Introduction To Comparative Politics

This accessible introduction to comparative politics offers a fresh, state-centered perspective on the fundamentals of political science.

Written by a distinguished group of comparativists, this innovative and accessible introductory text surveys 12 key countries organized according to their level of political development: established democracies, transitional democracies, and non-democracies. The country studies illuminate four comparative themes in a global context: the world of states, examining the interaction of states within the international order; governing the economy, covering the role of the state in economic management; the democratic idea, discussing the pressure for more democracy and the challenges of democratization; and the politics of collective identities, studying the political impact of diverse attachments and sources of group identity.

This revised and updated edition of a core textbook – one of the most well-established texts in the field of comparative politics – offers a comprehensive introduction to the comparison of governments and political systems, helping students to understand not just the institutions and political cultures of their own countries but also those of a wide range of democracies and authoritarian regimes from around the world. The book opens with an overview of key theories and methods for studying comparative politics and moves on to a study of major institutions and themes, such as the state, constitutions and courts, elections, voters, interest groups and political economy. In addition, two common threads run throughout the chapters in this edition – the reversal of democracy and declining trust in government – ensuring that the book fully accounts for the rapid developments in politics that have taken place across the world in recent times. Written by a team of experienced textbook authors and featuring a range of engaging learning features, this book is an essential text for undergraduate and postgraduate courses on comparative politics, comparative government, introduction to politics and introduction to political science. New to this Edition: - New and extended coverage of important topics such as authoritarian states, identities, ethnicity and political violence - A brand new chapter on political economy - An engaging new page design, in full colour for the first time - An enhanced companion website, now providing an extensive testbank of questions for lecturers - Publishing alongside John McCormick's new book on Cases in Comparative Government and Politics (October 2019), which offers more detailed coverage of the cases covered in this text.

This brief, lively, and well-written textbook is intended for upper-level classes on comparative politics where several small studies are used instead of one large text. Appropriate course titles are Introduction to Comparative Politics, Politics of Developing Areas, World Politics, and Comparative Development, all found in the political science department. The book is designed to motivate student interest by focusing on current trends, issues, and controversies. It introduces students to the field, traces the history and development of comparative politics, assesses the newer approaches to the field in sequential and systematic fashion, and takes account of recent events.

Why do we compare nations? How do we compare nations? What are the 'big issues' in comparative politics? Issues and Methods in Comparative Politics provides students with the answers to these fundamental questions. It is an accessible and user-friendly text which explores the strategies of comparative research in political science. This book has been designed to make a complex subject easy and accessible to students. Features of this textbook include: * briefing boxes located throughout which explain key concepts and ideas * suggestions for further reading at the end of each chapter * a glossary of terms.

Political science textbook on comparative politics, political power and revolution - discusses political theories, origins of governments, ways of maintaining power, political systems, political development, communication, interest groups, political partys, political participation, elections, political leadership, bureaucracy, political problems, etc. References.

This is a uniquely comprehensive introduction to the study of politics in a variety of countries. Part I surveys the core topics of comparative politics and equips students with the concepts and analytical methods needed to understand the complexities of today's political world, explaining in a step-by-step fashion how the basic techniques of the scientific method, such as qualitative hypothesis testing, can be used to understand political realities. Part II provides in-depth studies of a number of major countries, using the concepts and analytical techniques introduced in Part I. By combining rich conceptualization, analytical methods, and extensive coverage of a diversity of countries, this engaging text teaches students how to think for themselves about politics, logically and systematically.

Building on the strengths of the third edition, this highly regarded textbook continues to provide the best introduction to the strategies of comparative research in political science. Divided into three parts, the book begins by examining different methods, applying these methods to dominant issues in comparative politics using a wealth of topical examples from around the world, and then discusses the new challenges in the area. This thoroughly revised and updated edition features: Additional contemporary case studies including the democratisation of technology and the Arab Spring; Detailed discussion of regression analysis and diffusion; More analysis of justice, inequality, and compliance; Reflection on new methods and treatments of contemporary comparative politics. Balancing reader friendly features with high quality analysis makes this popular academic text is essential reading for everyone interested in comparative politics and research methods.

Principles of Comparative Politics offers the most comprehensive and up-to-date introduction to comparative inquiry, research, and scholarship. In this thoroughly revised Third Edition, students now have an even better guide to cross-national comparison and why it matters. The new edition retains a focus on the enduring questions with which scholars grapple, the issues about which consensus has started to emerge, and the tools comparativists use to get at the complex problems in the field. Among other things, the updates to this edition include a thoroughly-revised chapter on dictatorships that incorporates a discussion of the two fundamental problems of authoritarian rule: authoritarian power-sharing and authoritarian control; a revised chapter on culture and democracy that includes a more extensive examination of cultural modernization theory and a new overview of survey methods for addressing sensitive topics; a new section on issues related to electoral integrity; an expanded assessment of different forms of representation; and a new intuitive take on statistical analyses that provides a clearer explanation of how to interpret regression results. Examples from the gender and politics literature have been incorporated into various chapters, the Problems sections at the end of each chapter have been expanded, a! nd the empirical examples and data on various types of institutions have been updated. Online videos and tutorials are available to address some of the more methodological components discussed in the book. The authors have thoughtfully streamlined chapters to better focus attention on key topics.

