Comparative Government and Politics - An Introduction

Offering a comprehensive introduction to the comparison of governments and political systems, this is a new edition of one of the most well-established textbooks in the field of comparative politics, helping students to understand not just the institutions and political cultures of their own countries but also those of a wide range of democracies and authoritarian regimes around the world.

The book opens with an overview of key theories and methods for studying comparative politics and moves on to a study of major institutions and themes, such as the state, constitutions and courts, elections, voters, interest groups and political economy. In addition, two common threads run throughout the chapters in this edition – the reversal of democracy and declining trust in government – ensuring that the book fully accounts for the rapid developments in politics that have taken place across the globe in recent times.

Key features include:

·         New and extended coverage of important topics such as authoritarian states, identities, ethnicity and political violence.

·         A brand new chapter on political economy.

·         An engaging new page design, in full colour for the first time.

·         Packed with pedagogical features, including discussion questions, in-margin glossary definitions of key terms and double-page spreads for country profiles in each chapter.

·         An enhanced companion website, now providing an extensive testbank of questions for lecturers.

Written by a team of experienced textbook authors, this book is an essential text for undergraduate and postgraduate courses on Comparative Politics, Comparative Government, Introduction to Politics and Introduction to Political Science.

List of contents

1. Key concepts
2. Theoretical approaches
3. Comparative methods
4. The state
5. Democratic rule
6. Authoritarian rule
7. Constitutions and courts
8. Executives
9. Legislatures
10. Bureaucracies
11. Sub-national government
12. Political culture
13. Political participation
14. Political communication
15. Elections
16. Political parties
17. Voters
18: Interest groups
19: Public policy
20: Political economy.

About the author

Rod Hague was formerly Senior Lecturer in Politics, University of Newcastle, UK.

Martin Harrop was formerly Senior Lecturer in Politics, University of Newcastle, UK.

John McCormick is Professor of Political Science, Indiana University, Indianapolis, USA, and is author of a number of bestselling books in politics, including Comparative Government and Politics (with Rod Hague and Martin Harrop), Understanding the European Union and European Union Politics.

Summary

This revised and updated edition of a core textbook – one of the most well-established texts in the field of comparative politics – offers a comprehensive introduction to the comparison of governments and political systems, helping students to understand not just the institutions and political cultures of their own countries but also those of a wide range of democracies and authoritarian regimes from around the world.

The book opens with an overview of key theories and methods for studying comparative politics and moves on to a study of major institutions and themes, such as the state, constitutions and courts, elections, voters, interest groups and political economy. In addition, two common threads run throughout the chapters in this edition – the reversal of democracy and declining trust in government – ensuring that the book fully accounts for the rapid developments in politics that have taken place across the world in recent times.

Written by a team of experienced textbook authors and featuring a range of engaging learning features, this book is an essential text for undergraduate and postgraduate courses on comparative politics, comparative government, introduction to politics and introduction to political science.

New to this Edition:
- New and extended coverage of important topics such as authoritarian states, identities, ethnicity and political violence
- A brand new chapter on political economy
- An engaging new page design, in full colour for the first time
- An enhanced companion website, now providing an extensive testbank of questions for lecturers
- Publishing alongside John McCormick’s new book on Cases in Comparative Government and Politics (October 2019), which offers more detailed coverage of the cases covered in this text.

Foreword

Revised and updated to take account of rapid recent developments in politics, this new edition offers a comprehensive introduction to the comparison of governments and political systems, helping students to understand not just the institutions and political cultures of their own countries, but also those of a wide range of democracies and authoritarian regimes around the world.

Additional text

The 11th edition of Comparative Government and Politics continues to provide a comprehensive introduction to the field of comparative politics, equipping students with the basic knowledge and methods to compare various forms of political organization across geographical and cultural boundaries.

Product details

• Authors: Ro Hague, Rod Hague, Martin Harrop, Joh McCormick, John McCormick
• Publisher: Macmillan
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 31.03.2019
• EAN: 9781352005042
• ISBN: 978-1-352-00504-2
• No. of pages: 382
• Series: Comparative Government and Pol; Comparative Government and Politics
• Subjects: Social sciences, law, business > Political science > Political science and political education; B, Political Science and International Studies, Comparative Politics