Principles of Comparative Politics

by Clark, William Roberts

• ISBN13: 9780872892897
• ISBN10: 0872892891
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2008-11-30
• Publisher: Cq Pr

Summary

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.

Table of Contents

Preface

List of Tables, Figures, and Boxes

List of Maps

Introduction

Overview of the Book

The Approach of this Book

Key Concepts

What is Science?

Introduction

The Comparative Method

An Introduction to Logic

Science and Falsificationism

Conclusion

Key Concepts

Exercises

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

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

Conceptualizing and Measuring Democracy

Democracy and Dictatorship in Historical Perspective

Classifying Democracies and Dictatorships

Conclusion

Key Concepts

Exercises

The Economic Determinants of Democracy

Classic Modernization Theory

a Variant of Modernization Theory

Some More Empirical Evidence

Conclusion

Key Concepts

Exercises

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

Democratic Transitions

Bottom-Up Transitions to Democracy

Top-Down Transitions to Democracy

Conclusion

Key Concepts

Exercises

Does Democracy Make a Difference?

Introduction

The Effect of Regime Type on Government Performance

Selectorate Theory

Conclusion

Key Concepts

Exercises

Group Decision-Making and Democracy

Condorcet's Paradox

Median Voter Theorem

Arrow's Theorem

Varieties of Democratic Institutions

Key Concepts

Exercises

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

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

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: DuvergerâÇÖs Theory

Conclusion

Institutional Veto Players

Federalism

Bicameralism

Judicial Review

Veto Player Theory

Conclusion

Key Concepts

Exercises

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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