Oxford Handbook Of Comparative Politics, The

Description:
The Oxford Handbooks of Political Science is a ten-volume set of reference books offering authoritative and engaging critical overviews of the state of political science. Each volume focuses on a particular part of the discipline, with volumes on Public Policy, Political Theory, Political Economy, Contextual Political Analysis, Comparative Politics, International Relations, Law and Politics, Political Behavior, Political Institutions, and Political Methodology. The project as a whole is under the General Editorship of Robert E. Goodin, with each volume being edited by a distinguished international group of specialists in their respective fields. The books set out not just to report on the discipline, but to shape it. The series will be an indispensable point of reference for anyone working in political science and adjacent disciplines. The Oxford Handbook of Comparative Politics offers a critical survey of the field of empirical political science through the collection of a set of chapters written by 47 top scholars in the discipline of comparative politics.Part I includes chapters surveying the key research methodologies employed in comparative politics (the comparative method; the use of history; the practice and status of case-study research; the contributions of field research) and assessing the possibility of constructing a science of comparative politics. Parts II to IV examine the foundations of political order: the origins of states and the extent to which they relate to war and to economic development; the sources of compliance or political obligation among citizens; democratic transitions, the role of civic culture; authoritarianism; revolutions; civil wars and contentious politics. Parts V and VI explore the mobilization, representation and coordination of political demands. Part V considers why parties emerge, the forms they take and the ways in which voters choose parties. It then includes chapters on collective action, social movements and political participation. Part VI opens up with essays on the mechanisms through which political demands are aggregated and coordinated.This sets the agenda to the systematic exploration of the workings and effects of particular institutions: electoral systems, federalism, legislative-executive relationships, the judiciary and bureaucracy. Finally, Part VII is organized around the burgeoning literature on macropolitical economy of the last two decades.

Review:
This comprehensive work...provides a thorough and contemporary examination of the field of comparative politics and various central questions within it...there is more than enough material here (including detailed references) to keep scholars and bring graduate students completely up to date; indeed the analyses are often cutting edge. Lastly, inasmuch as this handbook series aspires to shape the discipline and not just describe it, many chapters in this handbook usefully conclude with a precise outline of the future research agenda as seen by the author. Alan Siaroff Politics Studies Review Two visionary editors -- who see clearly where research in comparative politics is heading -- and a star-studded cast of authors who are acknowledged masters of their fields make this Oxford Handbook an accurate compass for those who wish to be brought to the frontiers of comparative research. David D. Laitin, James T. Watkins IV and Elise V. Watkins Professor of Political Science at Stanford University

Table of Contents:
PART I. INTRODUCTION; 1. Introduction; PART II. THEORY AND METHODOLOGY; 2. Multicausality, Context-Conditionality, and Endogeneity in Comparative Politics; 3. Historical Inquiry and Comparative Politics; 4. The Case Study: What it is and What it Does; 5. Field Research; 6. Is the Science of Comparative Politics Possible?; 7. From Case Studies to Social Science: A Strategy for Political Research; 8. Collective Action Theory; PART III. STATES AND STATE FORMATION: POLITICAL CONSENT; 9. War, Trade and State Formation; 10. Compliance, Consent, and Legitimacy; 11. National Identity; 12. Ethnicity and Ethnic Conflicy; PART IV. POLITICAL REGIMES AND TRANSITIONS; 13. Mass Beliefs; 14. #What Causes Democratization?; 15. Democracy and Civic Culture; 16. Dictatorship: Analytical Approaches; PART V. POLITICAL INSTABILITY, POLITICAL CONFLICT; 17. Rethinking Revolutions: A Neo-Torquevillian Perpective; 18. Civil Wars; 19. Contentious Politics and Social Movements; 20. Mechanisms of Globalized Protest Movements; PART VI. MASS POLITICAL MOBILIZATION; 21. Emergence of Parties and Party Systems; 22. Party Systems; 23. Voters and Parties; 24. Parties and Voters in Emerging Democracies; 25. Political Clientelism; 26. Political Activism: New Challenges, New Opportunities; PART VII. PROCESSING POLITICAL DEMANDS; 27. Aggregating and Representing Political Preferences; 28. Electoral Systems; 29. Separation of Powers; 30. Comparative Judicial Politics; 31. Federalism; 32. Coalition Theory and Government Formation; PART VIII. GOVERNANCE IN COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVE; 33. Comparative Studies of the Economy and the Vote; 34. Context-Conditional Political Budget Cycles; 35. The Welfare State in Global Perpective; 36. The Poor Performance of Poor Democracies; 37. Accountability and the Survival of Governments; 38. Economic Transformation and Comparative Politics