided regimes into three ideal types-
1. Monarchy (rule by one )
2. Aristocracy rule by few for all)
3. Polity (rule by many for well being of all )

Late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries (INSTITUTIONALISM)

During this period the focus of comparative politics was on formal institutions , the distribution of
power, and the relationship between the different layers of government .These studies were
Eurocentric, that is, they were confined to European countries . The focus was on formal
institutions of state and it didn’t look into the process or factors affecting them . A large part of
the world was excluded from the study . Colonial countries never remained the area of focus.

After Second World War

After Second World War certain developments took place such as -
1. Emergence of the USA as the new hegemon . There was a massive shift from
isolationism to internationalism . Now the USA was focusing on the creation of a
framework to understand how other countries function .
 2. Decolonisation - many countries got decolonised by the end of Second World War . Now
the focus was on how to modernise and develop them .
3. Behavioural revolution - this movement brought significant changes in the discipline of
comparative politics . It was concerned with bringing scientific rigour in the discipline by
analyzing the human behaviour that is ‘why people behave politically as they do, and
why as a result, political processes and systems function as they do'.
As stated above about the behavioural revolution that was happening post second world war
period , ‘Roy Macrodis’ raised a critiques in 1955 against institutional approach and called for
change in comparative politics and that it should change its focus from institutions to political
process that is the factors that shape formal institutions for eg. religion , social group . Therefore
after this the orientation of the subject changed.

Era of developmentalism
The orientation of the subject can get from formal institutions to process and scholars such as
Gabriel almond and his colleagues from American Social Science Research Council began
research to develop a theory and a method to study the political system of all kinds and not
which is only confined to the west. The state and its institutions became less important during
this time . During this time many countries gained independence from colonisation hence it was
conserved necessary to develop a framework to understand them and to bring about
development and modernity in them . Hence during this period theories of modernity dominated
according to which US society and economy was ideal . The USA wanted to bring development
in these countries to prevent them from going to Marxist camp represented by the USSR .

criticism of developmentalism
In the 1970s developmentalism was criticised by the third world scholars called dependency
theorists who argued that modernisation was not happening in third world countries and
inequalities were increasing between third world countries and the west . They also argued that
the free market model in the third world made them dependent on the west , perpetuated
underdevelopment as what was exchanged was only raw materials amd the profit was taken
away by western companies .

They suggested an alternative where indigenous capital system has

to be allowed to develop , import substitution , export promotion as following western capitalism
ensures only dependency because core will be core and periphery will be the same with no job
creation , manufacturing will happen in core and peripheries economy will be agrarian.

From mid 1970s a crisis was felt in the discipline because it was not having a foundation and it
was difficult to determine that what would be qualified as the subject matter of the discipline as
everything can’t be reduced to socialism , liberalism , capitalism etc the grand theories that
seemed to have the answers of all questions but that was not happening . Therefore the crisis in
the discipline made the way for another major change in the discipline that was the arrival of
‘Neo institutionalism’ .

Neo institutionalism
Neo institutionalism was a synthesis of institutionalism and developmentalism . It was decided
to bring the state back. It was argued that failure or success of a particular political model
depends upon the context of various countries which was not being taken into account while
studying them and as a result the discipline was in crisis and facing the challenge of becoming
irrelevant. During this phase the state again took the main stage which is situated in a particular
cultural- historical context . While emphasis on 'grand systems' and model building diminished,
the stress on specific contexts and cultures has meant that the scale of comparisons was
brought down.Therefore the focus was on understanding institutions and its unique context .

By the end of the 1960s a new mode of understanding known as ‘third world perspective’
emerged that represented voices of post colonial societies.Comparativists increasingly started
recognising the peculiarities of Asia, Africa and Latin America due to its colonial past and
present encounter with neo-colonialism.

By becoming self reflexive, creative, open and critical, comparativists constantly aim to expand
the discourse of Comparative Politics.

In this way we see that Comparative Politics is continuously evolving by inputs coming from
various directions and new ways of understanding.

Why compare?

