Covers all the core areas of comparative politics, allowing the book to be used on a variety of modules.

Expert contributors provide a diverse range of perspectives to offer students a full and sophisticated account of the subject.

A whole section is devoted to theories and methods to help students develop a conceptual understanding of comparative politics.

Empirical data and examples from both developing regions and advanced industrial countries are included throughout the book.

Student learning is aided by excellent learning features within the text and a wealth of additional resources provided on the accompanying Online Resource Centre.

New to this edition

The second edition has been fully updated and features more in depth coverage of national identity, nation building and nationalism, democratization, constitutional principles, and party positioning.

Chapter 14: 'Interest associations' has been expanded to include trade unions and networks of decision making.

In light of the global financial crisis concepts of deglobalization and economic nationalism are newly examined in chapter 24: 'Globalization and the nation state'.

Comparative Politics provides an exciting and authoritative introduction to one of the most important fields of political science. International experts explore the methods and theories of comparative politics as well as the institutions, actors, processes, and policies at the heart of political systems around the world. Alongside explanation of the most important themes, students are presented with a wealth of empirical data to demonstrate similarities and differences in practice, and to encourage research. By focusing on industrial and developing countries, together with political bodies and systems above and below the level of the nation state, Comparative Politics provides a fully comprehensive and up-to-date account of the discipline.

The second edition of this successful textbook is also supported by an innovative Online Resource Centre with the following features for students and lecturers:

Student Resources:

Comparative data sets for over 200 countries - files can be used for empirical analysis, essay writing and lab exercises

Web directory of data archives

Country comparator

Review questions and exercises

Flashcard glossary

Country profiles

Instructor Resources:

PowerPoint slides

Test bank

Figures and tables from the book

Readership: First, second and third year undergraduates undertaking a module in comparative politics typically taught as part of a political science degree.

Edited by Daniele Caramani, Professor of Comparative Politics, University of St Gallen, Switzerland

Contributors:

Klaus von Beyme, University of Heidelberg

James Bickerton, St. Francis Xavier University

Paul Brooker, University of Canterbury, New Zealand

Peter Burnell, University of Warwick

Daniele Caramani, University of St. Gallen

Larry Diamond, Stanford University

Roland Erne, University College Dublin

Alain G. Gagnon, Universite du Quebec a Montreal

Michael Gallagher, Trinity College, University of Dublin

Jorgen Goul Andersen, Aalborg University

Simon Hix, London School of Economics

Ronald Inglehart, Michigan University

Richard S. Katz, John Hopkins University

Hans Keman, Free University of Amsterdam

Kees van Kersbergen, University of Aarhus

Herbert Kitschelt, Duke University

Christoph Knill, University of Konstanz

Amie Kreppel, University of Florida

Hanspeter Kriesi, University of Zurich

John Loughlin, Cardiff University

Philip Manow, University of Heidelberg

Wolfgang C. Mueller, University of Vienna

Pippa Norris, Harvard University

B. Guy Peters, University of Pittsburgh

Gianfranco Poggi, University of Trento

Philipp Rehm, Ohio State University

Georg Sorensen, Aarhus University

Alec Stone Sweet, Yale University

Jale Tosun, University of Konstanz

Christian Welzel, Leuphana University