Current Debates in Comparative Politics

Designed for introductory courses, Current Debates in Comparative Politics, Second Edition, presents forty-three readings drawn from major magazines and newspapers including: The Economist, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, The New York Times, and The New Statesman. Addressing theoretical, methodological, and practical issues, the selections include scholarly readings that introduce students to key debates in the field along with more informal readings that help students to engage with the material and see how it relates to their daily lives.

An excellent stand-alone text, Current Debates in Comparative Politics, Second Edition, is also a perfect companion to the editors' textbook, Comparative Politics: Integrating Theories, Methods, and Cases, Second Edition (OUP, 2016), as its selections are organized thematically into sixteen sections that correspond to the chapters in the text. Each section includes a short introductory essay and discussion questions that guide students in their reading.

J. Tyler Dickovick is Grigsby Term Associate Professor of Politics at Washington and Lee University.

Jonathan Eastwood is the Laurent Boetsch Term Professor of Sociology at Washington and Lee University.

Preface
Acknowledgments

SECTION 1: CRITICAL THINKING AND THE COMPARATIVE APPROACH

WANT TO BE A BETTER CRITICAL THINKER? HERE'S HOW TO SPOT FALSE NARRATIVES AND 'WEAPONIZED LIES'
Warren Berger, Quartz, February 22, 2017

SCHOLARSHIP AND STATESMANSHIP
Fernando Henrique Cardoso, Journal of Democracy, April 2005

Discussion Questions

SECTION 2: THEORIES, HYPOTHESES, AND EVIDENCE

I'M VERY INTERESTED IN HEARING SOME HALF-BAKED THEORIES
Roberta Foit, The Onion, November 9, 2005

WHAT DO SCIENTIFIC STUDIES SHOW?
Gary Gutting, The New York Times, April 25, 2013

LUNCH WITH THE FT: PHILIP TETLOCK
Robert Armstrong, Financial Times, July 8, 2016

Discussion Questions

SECTION 3: THE MODERN STATE

VENEZUELA ON THE BRINK: A JOURNEY THROUGH A COUNTRY IN CRISIS
Jonathan Watts, the Guardian, October 11, 2016

THE FAILURE OF THE FAILED STATES INDEX
Lionel Beehner and Joseph Young, World Policy Blog, July 17, 2012

LEADER: THE BREAK-UP OF BRITAIN
New Statesman, March 15, 2017

Discussion Questions

SECTION 4: POLITICAL ECONOMY

SOCIAL POLICIES DON'T ALWAYS HELP WOMEN AND MEN EQUALLY: WHICH ONES WORK BEST?
Sidita Kushi and Ian McManus, Monkey Cage, Washington Post, January 10, 2017

PUT GLOBALIZATION TO WORK FOR DEMOCRACIES
Dani Rodrik, New York Times, September 17, 2016

DRAWBRIDGES UP: THE NEW DIVIDE IN RICH COUNTRIES IS NOT BETWEEN LEFT AND RIGHT BUT BETWEEN OPEN AND CLOSED
The Economist, July 30, 2016

SECTION 5: DEVELOPMENT

PROOF THAT LIFE IS GETTING BETTER FOR HUMANITY, IN 5 CHARTS XX
Max Roser, Vox, December 23, 2016

GET READY TO SEE THIS GLOBALIZATION 'ELEPHANT CHART' OVER AND OVER AGAIN: THE NON-WINNERS IN GLOBALIZATION ARE THE WESTERN WORLD'S MIDDLE CLASSES
Luke Kawa, Bloomberg, June 27, 2016

WHAT DATA CAN DO TO FIGHT POVERTY
Annie Duflo and Dean Karlan, New York Times, January 29, 2016

Discussion Questions

SECTION 6: DEMOCRACY AND DEMOCRATIZATION

END-TIMES FOR LIBERAL DEMOCRACY?
Interview of Yascha Mounk by Zachary Laub, Council on Foreign Relations, December 28, 2016

NO, PEOPLE REALLY AREN'T TURNING AWAY FROM DEMOCRACY.
Erik Voeten, Monkey Cage, Washington Post, December 9, 2016

WAS THE 2016 U.S. ELECTION DEMOCRATIC? HERE ARE 7 SERIOUS SHORTFALLS
Dan Slater and Lucan Ahmad Way. Monkey Cage, Washington Post, January 12, 2017

Discussion Questions

SECTION 7: AUTHORITARIANISM

A CONVERSATION WITH LEE KUAN YEW
Fareed Zakaria, Foreign Affairs, March/April 1994

CAN DUTERTE 'POPULISM' BRING LASTING PEACE, DEVELOPMENT?
James Putzel, Inquirer.Net, August 28, 2016

HOW TO LOSE A CONSTITUTIONAL DEMOCRACY
Azia Huq and Tom Ginsburg, Vox, February 21, 2017

Discussion Questions

SECTION 8: CONSTITUTIONS AND CONSTITUTIONAL DESIGN

WHY REFERENDUMS AREN'T AS DEMOCRATIC AS THEY SEEM
Amanda Taub and Max Fisher, New York Times, October 4, 2016.

