Literature Review

Literature review is an integrated analysis and synthesis of scholarly articles

related to the topics or issues included in your paper. It critically describes,
summarizes, and evaluates updated information from learning sources. The following
figure shows the kinds of learning sources.

Before writing a literature review, it is very significant to pick a topic that you
find compelling and is relevant to the course. The topic should be relatively narrow,
not broad, so that it does not overwhelm the writer. It is also imperative to find relevant
literature, use keywords or phrases closely associated with the topic. Search with one
or two phrases enclosed by quotation marks (“Edsa Revolution”, “Edsa Revolution
economic impact”, “Edsa Revolution economy”).

Moreover, evaluating Literature is deemed essential in determining which ones

seem to make the most important contributions to the scholarship on the topic. Hence,
such move is very helpful in organizing the material later when composing the review.
The next figure will help you understand on how to evaluate the literature.

Organizing a Literature Review 5

Literature review is organized into three parts:

1. Introduction defines and identifies the topic by establishing the reason/s for the
literature review. It explains the criteria used in analyzing and comparing articles
and points to general trends in what has been published about the topic

2. Body. This part groups articles into thematic clusters, or subtopics and proceeds
in a logical order from cluster to cluster. Moreover, it emphasizes the main
findings or arguments of the articles in the student’s own words and keeps
quotations from sources to an absolute minimum.

3. End. Summarizes the major themes that emerged in the review and identifies
areas of controversy in the literature. It pinpoints strengths and weaknesses
among the articles and provides some insight into the relationship between that
topic and the larger field of study or discipline.

Structure of a Literature Review

Chronological Grouping

---means to group the material according to when it was published or the time period
the material addressed a certain issue.

Thematic Grouping

---means sections might be organized around particular subthemes within the

essay’s topic

Activity 1. Examine how the Literature Review is written based on the

standards and guidelines you learned from the lesson. Write your
answer below.

The study of democracy and democratization has dominated the field of

comparative politics. Scholars have varied in their approach on how to define and
measure democracy; however, the most recognized definition of democracy belongs
to Schumpeter (1976) which states that democracy “is that institutional arrangement
for arriving at political decisions in which individual’s acquire the power to decide by
means of a competitive struggle for the people’s vote.” Dahl’s (1971) notion of
democracy poses an ideal form of the government, unachievable by today’s
standards. In sun defining democracy, although important, presents a variety of
challenges.

Various measures of democracy have been posited by scholars Przeworski,

Alverez, Cheibud, and Limongi (2000) argue that democracy is a dichotomous
variable, existing only if (1) a chief executive is elected; (2) the legislative is elected;
(3) there is more than one political party; and (4) a change in power has occurred.
Other scholars, however, asserts that universal and equal suffrage are essential in
the conceptualization of democracy (Rueschemeyer, Stephens, and Stephens
1992). This dichotomous notion of democracy, although useful in distinguishing
countries from authoritarian regimes, ignores the transitionary nature of democratic
governance (Lipset 2006). Marshall and Jagger’s (2003) Polity IV measure consider
the progressive nature of democracy, while other scholars utilize a measure od
democratic political rights (Freedom House 2005). The choice of measure, however,
strictly depends on the questions being asked.

Source: https://people.unica.it/fulvioventurino/files/2018/06/ISHIYAMA_2012_Comparative-
politics_Principles-of-democracy-and-democratization.pdf