Foundations of Comparative Politics

Now in its fourth edition, this textbook gives a clear and concise account of the government and politics of democratic states, comprehensively updated with recent developments.

It provides an ideal guide for undergraduate students who want to understand how and why democratic systems differ between countries and how they are changing in the modern world. It is written and structured in an easy to follow style, enabling students to gain a thorough understanding of the explanations behind complex ideas and theories. The 'Briefings' and 'Controversies' sections give life to the analyses with illustrations drawn from around the globe, whilst its 'Key Term' entries provide students with a route through the concepts of political science.

The fourth edition has been fully revised to reflect recent changes in political attitudes and behaviour, voting, parties, party systems and ideologies. The final chapter addresses the future of democratic states facing with these changes and challenges, by examining democratic crisis, populism and post-democracy.

• Ties in information with theory as it progresses through topics in a way that makes it easy to assimilate
• Presents a comparative approach and its basic methodological underpinnings without technical details
• 'Key Terms' facility picks out and defines concepts in a jargon free manner as it goes along and collects them all in the glossary
• The 'Controversy' sections highlight and discuss recurring disputes regarding certain topics throughout the book

About the Authors

Kenneth Newton, University of Southampton
Ken Newton is Professor Emeritus at the University of Southampton. His recent publications include Surprising News: How the Media Affect–and Do Not Affect–Politics (2019), Evaluating Democratic Innovations (with Brigitte Geisel, 2012), The Wit and Humo(u)r of Political Science (with Lee Sigelman, Kenneth Meier and Bernard Grofman, 2010).

Jan W. van Deth, Universität Mannheim, Germany
Jan W. van Deth is Professor Emeritus of Political Science and International Comparative Social Research at the University of Mannheim (Germany) and Project Director at the Mannheim Centre for European Social Research (MZES). He published widely in the fields of political culture and participation, social change, and comparative research methods. He is a Corresponding Member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW).