Preface; 1. What is comparative politics? Jeffrey Kopstein and Mark Lichbach; 2. The framework of analysis Jeffrey Kopstein and Mark Lichbach; 3. Britain Peter Rutland; 4. France Arista Maria Cirtautas; 5. Germany Andrew C. Gould; 6. Japan Miranda A. Schreurs; 7. Russia Stephen E. Hanson; 8. China Yu Shan Wu; 9. Mexico Anthony Gill; 10. India Rudra Sil; 11. Iran Vali Nasr; 12. South Africa Michael Bratton.
An updated second edition, this textbook is ideal for undergraduate courses in comparative politics.
Jeffrey Kopstein is the author of The Politics of Economic Decline in East Germany, 1945-1989 (1997). He has published over 40 articles in scholarly journals and books. He is currently Director of the Institute of European Studies at the University of Toronto. Mark Irving Lichbach is Professor and Chair of Government and Politics at the University of Maryland. He is the author or editor of many books, including the award-winning The Rebel's Dilemma, and of numerous articles that have appeared in scholarly journals in political science, economics, and sociology.
From reviews of the first edition: 'Kopstein and Lichbach have
assembled a compelling introduction to comparative politics for
courses taught from the perspective of political development.
Invited to examine six well-chosen and familiar cases (Britain and
France as early, Germany and Japan as middle, and Russia and China
as late developers), the contributors analyze the emergence of
interests, the shifting range of social identities,and the
interaction of both in shaping a particular institutional
trajectory. Each section concludes with a synthesis by the
co-editors comparing the trajectories of the preceding cases. An
innovation is the extension of the analysis presented for the first
six cases to 'experimental developers': Mexico, India, Iran, and
South Africa. Throughout the volume the prose is lively and
accessible, and each contributor provides a sufficient historical
background on the country at hand to put every student in the
picture regardless of prior preparation.' Richard Anderson, UCL
'Kopstein and Lichbach's book is an impressive achievement. In
contrast to most comparative politics texts which are often
unimaginative and seem like clones of each other, this study
represents a refreshing and intellectually stimulating approach to
the field. The book is unusual in that it surveys both standard
cases of political development, such as Great Britain and Germany,
but combines them with somewhat less-known but no less intriguing
cases, like India, Iran, and South Africa. Above all, what I like
most about this book it that it actually encourages students, in a
clearly-written and thoughtful fashion, to engage in real
comparative analysis. For comparativists looking for a new way of
engaging their students in the study of world politics, this book
is definitely welcome news.' A. James McAdams, Notre Dame
'Sophisticated yet accessible, this textbook breaks out of the
introductory comparative politics mold that crams country-specific
case studies into a systemic or developmentalist model. Instead it
attains thematic coherence and will maintain students' interest
with its attention to world-historic context and to the normative
stakes of development and also with its useful 'Stop and Compare'
sections. This volume offers an excellent introduction to the
diversity and depth of contemporary comparative politics.' Laurence
McFalls, Universite de Montreal
'Jeffrey Kopstein and Mark Lichbach's excellent new comparative
politics text offers things that others do not. The book situates
an exceptionally broad range of European, Latin American, African,
and Asian cases in the context of a common set of concerns -
nterests, identities, and institutions - and a common developmental
framework. The authors of the country studies do not simply presume
that the struggle for power is mainly a domestic and lawful affair;
rather, they highlight the impact of international forces and the
historical importance of armed struggles for power. In this, the
volume breaks with implicit notions that the past is the problem of
another discipline and international affairs the purview of a
different subfield.' Wade Jacoby, Brigham Young University
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