The comparative method helps us to get a precise account of political phenomena happening in
the world . Comparing different political institutions, their functioning, different political
organisations, associations and their influence helps us to know how politics takes place in
every political setting . Comparing similarities and differences between the political
phenomenons allows us to know the experiences of states .It also helps us to assess whether
theoretical models of decision making are able to claim universal validity. In fact comparison
should be the method of all political inquiries. But comparison does not mean merely finding
similarities and dissimilarities between and among phenomena. It must go beyond that and try
to understand the political phenomena in a larger context .

Kenneth Newton and Jan W. Van Deth give us three most important reasons why we should
study Comparative Politics. First, that we cannot understand our own country without knowledge
of others. Second, we cannot understand other countries without knowledge of their
background, institutions and history. Third, we cannot arrive at valid generalisations about
government and politics without the comparative method. From Lasswell to Almond most
political scientists viewed comparison as the basic function of political science and an
unswerving strategy of research.

Methods of comparison
There are various methods to compare such as -
 ● Experimental method - this method has limited application in social science but
capartaivits wanted comparative studies to be based on experiments . Experiments help
to test hypotheses and on the basis of which generalisations can be made.
● Case study - it involves doing a detailed study of a single case .
● Statistical method - it helps in the numerical representation of the factual information. On
the basis of this data similarities and dissimilarities can be effectively studied .
● Focused comparison - These studies take up a small number of countries and study
particular aspects of the countries' politics rather 'than on all aspects. Comparative
studies of public policies in different countries has successfully been undertaken by this
method.
● Historical Method- it highlights the significance of historical analysis.

JS Mill has proposed two useful strategies of comparative research. Most Simi lar System
design also called Mills Method of difference and Most Different Systems Design or Mill's
Method of Similarity or Mill’s Method of Similarity. While the first is employed in comparing
similar cases having dependent variables, the later is used to compare dissimilar cases having
independent variables.

Therefore these are the varieties of methods used to compare . Many times a combination of
methods are used for comparing between two or more countries .

The scholars of comparative politics are interested in studying the various types of government
or regimes and try to understand why it came about , for example how democracy came to be
established in India. In order to do this analysis there are three tools according to Kopstein and
Lichbach , which are -
● Interest - politics is about the pursuit of interest that is people enter into politics to pursue
what they want . The material interest determines the policy preferences . Material
interests are pursued individually and collectively through political parties , interest
groups , social movement etc. institutions are created in a country in such a way that
determines the interest of people . The kind and strength of interest groups determines
much of politics in a country .
● Identity - the interest of people are determined on the basis of their identity at that
particular point of time . People often possess multiple identities and it can’t always be
predicted which identity will be dominant while making the choice of interest .
● Institutions - institutions are shaped by the interests of people . Institutions are the
instruments that shape the political arena and influence what kinds of policies are to be
enacted .
These tools are applied to understand regimes types , public policies and political change .
These different approaches yield different powerful insights .

CAPITALISM
Capitalism is an economic system where means of production are privately owned and where
the market plays an important role in exchange of goods and decides the supply and demand of
goods . It is also a social system where social structures , institutions and relations are built
around the markets . Capitalism is an ideology of the ruling class that is the bourgeoisie
according to Karl Marx . Certain characteristics of capitalism are -
● Private ownership
● Accumulation
● Profit maximisation
● Market oriented economy
Let us examine the origins of capitalism can be traced by understanding different periods.

Origin
Capitalism was born in the countryside and it led to complete transformation of modes of
exchange and basic human relations and practices.
# Early agrarian capitalism
Capitalism from below is the perspective of workers of capitalism which means hard work to
produce goods and upon the production of which they don’t have any control . The producers,
that is the peasants have direct access to the means of their own production and to the land
itself. however , when their surplus labour is being exploited by the landowner it is called extra
economic means. Capitalism came into its present form from a feudal society which found its
origins in England and other European societies.
#Stages of history according to Karl Marx

From 12 th to 15 th century there was a feudal economy in which the peasants worked on the
land of a feudal lord and in exchange got the right to build shelter on that land and they also got
a small strip of land on which they were allowed to cultivate.

The feudal economy started breaking in the 16 th century due to the rise of merchant capitalists
who were benefiting from increasing foreign trade . The growth in trade both outside and within
Europe led to increased money exchange.

