The semester keeps chugging right along, so here we are at week 3.  Last week, we discussed the field and the methods of comparative politics, including case selection.  This week, we’ll get into the field itself, defining foundational terms like the state (don’t go misusing the n word!), power, and legitimacy.  It’s important to try to tackle your reading for these terms, as we use them with specific meanings in comparative politics (random google or the dictionary will lead you astray, but our textbook has you covered!).  We’ll also think about what makes a state strong or weak, so you can compare the strength of the states in your case study countries in your Week 3 blog.  After you have read Chapter 3, you may wish to start on the Photo Essay assignment (if you plan on doing it)- you may be surprised by how many examples/illustrations of comparative politics terms you find in your own day-to-day life!  Remember, everything you need to do for each week is listed in our Weekly Work page.

We are off to a bit of a slow start on blogging (myself included- this Monday message is going out at the very end of Monday!) You can see that I’ve left some comments on the posts that have been made already.  These are meant to help you develop in future posts, and not as criticism of you or your writing/thinking!  And if you haven’t gotten to Week 2 blogging yet, please do it as soon as possible!  It’s not too late, as due dates are flexible, but also, we don’t want to leave anyone behind (and I’ll be looking to you all to add to our class discussions with information about your cases- blogging will help you prepare!).  You can see the blog prompts for each week, along with instructions, in our blog instructions document. If you need help getting going with blogging, please email me!