This text on comparative politics takes a country-by-country approach, providing students with an historical background pertinent to current political events. It includes election results from Germany and Brazil, as well as five new chapters on Japan. The material on Russia has been updated to include coverage of the difficulties facing the new reformist democracy, its possibility of failure, and the reasons underlying the collapse of Communism. It is designed for courses in comparative politics in departments of Political Science.
Appropriate for undergraduate Political Science courses including Introduction to Comparative Politics, Introduction to European Politics, and Introduction to Politics. Introduces the concepts and vocabulary of Comparative Politics through a country-by-country analysis and recent case studies. By demonstrating that political life is universal and comparable, the text also proves that no country is really “alien,” but rather that all countries are understandable.