Methodological Problems of Comparative Analysis of Political Institutions and Processes

Abstract

The article analyzes the methodology of comparative analysis used in political science research. A review of the application of comparative analysis for the study of procedural and institutional aspects. Its suitability for a wide collection of empirical information, its evaluation and generalization is stated. The main problems on which the classical Western political science focuses are highlighted, namely political culture and political socialization, articulation of interests, government structures and political course development, public policy, etc.
The methodology of comparative analysis is based on certain principles of selection of items for comparison. The most common are institutional and functional approaches. The institutional approach is to select similar institutions as a material for comparison, and its purpose is to clarify their normative state and the differences and similarities that arise from it. The functional approach is reduced rather to political reality, to practical activity.
In general, the use of comparative analysis allows to solve certain scientific problems, namely the systematization and generalization of information on different countries; features that cannot be grasped outside the wider context; creation of scientific classifications; verification of hypotheses and obtained data, verification of concepts and theories; overcoming the ethnocentrism of the researcher; prognostication.
The main difficulties of the methodological and methodological plan are described, namely the problem of comparability, the problem of "too many variables – too few cases", the problem of equivalence, the problem of biased selection, the problem of interaction of countries or systems being compared. There are several ways to solve each problem. The introduction of a new methodological orientation – political realism – into political research is advocated.