I took my first comparative politics course in 1967 and was hooked by its interplay between concrete examples and abstract concepts.
In those early days, I hoped to be part of a generation that created a universally accepted paradigm or general theory of comparative politics. That has not happened, in large part because we live in a world of wicked problems that don’t lend themselves simple theoretical summaries.
So, in the 1990s, I settled on a much more modest goal. I wrote the first edition of Comparative Politics: Domestic Responses to Global Challenges. Its newest and tenth edition focuses on wicked problems in comparative politics and what we–you and I–can do about them.
Students often think that comparative politics is a difficult field, because they have to constantly move between abstract concepts and concrete examples. As this site continues to develop, I add resources to help you understand and apply core concepts in the field. These will include online chapters on countries not covered in Comparative Politics, updates to the chapters printed in the book, and even videos to help bring concepts to life.
Come January, I will share chapters on the following countries: Canada, France, Japan, South Africa, and Brazil.
I hope you will download and make use of them! If you are able, I encourage you to make a donation of your choosing to the Alliance for Peacebuilding: the recipient of all the royalties I make from sales and rentals of the print edition.
Updates
I will be updating material on the countries covered in Comparative Politics. Click here to find them. As always, feel free to make suggestions I things I should add.
Books
I read a lot. It’s one of the advantages of not having a day job. A few years ago, a friend suggested I review books as I read them. A few years later, I agreed to do it. Click here to find reviews of new(ish) books in comparative politics and peace/conflict studies. I usually add a book a week.
On Line Chapters
In addition to the countries included in the printed version of Comparative Politics, I have prepared five chapters that only exist on line which are available here. To access them, simply click on the country’s name on the right side of this screen.
They are in somewhat rougher form than the chapters in the book itself. However, because they are available on line, I will update them as events warrant.
If you have ideas for updating or improving any of them, let me know through the Contact menu.
These chapters are being made available free of charge. However, if you want to pay to use them, make whatever donation you think is appropriate to the Allliance for Peacebuilding which gets all of the royalties I receive from sales of the printed version of the book.