1.  Comparative Politics as a Field of Study

     The Applicability of the Scientific Method to the Study of Politics

     The Empirical Base of Science

     The Comparative Method

     Conceptualization and Measurement in Cross Cultural Inquiry

     The Focus on Sociological and Other Contextual Factors

     Important Concepts for Comparison: Political Culture

     The Cleavage Structure or Stratification System

     Constitutionally Designated Structures or the Political Format

     Public Policy and Economic Systems

     Formal Modeling and Rational Choice Theory: A Dominant Paradigm?

     Concluding Remarks: Crucial Questions for the Field

2.  The Contextual Foundations of Advanced Industrial Democracies

     Conceptualizing Industrial Democracy

     Competitive Elections and Accountability

     Accountability, Democratic Formats, and the Problem of Power

     Patterns of Nation Building

     The Social Context: The Cleavage System

     Segmented Society and the Consociational Model

     Political Culture: Requisite Foundation for Democracy?

3.  The Constitutionally Designated Format of Modern Democracies

     Constitutions

     Parliamentary Regimes and Presidential Regimes

     Symbolic and Ceremonial Functions: Chief of State

     Parliamentary Regimes: Governments and the Structure of Accountability

     Debate and Question Time in Parliamentary Regimes

     Accountability in Presidential Regimes

     The Role of Legislatures and Representative Assemblies in the Policy Process

     The Representative Function of Parliaments

     Legal Systems in Advanced Democracies

     Federalism, Confederations, and Unitary Government

     Pan-National Integration: Maastricht and the European Union

     The Administrative State

     Conclusions: The State Matters

4.  Political Parties and Party Systems

     Party Systems

     The Functions of Party Systems

     Types of Political Parties

     Types of Party Systems

     Explaining Party Systems: Cultural Explanations

     Explaining Party Systems: The Electoral System

     Party Organization and Behavior

     Party Strategy and Tactics

     Conclusions

5.  The Third Wave of Democratization

     The Appeal of the Leninist Model in Emerging Nations

     Consolidating Democracies

     Autocracies or Authoritarian Regimes

     Bureaucratic Authoritarianism

     Democratization: The First Wave

     First Wave Reversals

     The Second Wave of Democratization

     Second Wave Reversals

     The Third Wave Begins

     The Collapse of the Warsaw Pact Regimes

     Democratization in Asia

     The Spread of Democracy to Africa

     Democratization in the Islamic World

     Conclusions: The Requisites of Democracy

6.  Political Change and Modernization

     Conceptualizing the Less Developed Countries

     Modernization Theory

     Explaining Modernization and Underdevelopment

     External Explanations: The Impact of Colonialism

     External Explanation: Leninism and Dependency Theory

     Dependency Theory Critiqued

     Population Growth and Demographics

     Cultural Factors: Religion

     Tribalism and a Sense of Nationhood

     Praetorianism

     Debt Crisis and Corruption

     Instability and Violence in Rapidly Changing Societies

     Conclusions: The Different Paths to Modernity

7.  Conclusions: An Evolving Field in a Changing World

     Where Do We Go From Here: Future Directions for Political Inquiry

     An Expanding Field of Study

     A Dynamic World