Comparative politics Books

Why do states similar in size, resources and capabilities significantly differ in their basic orientations and actions across major domains in foreign policy, security and defense? This book addresses this important question by analyzing the major...

This book explores the effect of semi-presidentialism on newly-democratising countries. In recent years semi-presidentialism -- the situation where a constitution makes provision for both a directly elected president and a prime minister who is...

How could the small country called the Netherlands -- almost totally destroyed during WW II, being very poor and judged to be primitive at that time -- become one of the wealthiest, democratic and modern countries in the World? This book argues that...

The battle of national, state, and local governments to attract investment has been a high priority for decades. For example, US state and local governments give almost $50 billion in location incentives and over $70 billion in total subsidies annually...

Globalization has pushed China and India to the centre of the stage but what has been the impact on workers in these countries? This book demonstrates the complexity of the processes and responses at play. There are signs that both states are shifting...

This book analyzes Spanish political parties and institutions in comparative theoretical perspective. Two primary themes are addressed: institutionalization and the distribution of institutionalization in the polity, and the relationship between...

China and India growing interests in Central Asia disrupt the traditional Russian-U.S. "Great Game" at the heart of the old continent. Though for the moment India is unable to equally compete against the Chinese presence in post-Soviet Central Asia, New...

Privatization of state-owned enterprises and liberalization of trade and investment flows were two of the cornerstones of the structural reforms implemented by governments across Latin America in the 1990s. Spanish multinational enterprises were...

The Lomé Peace Accord, signed in 1999, presented significant implications, challenges, and possibilities for post-conflict Sierra Leone, but the literature on post-conflict Sierra Leone only scantily addresses these issues. This project seeks to address...

The behaviour of politicians and public servants often strikes outside observers as erratic, inconsistent and sometimes foolish. One way of understanding their behaviour is political anthropology. This book focuses on the everyday life of ministers and...

It is often argued that enhanced consultation of civil society may contribute to the democratization of European and global governance. This collection investigates whether this theoretical argument is supported by empirical evidence. Ten original essays...

The economic crises of the 1970s marked the end of the 'Golden Age' of the welfare state and triggered a broad range of cost containment measures in OECD countries. In the healthcare sector, cost containment is difficult to execute as the legitimacy of...

Since the end of the Cold War, Europe has been the stage of a large-scale project of international socialization. European regional organizations such as the OSCE, the Council of Europe, NATO, and the EU assumed the task of inducting the transition...

Pay inequalities between women and men are a key issue for labour market policy. This book provides new evidence on the magnitude and sources of these pay inequalities in European countries and New Zealand on the basis of micro data. Particular attention...

Contributors to this Hansard Society/Palgrave volume consider how British government and politics changed as Tony Blair gave way to Gordon Brown. Gordon at the Helm looks at a range of factors under Brown such as public opinion, party and opposition...

This book examines the role governments play in managing policy challenges such as religion, romance, gender relations, same-sex marriages and privacy protection in response to social changes in marriage. Elizabeth van Acker asks whether governments can...

Gaffney analyzes how de Gaulle came to power in 1958: The drama surrounding the Fourth Republic's collapse, and the focus upon an exceptional individual meant that de Gaulle was able to confer a particular style of leadership on the Fifth Republic. The...

Seemingly from its birth, Pakistan has teetered on the brink of becoming a failed state. Today, it ranks 133rd out of 148 countries in global competitiveness. Its economy is as dysfunctional as its political system is corrupt; both rely heavily on...