Introduction to Comparative Politics: Political Challenges and Changing Agendas

Sidebar boxes in each country chapter highlight three interesting and provocative aspects of politics. A profile feature spotlights biographies of important political leaders, a Global Connection feature provides links between domestic and international politics and a U.S. Connection feature compares an important aspect of political institutions with its American counterpart.

The book classifies the 13 countries in three categories: consolidated democracies (Britain, France, Germany, Japan, India and the United States); mixed systems (Brazil, Mexico, South Africa, Nigeria and the Russian Federation); and authoritarian regimes (Iran and China). There's also a chapter on the European Union.

The book's framework involves four key themes: a globalizing world of states, governing the economy, the democratic idea and the politics of collective identities. These themes enable students to organize the study of individual countries that are covered and to compare institutions and processes among countries.

Each country chapter includes five consistent sections to facilitate cross-national comparison and student understanding: a chapter-opening vignette illustrating an important feature of the country's political patterns, a description of the country's past and current political economy, a discussion of the major institutions of governance and policy-making, analysis of political representation and participation and a review of major current issues that confront the country.