Emergence of capitalism
Capitalism started to emerge during the 17th Century. At first the merchants, or “buyer uppers”,
as they became known, were a link between the consumer and producer. However, gradually,
they began to dominate the latter, first by placing orders and paying in advance, then by
supplying the raw materials, and paying a wage for the work done in producing finished
goods.The first stage of capitalism had come into being. This stage saw one new class, the
primitive capitalists, exerting power over another new class, the waged workers.Early capitalism
also engendered new methods of production in which homes became mini factories .
capitalism's dominant mode of appropriation based on the complete dispossession of direct
producers, who are legally free and whose surplus labor is appropriated by purely economic
means.
This unique relation between producers and appropriators is of course mediated by the market.
Here the market is an important element in capitalist mode of production.

Markets have existed from a long period of time but Ina capitalist sytem both capital and labor
are utterly dependent on the market for the basic conditions of their own reproduction .This
market dependence gives the market an unprecedented role in capitalist societies, as not only a
simple mechanism of exchange or distribution but the principal determinant and regulator of
social reproduction.As it grew from the margins of economies organized on other lines into the
mainstream of general economic life. It has two reasons :

1. The search for the sources of raw materials to process- and for markets in which to sell
processed materials steadily widened over time.

2. The growth of first the economic and later the social and political influence and importance of
the new social classes created by that widening. Capitalism became the dominant way of
organizing economic life as the number and proportion of members of pre-capitalist classes in
the european case, largely feudal landowners and peasantries tied to the land.

Here, both conceptually and historically, it is worth differentiating the kind of capitalists in the
fundamental economic transition.

Merchant Capitalists- Men surviving and indeed prospering by buying cheap and selling dear.
Financial capitalists - Men surviving and even prospering by lubricating that buying and selling
process, lubricating it by lending both producers and merchants money ahead of the trade.

Modern capitalism
After 1945 the world was divided into three categories economically -
● First world : Fully industrialized capitalists economies.
● Second world: State- socialists economies less fully developed and industrialized than
their capitalists competitors.
● Third world: colonies or former colonies that were hardly capitalized. Economies were
capitalist after the second world war, in the global order where the main means of
production were privately owned. That private ownership was and is now largely
corporate capitalistic economies, dominated by private forms.

Economies were and are capitalist where production is wholly focused on the creation of
commodities and where the motive of both production and sale is the pursuit of profit for the
company owning the resources being processed and sold.

Capitalism from above (three kinds of capitalism)

PRE COLD WAR ERA

● Market led capitalism - in this system private companies are free to decide where to
invest their money amd they can pursue their profit motives . In such capitalisms,
 workers enjoy only limited statutory industrial and social rights, and earn only what they
can extract from their employers in largely unregulated labor markets. States roles is
very limited in this context . The society is guided by the liberal ideas of individualism in
which the individual is most important .
● State led capitalism - in this system private companies take their own decisions but only
after working closely with the government and many a times their decisions are indirectly
determined through adminisatrion decisions . In such a system labour don’t have string
social and political rights but
there is space for forms of labor relations which tie some workers to private corporations
through company-based welfare provision.
● Negotiated or consensual capitalisms - in this system the givermnt role is still small but
the political system gives a set of strong worker rights and welfare provision which gives
organized labor a powerful market presence and the ability to participate directly in
industrial decision-making.

WELFARE CAPITALISM (POST COLD WAR ERA)

There was another type of capitalism post cold war era, when the focus of academic attention
shifted away from the choice between capitalism and socialism to one between varieties of
capitalism. Another type of capitalism emerged in scandinavian countries. It came to be known
as welfare capitalism and there are various type of it on the basis of degreee of commodification
within them -

● Liberal welfare capitalism - in this sytem welfare provisions are limited and available to
those only who are unable to afford the better quality services provided by the private
sector.services such as higher education and the insurance to cover health care costs
are regularly bought and sold like any other commodity.
● Socio democratic welfare capitalism - in this system , state provided welfare provision
tends to be generally available and of high quality. Health care is normally free at the
point of use, and higher education is free or heavily subsidized.
● Conservative welfare capitalism - here, access to publicly provided welfare services
tends to be by category and status, and not to extend to services designed to undermine
traditional gender roles.

