Foundations of Comparative Politics

Adapted from the groundbreaking bestseller, Principles of Comparative Politics, Third Edition! Foundations of Comparative Politics presents a scientific approach to the rich world of comparative inquiry, research, and scholarship, providing students a guide to cross-national comparison and why it matters to them. This condensed, more accessible format introduces students to the key questions in comparative politics, using brief insights from tools such as decision, social choice, and game theory to help them understand clearly why some explanations for political phenomena are stronger than others. Foundations concentrates on describing the core features of regimes and institutions and on analyzing how these fundamental attributes drive variation in the economic and political outcomes we care about most. This approach more closely replicates what comparative scholars do: constructing and testing theories on political phenomena over basic memorization of country-specific facts—to explain, rather than describe. Illustrated with current examples that show the application of theory, students gain invaluable real-world skills in critical thinking and empirical analysis that they will carry with them long after the course is over.  Give your students the SAGE edge! SAGE edge offers a robust online environment featuring an impressive array of free tools and resources for review, study, and further exploration, keeping both instructors and students on the cutting edge of teaching and learning.

Table of Contents:
Preface About the Authors PART I: What is Comparative Politics? 1: INTRODUCTION Overview of the Book The Approach Taken in This Book Key Concepts 2: WHAT IS SCIENCE? What is Science? The Scientific Method An Introduction to Logic Myths About Science Conclusion Key Concepts 3: WHAT IS POLITICS? The Exit, Voice, and Loyalty (EVL) Theory of Politics What Happens in the EVL Theory? Insights from the EVL Theory Conclusion Key Concepts PART II: The Modern State: Democracy or Dictatorship? 4: THE ORIGINS OF THE MODERN STATE What is a State? Syria: A Failed State How Unusual Is Syria? The Contractarian View of the State The Predatory View of the State Conclusion Key Concepts 5: THE ECONOMIC DETERMINANTS OF DEMOCRACY AND DICTATORSHIP Democracy in Historical Perspective Modernization Theory and Democracy A Variant of Modernization Theory Conclusion Key Concepts 6: THE CULTURAL DETERMINANTS OF DEMOCRACY AND DICTATORSHIP Classical Cultural Arguments: Mill and Montesquieu Does Democracy Require a Civic Culture? Are Some Religions Incompatible with Democracy? Experiments and Culture Conclusion Key Concepts 7: DEMOCRATIC TRANSITIONS Bottom-Up Transitions to Democracy Top-Down Transitions to Democracy Conclusion Key Concepts PART III: Varieties of Democracy and Dictatorship 8: VARIETIES OF DICTATORSHIP A Common Typology of Authoritarian Regimes The Two Fundamental Problems of Authoritarian Rule Selectorate Theory Conclusion Key Concepts 9: PROBLEMS WITH GROUP DECISION MAKING Problems with Group Decision Making Arrow′s Theorem Conclusion Key Concepts 10: PARLIAMENTARY, PRESIDENTIAL, AND SEMI-PRESIDENTIAL DEMOCRACIES Classifying Democracies Governments in Parliamentary Democracies Governments in Presidential Democracies Governments in Semi-Presidential Democracies Conclusion Key Concepts 11: ELECTIONS AND ELECTORAL SYSTEMS Elections and Electoral Integrity Electoral Systems Legislative Electoral System Choice Conclusion Key Concepts 12: SOCIAL CLEAVAGES AND PARTY SYSTEMS Political Parties: What Are They, and What Do They Do? Party Systems Where Do Parties Come From? Types of Political Parties and Social Cleavages Number of Parties: Duverger′s Theory Conclusion Key Concepts 13: INSTITUTIONAL VETO PLAYERS Federalism Bicameralism Constitutionalism Veto Players Conclusion Key Concepts PART IV: Varieties of Democracy and Political Outcomes 14: 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 References Index

About the Author :
William Roberts Clark is head of the Department of Political Science at Texas A&M University and a fellow at the Institute for the Study of Religion at Baylor University. He is the author of Capitalism, Not Globalism, and his articles have appeared in American Political Science Review, Comparative Political Studies, Political Analysis, and European Union Politics, among other journals. He has been teaching at a wide variety of public and private schools (William Paterson College, Rutgers University, Georgia Tech, Princeton, New York University, and the University of Michigan) for more than three decades. Matt Golder was previously assistant professor of political science at Florida State University. He is the author of articles which have appeared in the American Journal of Political Science, British Journal of Political Science, Comparative Political Studies, Electoral Studies, and Political Analysis among other journals. He has taught classes on comparative politics, advanced industrialized democracies, quantitative methods, and European politics at the University of Iowa, Florida State University, and the University of Essex. Sona Nadenichek Golder was previously assistant professor of political science at Florida State University. She is the author of The Logic of Pre-Electoral Coalition Formation, and has published articles in the British Journal of Political Science, Electoral Studies, and European Union Politics. She teaches courses on European politics, democracies and dictatorships, comparative institutions, game theory, and comparative politics at Florida State University and was a Mentor-in-Residence for the 2007 Empirical Implications of Theoretical Models Summer Program at UCLA .