Introduction to Comparative Politics

by Mark Kesselman

Book Overview

Updated to reflect today's political climate, the Sixth Edition of INTRODUCTION TO COMPARATIVE POLITICS offers a country-by-country approach that allows students to fully examine similarities and... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0618214461
• ISBN13: 9780618214464
• Release Date: July 2003
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
• Length: 671 Pages
• Weight: 2.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 7.4" x 9.1"

Customer Reviews

Incorrect purchase

Book was order print and although my granddaughter tried to follow along in class, it was difficult. So I ordered her the correct copy. The error was totally on my part and all is well. Although my granddaughter is not using this exact book, the new is working for her. Thank you for the speedy deliver of the order.

New, and Fast delivery!!!:)

I bought this book at a very low price... So I thought it was going to have lots of highlighting, tears, etc...To my astonishment it was new and the delivery was fast... Thanks!:)

Excellent Reading

This book is excellent reading for anyone who is interested in learning about the politics of other countries around the world. It is very informative and straight to the point. It commands the attention of the reader.

a standard introduction to comparative politics

This is a standard introductory comparative politics textbook that provides a solid background on a variety of countries. It discusses historical context, economic development, political institutions, electoral issues, etc. I found the tone of the book to be clear and non-irritating. However, there is much to say about these countries and some things inevitably get ignored or treated inadequately. One example that struck me especially was the treatment of the concept of a developmental state. It gets discussed somewhat in the chapter about Brazil while the chapter on Japan - the ultimate developmental state if there ever was one - pretty much ignores the concept altogether. This leads me to think that this book, although it provides significant background and some insights, has to be supplemented with other materials.

Political Science Required Reading

If you have to take this class like me, then you'll probably have to buy this book no matter what--even if it sucks, which it does'nt.

Iran is misclassified

The authors give an impressive critique of the political systems in several countries. The book has several parts. The first is the major democracies, with a chapter for each of the US, Britain, France, Germany, Japan and India. It is commendable that India is put into this group, as befits the world's largest democracy. Another part describes the developing democracies, where the word developing is used in preference to imperfect, perhaps. But that's being too cynical. Anyhow, the countries covered are Russia, Brazil, Nigeria and Mexico. The last part of the book is about the non-democracies. Iran is put into this category. But surely this is a misclassification. Iran has had several elections in 20 years, with competing political parties and changes of national government. The elections were with universal suffrage, with women having the vote, and a woman's vote is weighted the same as a man's. In the Middle East, this is no small thing. Certainly, the chapter on Iran describes many flaws in its government. But is it any worse than Nigeria? Others have said that in the Middle East, there are only two democracies, Israel and Iran.