Capitalism after Cold War

There was a shift from Fordist capitalism which began in the early 20th century. It represented
the advanced capitalism model. In the later phase of capitalism, there is a beginning of post-
fordism that is new liberal economies. It majorly includes the growth of labor processes and
workflows relying on information and communication technologies and digital labor.

Contemporary Capitalism and its Future :

Capitalism today entails the detailed disaggregation of stages of production and consumption
across national boundaries under the organisational network of densely networked firms or
enterprises. Now there has been a qualitative shift in the world economy, the focus has shifted
from nations to giant corporations. Globalisation of the world economy is today synonymous
with globalisation of capitalism. It has been argued that globalisation has proceeded to the
extent that national boundaries are no longer relevant, that the world economy is one seamless
global-market. This globalisation has led to the development of third world countries.

The today’s global capital is less in need of national states than were earlier capitalist interests.
Global capital, no less than national capital relies on nation states to maintain local conditions
favourable to accumulation as well as to help it navigate the global economy .

BRITAIN
POLITICAL FRAMEWORK (MAKE CHART)
● Uncodified constitution
● Unitary state
● Constitutional monarchy - queen as hereditary head
● Parliamentary sovereignty
Critical junctures in the conditional development of Britain .
● Consolidation of British state - the British state comprised several kingdoms . In 1066
the duke of Normandy invaded Britain in the battle of Hastings .In the sixteenth century,
legislation unified England and Wales legally, politically, and administratively. Scotland
and England remained separate kingdoms until the Act of Union of 1707. During the
Norman period itself, in the year 1100 AD, a Charter of Liberties was granted by the
King. This Charter tried to minimise abuse of royal power and outlined some guidelines
for the king about how to treat church officials and nobles. This Charter was the first
attempt in the history of these isles, to bind the actions of a ruler by some rules, and thus
could be seen as the first step towards constitutional government.
● The royal power was consolidated during Norman period but the dominance of king Jon
led to discontent among feudal barons who then forced the king to give various
concessions to the feudal landowners. The document that lays down the restrictions of
royal power to safeguard the interests of the barons is known as the Magna Carta
(meaning the Great Charter) of 1215. The ​Magna Carta required the king to consult the
aristocrats before levying any tax. It also put limitations on arbitrary arrests and seizure
of property of the subjects.

MAGNA CARTA -
❖ protected the liberties of feudal barons
❖ Limited kings power
❖ A person who is not a serf will only be punished by law
❖ Taxes can be levied with consent of parliament
❖ Royal interference in church also reduced

● The term Parliament came into existence when in 1236, it was officially used to refer to
the gathering of feudal barons, which were called by the king to consult and gain
consent on imposition of new taxes. The parliament thus convened was not elected and
 was an aristocratic body of feudal lords. It, however, lent to the monarch the required
legitimacy of rule.
● The relationship between the monarch and parliament was conflictual in nature which led
to English Civil War . During the civil war , parliament gained supremacy but the
monarchy was restored later . Again the discounting between monarchy and parliament
led to the ​Glorious revolution which redefined the powers of the monarch vis-à-vis the
parliament.
● After the Glorious revolution, during the rule of the Hanover dynasty, the Parliament
passed a Bill of Rights, which proclaimed legislative supremacy of the parliament, and
drew the limits within which the monarch can exercise his or her power. From that time
parliament has been guiding the role of monarch because of constitutional monarchy .
● The unification of Scotland and Wales also happened meanwhile, through conquest.
Wales was unified between 1536 and 1542 and Scotland was brought under control in
1707, thus creating the entity of Great Britain. The unification of Northern Ireland was a
process of steady subjugation, which became a part of the Kingdom by late 18 th
century, completing the formation of the United Kingdom.
● Due to the United Kingdom’s membership of the EU, the laws of the EU take precedence
over the domestic laws, if there arises a conflict. The EU laws are applicable in the
British courts too. However Britain decided to leave the EU by conducting a referendum
and Britain’s exit from the EU is popularly called BREXIT . Britain is finally exiting EU in
January 2020 .
● The British constitution is Written but uncodified constitution
The British constitution doesn’t exist in the form of a single and unified text that has the
status of supreme law of the country . Rather it is a combination of statutory law ,
common law and authoritative interpretations such as judicial interpretations . All these
authoritative legal texts define the powers of the parliament , rights of citizens , legal
arrangements etc. there are widely agreed
SOURCES -
❖ Laws of parliament
❖ Common law and case law
❖ Historical documents
❖ Constitutional conventions

