The historical development of comparative politics

Abstract

This article gives an overview of comparative approaches in Political Sci- ence. In the pre-modern era, these were, for the most part, either normatively orientated - with the exception of Machiavelli - or based on evolutionist theories. In general, comparisons were not carried out systematically. In classical modernity, comparisons were conducted as controlled experiments, and comparative politics established itself as a sub-discipline of Political Science. During this time, it was influenced considera- bly by Behaviouralism, in particular in the United States, but other approaches existed in parallel. Subsequently, approaches in comparative politics turned to policy analysis and institutional approaches, the latter having been neglected previously. Post-modern approaches broadened the perspective, but are neither compatible with the idea nor do they meet the idea of a method of controlled comparison.