Comparative Politics

Fifty years ago, Joseph Schumpeter published "Capitalism, Socialism, and Democracy", his classic study of the relationship between political democracy and alternative economic systems. Although Schumpeter's work continues to be widely read,...

The Robust Federation offers a comprehensive approach to the study of federalism. Jenna Bednar demonstrates how complementary institutions maintain and adjust the distribution of authority between national and state governments. These authority...

This book argues that the way in which we use the concept of "state" in many African countries must involve a deeper engagement of the complex workings of state-society relations, rather than a master narrative of European state formation. ...

This book analyzes Israel's leadership from the rise of the Zionist movement to the present. That leadership, Abadi holds, has been declining since David Ben Gurion, the founder and first prime minister of the state, retired from politics. Not only were...

Among the more frequent and most devastating of conflicts, civil wars - from Yugoslavia to Congo - frequently reignite and even spill over into the international sphere. Given the inherent fragility of civil war peace agreements, innovative approaches...

After an introduction by the volume editors, the book offers a look at the complex relationship between nationalism and democracy. The authors then examine the special challenges facing democracy in ethnically divided societies.Book InformationISBN...

Conservative plans for a coalition government, a snap General Election, prime ministers considering whether to resign after an electoral or referendum defeat, and the prospect of Labour and Conservative deals with the Liberals, SNP and Northern Ireland...

This book discusses the framing of referendum campaigns in the news media, focusing particularly on the case of the 2014 Scottish independence referendum. Using a comprehensive content analysis of print and broadcast coverage as well as in-depth...

In the light of NATO's humanitarian war in Kosovo is it possible to understand or explain wars as an outcome of perceptions of rights? How did rights, be they divine rights in the Middle Ages, territorial rights in the eighteenth century, or human...

Many coalition cabinets negotiate lengthy coalition contracts outlining the agenda for the time in office. Not only does negotiating these agreements take up time and resources, but compromises have to be made, which may result in cabinet conflicts and...

During the first half of the twentieth century, movements seeking political equality emerged in France's overseas territories. Within twenty years, they were replaced by movements for national independence in the majority of French colonies,...

China continues to transform apace, flowing from the forces of deregulation, privatization and globalization unleashed by economic reforms which began in late 1978. The dramatic scope of economic change in China is often counterposed to the apparent lack...

Stefano Bartolini argues that, despite the growth of a large theoretical literature about institutions and institutionalism over the last thirty years, the specific nature of political institutions has been relatively neglected. Political institutions...

This book offers a concise and accessible introduction to debates about expertise, policy-making and democracy. It uniquely combines an overview of recent research on the policy role of experts with discussions in political philosophy and the philosophy...

Languages have deep political significance beyond communication: a common language can strengthen cultural bonds and social trust, or it may exacerbate cultural differences and power imbalances. Language regimes that emerge from political bargains can...

This book analyzes and explains the ways in which major developing world cities respond to the challenge of urban violence. The study shows how the political projects that cities launch to confront urban violence are shaped by the interaction between...

During the 1980s, the nature of modern politics in the Caribbean changed in significant ways. New themes came to dominate political debate in the region, notably the emphasis on "democracy" as a political mechanism, "structural adjustment" on the...

Why do governments turn to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and with what effects? This book argues that governments enter IMF programs for economic and political reasons, and finds that the effects are negative on economic growth and income...

This book provides a systematic assessment of the behaviour of some relatively successful presidents in African presidential republics, examining the part played by presidents in the development of their countries. Using two groups of case studies,...

In early 2011, widespread protests ousted dictatorial regimes in both Tunisia and Egypt. Within a few years, Tunisia successfully held parliamentary and presidential elections and witnessed a peaceful transition of power, while the Egyptian military went...

There is much heated rhetoric about the widening gulf between Europe and America. But are the US and Europe so different? Peter Baldwin, one of the world's leading historians of comparative social policy, thinks not, and in this bracingly argued but...

Coalition government among different political parties is the way most European democracies are governed. Traditionally, the study of coalition politics has been focused on Western Europe. Coalition governance in Central Eastern Europe brings the study...

A collection of essays that situates and furthers contemporary debates around the prospects of democracy in diverse societies within and beyond the West. Negotiating Democracy and Religious Pluralism examines the relationship between the functioning...

In recent years, the Middle East's information and communications landscape has changed dramatically. Increasingly, states, businesses, and citizens are capitalising on the opportunities offered by new information technologies, the fast pace of...

Since the emergence of neoliberalism in the early 1980s, the interests of the working class have become progressively more marginalized within mainstream politics in the United Kingdom. Years of austerity politics following the financial crash of 2008...

Trump, Wilders, Salvini, Le Pen - during the last decades, radical right-wing leaders and their parties have become important political forces in most western democracies. Their growing appeal raises an increasingly relevant question: who are the voters...

Americans want electoral reforms so that they can have more choice in elections. Recent surveys show that 20 to 50 percent of Americans are open to a new electoral system, while demand for a third party has crept upward since Gallup began asking in 2003...

It is often remarked that critical - and especially Marxist - state theory began to lose its central place in the study of comparative politics in the 1980s. Ironically, this shift occurred just as neoliberal policies were transforming the social form...

In this unique, panoramic account of faded dreams, journalist John Feffer returns to Eastern Europe a quarter of a century after the fall of communism, to track down hundreds of people he spoke to in the initial atmosphere of optimism as the Iron Curtain...

Picking up many of themes of David Childs' earlier book, The GDR: Moscow's German Ally, this book discusses the German Democratic Republic (GDR) from 1971 until the mid 1980s. Written at a time when the GDR was one of the most modern and successful...

Sultanistic regimes, as Juan Linz describes them, are authoritarian regimes based on personal ideology and personal favor to maintain the autocrat in power; there is little ideological basis for the rule except personal power. This volume of essays...

The fate of democratic governments throughout the world is a topic of growing concern. The crises of modern history, from the Machtegreifung by Hitler through the downfall of the Allende government in Chile, have caused many to suspect an inevitable...

Community indicators measuring systems represent a mechanism to improve monitoring and evaluation in planning, incorporating citizen involvement and participation. They reflect the interplay between social, environmental and economic factors affecting a...

This book fills an important gap in our understanding of Scottish local government in the dynamic new context of the Scottish Parliament. It provides academics, students, practitioners, journalists and others with a broad-ranging yet detailed account,...

Recognising that corruption is a serious problem in the globalised world of the early twenty-first century, the book takes the reader on a journey - beginning with what corruption is, why its study is important and how it can be measured. From there it...

Ruth Berins Collier and David Collier are political scientists who use comparative historical research to discover and evaluate patterns and sources of political change. Their work is an overall analysis of Chile, Brazil, Uruguay, Colombia, Argentina,...

Does European integration contribute to, or even accelerate, the erosion of intra-party democracy? This book analyses the impact of European Union (EU) membership on power dynamics, focusing on the British Labour Party, the French Socialist Party (PS),...

Is the Atlantic World in a state of crisis? At a time when many political observers perceive indeed a crisis in transatlantic relations, critical evaluation of past narratives and frameworks in Transatlantic Relations and Atlantic History alike become...

The book examines the history of co-operation in the broad context of the history of consumerism and consumption; of internationalism and the development of international organisations; and debates about international trade during the inter-war period...

This new edition brings Daniel C. Hellinger's brilliantly succinct and accessible introduction to Latin America up to date for a new generation of educators. In crisp detail, Hellinger gives a panoramic overview of the continent and offers a unique...