WHY IS NEPAL'S NEW CONSTITUTION CONTROVERSIAL?
Charles Haviland, BBC News, September 19, 2015

NOW IS NOT THE TIME TO TALK OF FEDERALISM IN SYRIA.
Doris Carrion, Newsweek, March 18, 2016

Discussion Questions

SECTION 9: LEGISLATURES

GETTING MAJORITARIANISM RIGHT
Timothy M. Meisburger, Journal of Democracy, January 2012

GETTING ELECTIONS WRONG
Andrew Reynolds and John M. Carey, Journal of Democracy, January 2012

SIX KEY ISSUES FOR CHINA'S MEETINGS OF THE NATIONAL PEOPLE'S CONGRESS.
Nathan Vanderklippe, Globe and Mail, March 2, 2017

Discussion Questions

SECTION 10: EXECUTIVES

THE MERKEL MAGIC: TEN YEARS AND STILL GOING STRONG.
Claire Greenstein and Brandon Tensley, Foreign Affairs, November 27, 2015

WHY RUSSIANS LIKE VLADIMIR PUTIN'S WARS.
Erik C. Nisbet and Elizabeth Stoycheff. Washington Post, September 13, 2016

Discussion Questions

SECTION 11: INTEREST GROUPS, POLITICAL PARTIES, AND PARTY SYSTEMS

SPLITTERS: TOO MANY PARTIES CAN SPOIL POLITICS.
The Economist, January 12, 2017

THIS IS HOW KENYANS WANT THEIR DEMOCRACY TO WORK.
Leonardo R. Arriola, Donghyun Danny Choi, and Victor Rateng, Monkey Cage, Washington Post, October 15, 2016

Discussion Questions

SECTION 12: REVOLUTIONS AND CONTENTION

TURKEY'S BAFFLING COUP
Dani Rodrik, Project Syndicate, July 17, 2016

SOUTH KOREA'S CANDLELIGHT PROTESTS AS A PEACEFUL FORCE.
Sun-Chul Kim, Asia Times, February 12, 2017

APP-POWERED PROTESTS PUT DEMOCRACY IN PERIL
Bessma Momani, Toronto Star, August 12, 2013

Discussion Questions

SECTION 13: NATIONALISM AND ETHNO-NATIONAL CONFLICT

HERE'S WHAT CONGO CAN TEACH THE WORLD ABOUT PEACE
Severine Autesserre, Monkey Cage, Washington Post, October 19, 2016

CONFLICTS WITHOUT BORDERS
Stefan Wolff, The National Interest, April 25, 2008

Discussion Questions

SECTION 14: GENDER, RACE, AND ETHNICITY

IS EUROPE READY FOR NON-EUROPEAN MIGRANTS?
Tom Turner and Christine Cross, The Irish Times, November 3, 2015

PROMOTING WOMEN'S POLITICAL REPRESENTATION OVERSEAS
Sarah Bush, Scholars Strategy Network, January 2013

HERE'S HOW ATTENTION TO GENDER AFFECTED COLOMBIA'S PEACE PROCESS. XX
Roxanne Krystalli and Kimberly Theidon. Monkey Cage, Washington Post, October 9, 2016

Discussion Questions

SECTION 15: RELIGION, IDEOLOGY, AND POLITICS

HOW FRENCH SECULARISM BECAME FUNDAMENTALIST.
Robert Zaretsky, Foreign Policy, April 7, 2016

THE FUTURE OF HISTORY: CAN LIBERAL DEMOCRACY SURVIVE THE DECLINE OF THE MIDDLE CLASS? XX
Francis Fukuyama, Foreign Affairs, January/February 2012

Discussion Questions

SECTION 16: COMPARATIVE POLITICS AND INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

CLIMATE CHANGE AND THE GRIM LOGIC OF COLLECTIVE ACTION
Joseph Heath, Toronto Star, December 20, 2015

HUMAN MIGRATION WILL BE A DEFINING ISSUE OF THIS CENTURY. HOW BEST TO COPE?
Alexander Betts, The Guardian, September 20, 2015

PEACE IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY?
Bruce Russett, Current History, January 2010

Discussion Questions

Index