Political institutions of Britain -

PARLIAMENT
Parliament consists of two houses : the House of Commons and House of Lords .members of
house of common are elected through direct universal vote from single-member constituencies
and the other house members consist of hereditary and politically appointed members and
religious leaders . There is parliamentary sovereignty which means the parliament is supreme
which means it has the power to form laws or overturn any law .however By joining the
European Union , the parks are role has become less significant .the European law has its
effects in the country without the need for parliament's approval and it could override Britain’s
law but now Britain has exited from the EU .
In practice, however, the executive branch assumes a more important role. The Prime Minister
and his or her cabinet can initiate any policy or legislation and get it approved in the house, as
the majority of the members of the upper House are from the ruling party and these members
vote along party lines.
EXECUTIVE
the crown invites the leader of the majority party to form the government and be the prime
minister. Pm also selects the members of the cabinet . He needs the support of the majority of
the cabinet for significant decisions . Through a vote of no confidence in the House of Commons
against the government , pm can be checked . Margaret Thatcher tried to marginalise those
cabinet members who didn’t support her . Tony Blair also was skeptical about the cabinet’s
effectiveness as a result of which only few key members and advisers took significant decisions
. He also undermined the cabinet .Under David Cameron cabinet performed its traditional role .
Cabinet works within a core executive and pm is the head of cabinet so his or her office helps
develop policy, coordinates operations, and functions as a liaison with the media, the party,
interest groups, and Parliament .Cabinet committees (comprising ministers) and official
committees (made up of civil servants) supplement the work of the cabinet. The Cabinet Office
supports day-to-day operations. Acting within a context set by the fusion of legislature and
executive, the prime minister enjoys a great opportunity for decisive leadership that is lacking in
a system of checks and balances and separation of powers among the branches of
government.
Bureaucracy and civil service :
The executive is guided by several unelected officials in the process of policy making . The civil
servants conceptualise and refine the legislations . However, the increasing importance of
special advisers (who are both political policy advisers and civil servants) is eroding the
impartiality of civil servants.
Judiciary
In Britain, the principle of parliamentary sovereignty has limited the role of the judiciary. Courts
have no power to judge the constitutionality of legislative acts (judicial review). They can only
determine whether policy directives or administrative acts violate common law or an act of
Parliament. Hence, the British judiciary is generally less politicized and influential than its U.S.
counterpart.

Economy - Britain
After the Second World War the state realised that it is important to rebuild the country’s
economy as reflected from the collectivist consensus . It started controlling crucial industries and
actively intervening in the economy since then . This approach of the state was called
Keynesianism which included features such as -
● Boosting up of demand
● Reducing government spending
● tightening credit and finance to reduce demand
 In the 1970s Britain’s economy was not in a good condition and there was political discontent
among the people . There was a conflict between the workers and the management and this
culminated into the winter of discontent when the trade unions went on strike angered by wage
increases much below the inflation rates.

Then Margaret Thatcher came to power in 1979 and she rejected Keynesianism . After the
coming of Thatcher as UK’s prime minister , monetarism became the new economic doctrine
which limited the state intervention and considered it as undesirable and destabilising . Thatcher
was influenced by the writings of libertarian philosopher Friedrich Hayek and monetarist Milton
Friedman, and she highly valued free market economics. Steps taken by her -
● dealt with the trade unions in a stern manner, and the trade union strikes were not paid
much heed.
● Taxes were lowered and income tax was also deacresed
● Public owned companies was sold
● Governmnet subsidies were reduced
● Introduced New Steps programmes
During this period, the overall rate of growth of Britain had improved, but the gap between the
rich and the poor increased .The Thatcherian model of political-economy is often known as the
‘rolling back of the state because the state intervention was reduced . She moved away from
welfarist state-interventions to a model of pro-rich and pro-business interventions, leading to
concentration of resources in the hands of a few and increasing inequalities.

