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Principles of Comparative Politics
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An introduction to comparative politics should be a window onto the real world of comparative inquiry, research, and scholarship. At last, a groundbreaking text gives students meaningful insight into how cross-national comparison is actually conducted, and why it the enduring questions that scholars grapple with, the issues about which consensus has started to emerge, and the tools comparativists use to get at the complex and interesting problems at the heart of the field.
Beginning with a clear and straightforward discussion of the comparative and scientific methods, each chapter outlines the debates about the political phenomena that drive current research, such as state failure, the economic and cultural determinants of democracy, or the effects of regime type and electoral system.
The authors show students how comparativists construct and test theories, applying the principles of the scientific method and simple game theory to a wide variety of examples and cases. Students won’t get lost in detail they’ll never use or remember and instead learn exactly why the variations across institutional structures and functions are important.
The book’s outstanding pedagogy
An introduction to comparative politics should be a window onto the real world of comparative inquiry, research, and scholarship. At last, a groundbreaking text gives students meaningful insight into how cross-national comparison is actually conducted, and why it the enduring questions that scholars grapple with, the issues about which consensus has started to emerge, and the tools comparativists use to get at the complex and interesting problems at the heart of the field.
Beginning with a clear and straightforward discussion of the comparative and scientific methods, each chapter outlines the debates about the political phenomena that drive current research, such as state failure, the economic and cultural determinants of democracy, or the effects of regime type and electoral system.
The authors show students how comparativists construct and test theories, applying the principles of the scientific method and simple game theory to a wide variety of examples and cases. Students won’t get lost in detail they’ll never use or remember and instead learn exactly why the variations across institutional structures and functions are important.
The book’s outstanding pedagogy
764 pages, Paperback
First published September 10, 2008
48 people are currently reading
231 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
December 13, 2018
One of the better textbooks I have read. Covers just about every topic regarding comparative politics. The book fully explained numerous theories along with analytical frameworks and provided empirical data to push some more than others. Political bias was minimal. Students required to use this text: make use of it.
February 3, 2025
Super long but everything explained in detail. Multiple aspects of politics looked through lenses of rational choice theory. Some topics better explained than others.
Want to read
November 2, 2014I want electronic copy
October 26, 2015
A great reference book on politics, specifically the comparative field. One of its strengths is its freshness: It was published in 2012.
December 14, 2022
i may have skipped a few chapters... but i bet if i didn't it would have prepped me well for the final👍🏼😟
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December 14, 2022I had to read this entire thing for class, so I'm counting it
December 15, 2022
Due to popular demand… I’m back. Once dropped this on my foot and it hurt loads.
April 24, 2023
Solid textbook, clear and learned a lot.
November 17, 2013
I used this book for my comparative politics class. It's very informative but very dense and hard to read continuously.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews