comparative politics

Second Essay

Comparing Political Authorities

In this paper you will choose two of our case countries (U.K., Germany, Russia, China, Nigeria, Iran, Brazil). Using the horizontal distribution of authority, compare the countries’ political systems. How separated or concentrated is authority distributed? What kind of system is it (presidential or parliamentary)? What kind of party system is there? Once you have presented the general facts regarding your cases, you will choose a specific aspect of the political system and compare the two countries. Do you believe each country has a distribution of authority which makes sense for that country? Why or why not? What are the process values in your cases like, can most citizens play an active role in politics or is the political realm controlled by elites?

The paper should answer the following questions:

· How do the political arrangements in your countries contribute or detract from the level of democracy?

· What specific criteria have you chosen to compare the countries? Why?

· Are your cases presidential or parliamentary? What kinds of party systems do they have?

· Given the distribution of authority in these countries, what is the impact on citizens? How are citizens able to impact the political process?

You should choose a specific aspect of the political authority in your countries to analyze the distribution of authority and present an argument concerning why you believe this specific criteria relevant in comparing or contrasting your case countries. Examples of criteria to consider are: voter turnout, turnover, types of political parties, terms of office, election cycles, coalition governance, among others that you may select based on your own analysis. Use at least two outside sources other than the text (a list of comparative research websites is available via Blackboard, the external links folder)

Technical Instructions:

Your paper should be 5-7 pages long, double spaced in Times New Roman 12 point font with page number centered at the bottom of the page. Include a title on the first line and your name on the second, centered on the first page at the top of the page. Begin your paper on this same page, 4 carriage returns after your title. Citations should be internal to the text in parentheses (Author PubYear) format. Include page numbers after the publication year as follows (Freiner 2011, 1).