Concepts and Issues in Comparative Politics

Compact and jargon-free, this book focuses on the major issues and themes of comparative politics. It limits its focus to ten major countries so readers won't be overwhelmed by excessive details. Democratization and globalization. Political issues and changes in developing countries. Alternative institutional frameworks. The effects of socioeconomic cleavages. Non-western cultures and values. Electoral systems. New directions in comparative research. For anyone wanting a readable introduction to comparative politics and a broader understanding of world politics.

Preface

xi

PART I Background to Comparative Politics

1

(54)

The Study of Comparative Politics

2

(14)

What Is Comparative Politics?

3

(4)

The Comparative Method

3

(1)

Approaches to the Study of Comparative Politics

4

(3)

An Introduction to the Vocabulary of Comparative Politics

7

(7)

Power and Authority

7

(1)

Legitimacy

8

(1)

The Sovereign State

9

(2)

Democracy

11

(3)

Conclusion

14

(1)

Notes

14

(2)

The Background to Politics

16

(14)

The Impact of History on Politics

16

(6)

The Political Legacy of History

17

(3)

Shaping History: A Means of Contemporary Politics

20

(1)

Historical Approaches to the Study of Comparative Politics

20

(2)

Political Culture

22

(5)

Political Culture and Political Stability

24

(1)

The Acquisition of Political Values

25

(1)

Culture Shifts

26

(1)

Geography

27

(1)

Conclusion

28

(1)

Notes

29

(1)

Society and Politics

30

(25)

Economic Influences on Politics

30

(10)

Politics and Types of Economic Systems

31

(2)

From the Postwar Consensus to a Neoliberal Agenda

33

(3)

Politics and the Level of Economic Development

36

(3)

Economics and Democracy

39

(1)

Social Cleavages and Politics

40

(12)

Socioeconomic Cleavages

41

(4)

Ethnic Cleavages

45

(3)

Religious Cleavages

48

(1)

Regional Cleavages

48

(1)

The Political Relevance of Social Cleavages

49

(3)

Conclusion

52

(1)

Notes

53

(2)

PART II Political Actors

55

(98)

The Citizen in Politics

57

(21)

Individuals and Politics

59

(10)

Who Participates in Politics

59

(1)

Forms of Political Participation

60

(3)

Voting

63

(1)

Electoral Systems

64

(4)

Referndums

68

(1)

Women in Politics

69

(4)

Political Participation and Political Stability

73

(2)

Conclusion

75

(1)

Notes

76

(2)

Political Parties

78

(27)

Parties in Advanced Democracies

79

(9)

Ideological ``Families''

79

(2)

Party Organization in Advanced Democracies

81

(2)

Parties and Government in Advanced Democracies

83

(1)

Parties and Democracy

84

(4)

Political Parties and Democratization

88

(9)

Political Party Building in Russia

88

(3)

Mexico: Opening Up the Party System

91

(3)

Generals Breaking and Making Parties: Nigeria

94

(2)

Political Party Institutionalization

96

(1)

Parties in the Developing Setting

97

(6)

Multiparty Democracies

97

(2)

Single or Dominant Party States

99

(1)

Political Clientelism

100

(2)

Parties and Stability in the Third World

102

(1)

Parties and Politics

103

(1)

Conclusion

103

(1)

Notes

104

(1)

Groups and Politics

105

(18)

Types of Interest Groups

106

(4)

Occupation-Based Interest Groups

106

(3)

Advocacy Groups

109

(1)

Community Action Groups

110

(1)

Bases of Interest Group Political Strength

110

(6)

Autonomy from the State

110

(3)

Strength of the State

113

(2)

Organizational Strength of Interest Groups

115

(1)

The Shared Powers of Groups and Governments

116

(2)

New Social Movements

118

(1)

The Civil Society

119

(2)

Conclusion

121

(1)

Notes

121

(2)

Political Elites

123

(15)

Recruitment of Political Elites

124

(3)

Who Gets Recruited?

127

(2)

Elite Styles

129

(4)

Legitimacy

129

(1)

Political Style of Leadership

130

(2)

Open and Closed Elites

132

(1)

Succession Politics

133

(3)

Conclusion

136

(1)

Notes

137

(1)

The Military and Politics

138

(15)

The Range of Military Political Action

140

(4)

The Military under Civilian Rule

140

(2)

Praetorianism

142

(1)

Military Rule

143

(1)

When and Why the Military Intervenes

144

(3)

Internal Characteristics of the Military That Predispose It to Political Intervention

144

(1)

Motives for Intervention

145

(1)

Triggering of Coups

146

(1)

When the Military Rules

147

(2)

Political Forms

147

(1)

The Military and Modernization

148

(1)

Human Rights under Military Regimes

149

(1)

Back to the Barracks

149

(2)

Conclusion

151

(1)

Notes

151

(2)

PART III Government Decision Making

153

(30)

Political Frameworks

154

(17)

Constitutions and Constitutionalism

155

(1)

Horizontal Separation of Powers

156

(8)

Presidential and Parliamentary Patterns of Government

156

(5)

Mixed Presidential-Parliamentary Systems

161

(1)

The Advantages and Disadvantages of Parliamentary and Presidential Systems

162

(2)

The Centralized State and Federalism

164

(4)

The Advantages and Disadvantages of Federalism and the Unitary State

165

(2)

Decentralization

167

(1)

Building Democracy through Constitutional Change

168

(1)

Conclusion

169

(1)

Notes

169

(2)

Policy Implementation and Adjudication

171

(12)

The Modern Civil Service

172

(4)

The Ills of Modern Bureaucracy

174

(2)

Political Control of the Bureaucracy

176

(2)

The Courts and Politics

178

(3)

Judicial Review

179

(1)

Constitutional Courts

179

(2)

Conclusion

181

(1)

Notes

182

(1)

PART IV Evaluating Political Performance

183

(38)

Political Performance

184

(18)

How Can We Evaluate Political Performance?

185

(1)

Points of Performance Evaluation

186

(14)

Security Issues

186

(2)

Economic Growth

188

(3)

Social Policies

191

(3)

Education

194

(2)

Environmental Protection

196

(2)

Human Rights

198

(2)

Conclusion

200

(1)

Notes

201

(1)

The Politics of Change

202

(19)

Change, Reform, and Revolution

204

(5)

Reform

204

(3)

Revolution

207

(2)

Democratization

209

(7)

Economics and Democratization

211

(2)

``Third Wave'' Democratization

213

(2)

Alternative Models of Democratization?

215

(1)

Globalization

216

(2)

Conclusion

218

(1)

Notes

218

(3)

Index

221

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Concepts and Issues in Comparative Politics An Introduction to Comparative Analysis

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Concepts and Issues in Comparative Politics An Introduction to Comparative Analysis

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