POL SCI 50 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Tax Rate, Emperor Of Japan, Market Failure
Document Summary
The role of culture in comparative politics exists, as every situation is unique. While culture is interesting, human societies are similar enough in a number of ways such that societies are trying to solve the same problem, i. e. collective action like security, privacy, etc. Nuances occur, but not different enough to merit culture as a significant determinant in comparative politics. Because tradeoffs in government occur, there is no perfect constitution and societies need to make choices dependent on culture. Government has a responsibility to enforce contracts, protect private property, and uphold a legal structure. Without any of these ideas, commerce cannot exist and economies will collapse. Any economy big enough for transactions with strangers, you need government. Market failures, when the free market leads to failures, such as the establishment of public services by private enterprise. Large public investments are only financially feasible through a government, with money gained through foreign aid, taxation, producing goods to be sold on market.
