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.
Updates to this edition include a new intuitive take on statistical analyses and a clearer explanation of how to interpret regression results; a thoroughly-revised chapter on culture and democracy that includes a more extensive discussion of cultural modernization theory and a new overview of survey methods for addressing sensitive topics; and a revised chapter on dictatorships that incorporates a principal-agent framework for understanding authoritarian institutions. Examples from the gender and politics literature have been incorporated into various chapters, and empirical examples and data on various types of institutions have been updated. The authors have thoughtfully streamlined chapters to better focus attention on key topics.
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Part I. What Is Comparative Politics?
Chapter 1. Introduction
Overview of the Book
The Approach Taken in This Book
Key Concepts
Chapter 2. What Is Science?
Introduction
What Is Science?
The Scientific Method
An Introduction to Logic
Myths about Science
Conclusion
Key Concepts
Problems
Chapter 3. What Is Politics?
The Exit, Voice, and Loyalty Game
Solving the Exit, Voice, and Loyalty Game
Evaluating the Exit, Voice, and Loyalty Game
Conclusion
Key Concepts
Preparation for the Problems
Problems
Part II. The Modern State: Democracy or Dictatorship?
Chapter 4. The Origins of the Modern State
What Is a State?
Somalia and Syria: Two Failed States
The Contractarian View of the State
The Predatory View of the State
Conclusion
Key Concepts
Preparation for the Problems
Problems
Chapter 5. Democracy and Dictatorship: Conceptualization and Measurement
Democracy and Dictatorship in Historical Perspective
Classifying Democracies and Dictatorships
Conclusion
Key Concepts
Problems
Chapter 6. The Economic Determinants of Democracy and Dictatorship
Classic Modernization Theory
A Variant of Modernization Theory
Some More Empirical Evidence
Conclusion
Key Concepts
Appendix: An Intuitive Take on Statistical Analyses
Problems
Chapter 7. Cultural Determinants of Democracy and Dictatorship
Classical Cultural Arguments: Mill and Montesquieu
Does Democracy Require a Civic Culture?
Religion and Democracy
Experiments and Culture
Conclusion
Key Concepts
Problems
Chapter 8. Democratic Transitions
Bottom-Up Transitions to Democracy
Top-Down Transitions to Democracy
Conclusion
Key Concepts
Problems
Chapter 9. Democracy or Dictatorship: Does it Make a Difference?
The Effect of Regime Type on Economic Growth
The Effect of Regime Type on Government Performance
Conclusion
Key Concepts
Problems
Part III. Varieties of Democracy and Dictatorship
Chapter 10. Varieties of Dictatorship
A Common Typology of Authoritarian Regimes
The Two Fundamental Problems of Authoritarian Rule
Selectorate Theory
Conclusion
Key Concepts
Problems
Chapter 11. Problems with Group Decision Making
Problems with Group Decision Making
Arrow's Theorem
Conclusion
Key Concepts
Problems
APPENDIX: STABILITY IN TWO-DIMENSIONAL MAJORITY-RULE VOTING
Chapter 12. Parliamentary, Presidential, and Semi-Presidential Democracies
Classifying Democracies
Making and Breaking Governments in Parliamentary Democracies
Making and Breaking Governments in Presidential Democracies
Making and Breaking Governments in Semi-Presidential Democracies
A Unifying Framework: Principal-Agent and Delegation Problems
Conclusion
Key Concepts
Problems
Chapter 13. Elections and Electoral Systems
Elections and Electoral Integrity
Electoral Systems
Conclusion
Key Concepts
Problems
Chapter 14. Social Cleavages and Party Systems
Political Parties: What Are They, and What Do They Do?
Party Systems
Where Do Parties Come From?
Types of Parties: Social Cleavages and Political Identity Formation
Number of Parties: Duverger's Theory
Conclusion
Key Concepts
Problems
Chapter 15. Institutional Veto Players
Federalism
Bicameralism
Constitutionalism
Veto Players
Conclusion
Key Concepts
Problems
Part IV. Varieties of Democracy and Political Outcomes
Chapter 16. Consequences of Democratic Institutions
Majoritarian or Consensus Democracy?
The Effect of Political Institutions on Fiscal Policy
Electoral Laws, Federalism, and Ethnic Conflict
Presidentialism and Democratic Survival
Conclusion
Key Concepts
Problems