For Introducing Comparative Politics: The Essentials, the driving force is the pluralist, objective stance on introducing students to core concepts in Comparative Politics. Authors Stephen Orvis and Carol Ann Drogus introduce key comparative questions while providing equal strengths and weaknesses of commonly debated theories, structures, and beliefs that push students beyond memorization of country profiles and ever-changing statistics and generate in-class debate over key concepts used in the science of comparative politics. While detailed case studies can go in-depth on specific countries and political systems, Introducing Comparative Politics: The Essentials, distills its country material into paragraph-long examples woven seamlessly into the narrative of the text, increasing diverse global awareness, current-event literacy, and critical-thinking skills.

Organized thematically around important questions in comparative politics, Introducing Comparative Politics, Fourth Edition by Stephen Orvis and Carol Ann Drogus integrates a set of extended case studies of 11 core countries into the narrative. Serving as touchstones, the cases are set in chapters where they make the most sense topically—not separated from theory or in a separate volume—and vividly illustrate issues in cross-national context. The book’s organization allows instructors flexibility and gives students a more accurate sense of comparative study. In this edition, a brand new chapter on Contentious Politics covers ethnic fragmentation, social movements, civil war, revolutions, and political violence. New case studies on this topic include the Occupy and Tea Party movements in the US; Zapatista rebellion in Mexico; Boko Haram in Nigeria; and; and revolutions in China and Iran. The chapter on States and Identity has been substantially revised to better introduce students to the concept of identity and how countries handle identity-based demands. Case studies include nationalism in Germany; ethnicity in Nigeria; religion in India; race in the US; gender in Iran; and sexual orientation in Brazil. Content on states and markets, political economy, globalization, and development has all been consolidated into a new Part III of the book, focusing in a sustained way on economic issues.

"Introduction to Comparative Politics offers accessible material for an introductory comparative politics course. Edited by a highly respected team of scholars, each of the text' s twelve country studies is written by an expert in the field. Four innovative themes, each with a specific focus, form the framework of the text: "The World of States, "Governing the Economy, "The Democratic Idea, and "The Politics of Collective Identities.A classification system focuses on levels of democracy, including established, transitional, and non-democracies.A chapter on the United States follows the same lines of comparison as those on other countries.Every chapter includes four to six sidebars, which focus on different subjects, including leaders, citizen action, institutional intricacies, current challenges, and global connections.

This is a new introductory textbook on comparative politics and government, providing students with a guide to the literature and a new approach to the subject.

The classic introduction to political science and comparative politics has been comprehensively updated for this new edition. Retaining the clarity of expression and breadth of coverage that has made it the introduction of choice for generations of students, it provides a lively and up-to-date account of the events and forces shaping politics in today's interconnected world. The new edition includes separate chapters on theoretical approaches and research strategies in political science as well as increased coverage of security, media, culture, law and regulation. Carefully designed learning features illustrate the text throughout. These include: • full-page Profiles on individual countries and the European Union, with associated Spotlights linked to each chapter • on-page glossary definitions for key terms and timelines of key events • guides to additional learning resources for each chapter • a companion website providing additional resources and activities

This is an immensely helpful book for students starting their own research... an excellent introduction to the comparative method giving an authoritative overview over the research process - Klaus Armingeon, University of Bern Doing Research in Political Science is the book for mastering the comparative method in all the social sciences - Jan-Erik Lane, University of Geneva This book has established itself as a concise and well-readable text on comparative methods and statistics in political science I...strongly recommend it. - Dirk Berg-Schlosser, Philipps-University Marburg This thoroughly revised edition of the popular textbook offers an accessible but comprehensive introduction to comparative research methods and statistics for students of political science. Clearly organized around three parts, the text introduces the main theories and methodologies used in the discipline. Part 1 frames the comparative approach within the methodological framework of the political and social sciences. Part 2 introduces basic descriptive and inferential statistical methods as well as more advanced multivariate methods used in quantitative political analysis. Part 3 applies the methods and techniques of Parts 1 & 2 to research questions drawn from contemporary themes and issues in political science. Incorporating practice exercises, ideas for further reading and summary questions throughout, Doing Research in Political Science provides an invaluable step-by-step guide for students and researchers in political science, comparative politics and empirical political analysis.

This systematic, user friendly, and refreshingly unusual introduction to comparative politics has not only been updated and refined in the third edition, but also fully revised to reflect the impact of major new developments in world politics. Designed to teach students how to think comparatively and theoretically about the world they live in, the book is organized around a set of critical questions¿why are poor countries poor? why is East Asia relatively prosperous? what makes a democracy? how can we explain terrorism and genocide? what leads people to mobilize around a cause?¿each the topic of a full chapter. These issue chapters are based on the solid methodological and theoretical foundation laid out in the first part of the book, and the entire text is enhanced with case studies and graphics. Timothy C. Lim is professor of political science at California State University, Los Angeles.