Synopses & Reviews
Comparative Politics: A Global Introduction presents a uniquely comprehensive approach 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 they need to understand the complexities of todays political world. Part I enhances critical thinking skills by 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 many 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 introductory-level students how to think about politics for themselves, logically and systematically.
About the Author
Michael Joseph Sodaro is the principal author and editor of "Comparative Politics: A Global Introduction". As Professor Political Science and International Affairs at the George Washington University he is a member of the Institute for European, Russian and Eurasion Studies at George Washington's Elliott School of International Affairs. He has a BA from Fordham Univeristy,and MA from the School of Advanced International Studies of the Johns Hopkins University, and a Ph.D. from Columbia University. He earned a cerficate at the Institut d'Etudes Politiques in Paris and has conducted research in France, Germany, Italy, and Russia. He is the reciepient of the Marshall Shulman prize for his book, "Moscow, Germany and the West from Khrushchev to Gorbachev" (Cornewll, 1990) and the Oscar and Shoshana Trachtenberg prize for excellence in teaching at George Washington.
Table of Contents
Part One. Concepts and Critical Thinking 1. Comparative Politics: What Is It? Why Study It? 2. Major Topics of Comparative Politics 3. Critical Thinking about Politics: Analytical Techniques of Political Science - The Logic of Hypothesis Testing 4. Power 5. The State and Its Institutions 6. States and Nations: Nationalism-Nation Building- Supranationalism 7. Democracy: What Is It? 8. Democracy: How Does It Work? State Institutions and Electoral Systems 9. Democracy: What Does It Take? Ten Conditions 10. Conditions for Democracy in Afghanistan and Iraq 11. People and Politics: Participation in Democracies and Nondemocracies 12. Political Culture 13. Ideology 14. Political Economy: Laissez-Faire–Central Planning– Mixed Economies–Welfare States 15. The Politics of Development
Part Two. Countries and Leaders 16. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland 17. France 18. Germany 19. Japan, Dean W. Collinwood 20. Russia 21. China, Bruce J. Dickson 22. Mexico and Brazil, Joseph L. Klesner 23. Nigeria and South Africa, Timothy D. Sisk