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.

Giving students a guide to cross-national comparison and why it matters, this new edition focuses on the questions with which scholars grapple, the issues about which consensus has started to emerge, and the tools comparativists use

PART ONE: WHAT IS COMPARATIVE POLITICS?
Introduction
What Is Science?
What Is Politics?
PART TWO: THE MODERN STATE: DEMOCRACY OR DICTATORSHIP?
The Origins of the Modern State
Democracy and Dictatorship: Conceptualization and Measurement
The Economic Determinants of Democracy and Dictatorship
Cultural Determinants of Democracy and Dictatorship
Democratic Transitions
Democracy or Dictatorship: Does it make a Difference?
PART THREE: VARIETIES OF DEMOCRACY AND DICTATORSHIP
Varieties of Dictatorship
Problems with Group Decision Making
Parliamentary, Presidential, and Semi-Presidential Democracies: Making and Breaking Governments
Elections and Electoral Systems
Social Cleavages and Party Systems
Institutional Veto Players
PART FOUR: VARIETIES OF DEMOCRACY AND POLITICAL OUTCOMES
Consequences of Democratic Institutions

The groundbreaking first edition of Principles of Comparative Politics offered the most comprehensive and up-to-date view of the rich world of comparative inquiry, research, and scholarship. Now, this thoroughly revised second edition offers students an even better guide to cross-national comparison and why it matters. The new edition retains its focus on the enduring questions with which scholars grapple, the issues about which consensus has started to emerge, and the tools comparativists use to get at the complex problems in the field. Improving organization and integrating the latest scholarship, important changes include:

- A new "Varieties of Dictatorship" chapter;

- Clearer headers signaling coverage of authoritarian regimes, and new sections highlighting resources on the study of authoritarianism;

- An expanded program of world maps showing key attributes of national political systems;

- Reorganization of the "What is Science?" chapter with a focus on the scientific method and reduced emphasis on Mill's Methods;

- A streamlined "Problems with Group Decision Making" chapter that focuses on government formation and collapse as a principle-agent problem;

- Timely analysis of developments in the Middle East as part of the "Democratic Transitions" chapter including an examination of the use of coordinating devices and differences within the region focusing on outcomes and coalitions;

- Updates for current events, including coverage of late Bush and Obama era policies, war in Somalia, the intervention in Libya, and more.

The book's outstanding pedagogy includes chapter opener overviews, bolded key terms and a marginal glossary, more than 250 tables and figures, numerous photos and maps, end of chapter problem sets, and new works cited and country-specific bibliographies.