Principles of Comparative PoliticsAn 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&BAD:rsquo;t get lost in detail they&BAD:rsquo;ll never use or remember and instead learn exactly why the variations across institutional structures and functions are important. For more on Principles of Comparative Politics, including pedagogy, instructors resources, and the table of contents, click here. Contending Perspectives in Comparative Politics: A ReaderIn addition to a well-chosen set of classic readings, Contending Perspectives also offers students access to cutting-edge research. By framing chapters around a central question in the field, the editors are able to show students how scholars approach inquiry with different perspectives, producing controversy and consensus in interesting and instructive ways. With these selections, students see work with data, theory, and analysis at its best and set in proper context&BAD:mdash;not pieces chosen just for their currency or for pages of colorful detail. Chapter introductions and selection headnotes offer important background and critical thinking questions. For more on Contending Perspectives, including the table of contents, click here.

About the Author

William Roberts Clark is associate professor of political science at the University of Michigan. 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 over a decade.

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 .

Dennis Patterson areas of specialization include comparative politics (advanced societies), politics of Japan/Asia, comparative political economy, political institutions/election systems, rational choice models of politics, and security in East Asia. He has published numerous articles and book chapters on such topics as elections and electoral influences on policymaking in Japan in journals such as Comparative Political Studies, British Journal of Political Science, World Politics, Women and Politics, and Pacific Focus. He recently published a co-authored book (with Dick Beason) The Japan That Never Was: Explaining the Rise and Decline of a Misunderstood Country and is currently working on a project that examines the politics of election system change in comparative perspective.

Frank Thames is assistant professor of political science at Texas Tech University. His current research focuses on legislative behavior in post-communist legislatures and the economic effects of electoral systems. His journal articles have appeared in Communist and Post-Communist Studies, Demokratizatsiya, Europe-Asia Studies, Social Science Quarterly, and Comparative Political Studies.

Lawrence Mayer is professor of political science at Texas Tech University. His current research interests include party system change, especially in the weakening of mainstream parties of the moderate left and right, and the emergence of populist parties of identity. His published books include: Comparative Politics: Nations and Theories in a Changing World (With Burnett, Ogden, and Tuman), American Public Policy (with Cochran, Carr, and Cayer), Redefining Comparative Politics, Politics in Industrial Societies (with Burnett), and Comparative Political Inquiry: A Methodological Survey. His articles have appeared in Political Science and Politics, Nationalism and Ethnic Politics, Comparative Political Studies, The Western Political Quarterly, Teaching Political Science, and West European Politics.