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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 matters: 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 includes:

• Chapter opener overviews to summarize key points from the text;
• Bolded key terms and a marginal glossary to help students identify and manage concepts;
• Rich and comprehensive data, helpfully schematized in more than 250 tables and figures;
• An excellent photo and map program to highlight the book’s thematic and substantive goals;
• End of chapter lists of key concepts, with page references;
• End of chapter problem sets of 5-10 problems each to help students work through the comparative puzzles and game theory examples;
• A comprehensive bibliography;
• Appendix materials to support chapter problems as well as encourage further research.

Preface
List of Tables, Figures, and Boxes
List of Maps

Chapter 1. Introduction
Overview of the Book
The Approach of this Book
Key Concepts

Chapter 2. What is Science?
Introduction
The Comparative Method
An Introduction to Logic
Science and Falsificationism
Conclusion
Key Concepts
Exercises

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
Exercises

Chapter 4. The Origins of the Modern State
What is a State?
The Contractarian View of the State
The Predatory View of the State
Conclusion
Key Concepts
Exercises

Chapter 5. Conceptualizing and Measuring Democracy
Democracy and Dictatorship in Historical Perspective
Classifying Democracies and Dictatorships
Conclusion
Key Concepts
Exercises

Chapter 6. The Economic Determinants of Democracy
Classic Modernization Theory
A Variant of Modernization Theory
Some More Empirical Evidence
Conclusion
Key Concepts
Exercises

Chapter 7. Cultural Determinants of Democracy
Classical Cultural Arguments: Mill and Montesquieu
Does Democracy Require a Civic Culture?
Religion and Democracy
Experiments and Culture
Conclusion
Key Concepts
Exercises

Chapter 8. Democratic Transitions
Bottom-Up Transitions to Democracy
Top-Down Transitions to Democracy
Conclusion
Key Concepts
Exercises

Chapter 9. Does Democracy Make a Difference?
Introduction
The Effect of Regime Type on Government Performance
Selectorate Theory
Conclusion
Key Concepts
Exercises

Chapter 10. Group Decision-Making and Democracy
Condorcet's Paradox
Median Voter Theorem
Arrow's Theorem
Varieties of Democratic Institutions
Key Concepts
Exercises

Chapter 11. Parliamentary, Presidential, and Mixed Democracies: Making and Breaking Governments
Introduction
Classifying Parliamentary, Presidential, and Mixed Democracies
Making and Breaking Governments: Parliamentary Democracies
Making and Breaking Governments: Presidential Democracies
Making and Breaking Governments: Mixed Democracies
Conclusion
Key Concepts
Exercises

Chapter 12. Elections and Electoral Systems
Introduction
Elections: An Overview
Proportional Electoral Systems
Mixed Electoral Systems
An Overview of Electoral Systems around the World
Conclusion
Key Concepts
Exercises

Chapter 13. Social Cleavages and Party Systems
Political Parties: What are they and what do
Party Systems
Where do Parties Come From?
Types of Parties: Social Cleavages and Political Identity Formation
Number of Parties: Duverger’s Theory
Conclusion

Chapter 14. Institutional Veto Players
Federalism
Bicameralism
Judicial Review
Veto Player Theory
Conclusion
Key Concepts
Exercises

Chapter 15. The Effect of Varieties of Democracy
Representation
Economic Performance
Ethnic Conflict
Democratic Survival
Conclusion
Key Concepts
Exercises

Bibliography
Glossary
Appendix
Index

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