Adapted from the groundbreakingPrinciples of Comparative Politics, now in its third edition Foundations of Comparative Politics presents a scientific approach to the rich world of comparative inquiry, research, and scholarship, providing students a guide to cross-national comparison and why it matters to them.

Adapted from the groundbreaking bestsellerPrinciples of Comparative Politics, Third Edition!

Foundations of Comparative Politics presents a scientific approach to the rich world of comparative inquiry, research, and scholarship, providing students a guide to cross-national comparison and why it matters to them. This condensed, more accessible format introduces students to the key questions in comparative politics, using brief insights from tools such as decision, social choice, and game theory to help them understand clearly why some explanations for political phenomena are stronger than others. Foundations concentrates on describing the core features of regimes and institutions and on analyzing how these fundamental attributes drive variation in the economic and political outcomes we care about most. This approach more closely replicates what comparative scholars do: constructing and testing theories on political phenomena over basic memorization of country-specific facts—to explain, rather than describe. Illustrated with current examples that show the application of theory, students gain invaluable real-world skills in critical thinking and empirical analysis that they will carry with them long after the course is over. 

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Preface
About the Authors
PART I: What is Comparative Politics?
1: INTRODUCTION
Overview of the Book
The Approach Taken in This Book
Key Concepts
2: WHAT IS SCIENCE?
What is Science?
The Scientific Method
An Introduction to Logic
Myths About Science
Conclusion
Key Concepts
3: WHAT IS POLITICS?
The Exit, Voice, and Loyalty (EVL) Theory of Politics
What Happens in the EVL Theory?
Insights from the EVL Theory
Conclusion
Key Concepts
PART II: The Modern State: Democracy or Dictatorship?
4: THE ORIGINS OF THE MODERN STATE
What is a State?
Syria: A Failed State
How Unusual Is Syria?
The Contractarian View of the State
The Predatory View of the State
Conclusion
Key Concepts
5: THE ECONOMIC DETERMINANTS OF DEMOCRACY AND DICTATORSHIP
Democracy in Historical Perspective
Modernization Theory and Democracy
A Variant of Modernization Theory
Conclusion
Key Concepts
6: THE CULTURAL DETERMINANTS OF DEMOCRACY AND DICTATORSHIP
Classical Cultural Arguments: Mill and Montesquieu
Does Democracy Require a Civic Culture?
Are Some Religions Incompatible with Democracy?
Experiments and Culture
Conclusion
Key Concepts
7: DEMOCRATIC TRANSITIONS
Bottom-Up Transitions to Democracy
Top-Down Transitions to Democracy
Conclusion
Key Concepts
PART III: Varieties of Democracy and Dictatorship
8: VARIETIES OF DICTATORSHIP
A Common Typology of Authoritarian Regimes
The Two Fundamental Problems of Authoritarian Rule
Selectorate Theory
Conclusion
Key Concepts
9: PROBLEMS WITH GROUP DECISION MAKING
Problems with Group Decision Making
Arrow′s Theorem
Conclusion
Key Concepts
10: PARLIAMENTARY, PRESIDENTIAL, AND SEMI-PRESIDENTIAL DEMOCRACIES
Classifying Democracies
Governments in Parliamentary Democracies
Governments in Presidential Democracies
Governments in Semi-Presidential Democracies
Conclusion
Key Concepts
11: ELECTIONS AND ELECTORAL SYSTEMS
Elections and Electoral Integrity
Electoral Systems
Legislative Electoral System Choice
Conclusion
Key Concepts
12: SOCIAL CLEAVAGES AND PARTY SYSTEMS
Political Parties: What Are They, and What Do They Do?
Party Systems
Where Do Parties Come From?
Types of Political Parties and Social Cleavages
Number of Parties: Duverger′s Theory
Conclusion
Key Concepts
13: INSTITUTIONAL VETO PLAYERS
Federalism
Bicameralism
Constitutionalism
Veto Players
Conclusion
Key Concepts
PART IV: Varieties of Democracy and Political Outcomes
14: CONSEQUENCES OF DEMOCRATIC INSTITUTIONS
Majoritarian or Consensus Democracy?
The Effect of Political Institutions on Fiscal Policy
Electoral laws, Federalism, and Ethnic Conflict
Presidentialism and Democratic Survival
Conclusion
Key Concepts
References
Index