The Labour governments led by Tony Blair and Gordon Brown had brought in significant
changes to the overall orientation of the Labour Party towards the economy. It offered a third
way , in which the citizens have a claim to assistance only if they took the responsibility of
getting the required education and training. A high skilled labour force, it was argued, would
maintain labour market flexibility and draw investments to Britain. A major focus was on
reducing public debt.

David Cameron, the Conservative leader came to power in 2010 is seen as a towards
the-centre Conservative leader, due to his attempts to cater to various classes. His economic
policies, however, have been in line with the Conservative and Thatcherite legacy of tax-cuts.
While gearing up to a general election to be held in 2015, Cameron has been trying to develop
his support base on the argument that a reduction in public spending together with a balanced
budget will make Britain more ‘responsible’ as a society.

UK is a major place for FDI because of low cost , business friend,y political climate ,
government-sponsored financial incentives, reduced trade union power etc.

Challenges (Eurocentricism)
The discipline of comparative politics faced several challenges due to the limitation within it .
The major issue was that of Eurocentrism which means the focus of studies was mainly on the
experiences of the west and European states and even when the scholars tried to overcome
the limitations they were doing so within the boundary of Eurocentrism . until the 1980s most of
the works in Comparative Politics revolved around the political institutions of American and
some European nations . They were also ignoring the experience of the developing countries in
this process .

The first criticism came by Roy Macridis in 1955 who challenged institutionalism in which the
focus of the discipline was on formal institutions . He argued that comparative politics has
become parochial because it was based on the experience of Western Europe only . Those
studies he argued were descriptive in nature and not analytical . The comparison was also
based on few societies or governments of few societies and hence those works were not
comprehensive in nature .

The comparativists were ignoring the cultural and ideology of third world countries . The
scholars completely denied any significance to the newly decolonised countries’ society and
their culture . They took the cases of the western countries as the point of reference and on the
basis of that studied non western categories . They were basically trying to see the developing
countries from the lens of the west and were totally ignorant of the non west’s unique context .
This bias towards the western civilization, race, culture and presumption of its superiority
denotes ethnocentrism.

After Macridis pointed out the crisis on the discipline , it was responded by the behaviouralist
who tried to make the discipline as value free science .It proposed a framework called the
System’s Analysis that it claimed to be scientific and globally applicable. It was thought that it
could be used to study the system of third world countries but that was not happening . It was
realised that the behavioural approach was also not sensitive and inclusive of the third world
countries .

In the era of developmentalism the focus of the discipline was on modernisation and
development of the newly decolonised countries . However the theories of modernisation was
also based on the western experience such as the theory proposed by W.W. Rostow argued
that in order to modernise the developing countries it is necessary for them to follow the path
taken by the western countries for development . Development at that time was equated with
modernisation and westernisation .

Decency theory was a non western attempt to analyse the world from the perspective of
marginalised nations . However it got outdated because of the problems within it as it tried to
categorize all the third world countries as one ignoring their unique context .Dependency school
failed to catch specific historical traditions and distinctiveness of third world societies.

One of the main challenges of comparative politics is to come out of the ethnocentrism in its
study which is very deeply entrenched i; the discipline and also becoming more sensitive to the
experiences of third world countries especially the marginalised section so that the comparison
can be made meaningful and insightful.

Other challenges came from postmodernism which disapproved of the grand theories which
were the basis of analysis during the developmentalism era in comparative politics . It was
realised that not everything can be answered through these meta narratives . There was a lack
of foundation in the discipline which led to a crisis in the discipline . Postmodernism challenged
the hegemony of the Eurocentric and modernist discourses yielding space to inclusion of
numerous experiences, interpretations and understandings coming from different quarters.

Therefore According to Neera Chandhoke , there should be a localised approach in the study of
comparative politics to bring out the distinctiveness of a particular country by including an entire
range of factors that defines a particular situation . Doing this would avoid arranging societies on
a value laden axis , prevent abstracting the phenomena from their layered contexts and prevent
subordinating events to common factors . Undertake comparative analysis of specific situations
instead of grand comparison . There is a need for comparative politics to move away from being
a sub field to become a self reflective critical venture . Instead of grand unifying theories of
knowledge there should be diversity of thinking within comparative politics .