ABSTRACT

Introduction The fields of comparative politics and international politics afford a number of examples of how the application of the theoretical frameworks discussed in chapter 2, particularly those of Masters and Corning, can contribute to the field. Comparative politics has always been concerned with the comparability of structures, processes and behaviour in the context of contemporary nation states. Comparativists have also been concerned with the historical development of the above and the unique contexts in which countries have ‘developed’ (see Apter, 1996). Both comparative and international politics also invite further consideration of the issues surrounding the levels of analysis problem in research, which is discussed at some length in chapter 4. And both fields include the study of elite political behaviour.