Introduction to Comparative Government and Politics - 1st edition
Dino Bozonelos, Victor Valley College
Julia Wendt, Victor Valley College
Charlotte Lee, Berkeley City College
Copyright Year: 2022
Publisher: Academic Senate for California Community Colleges
Language: English
Formats Available
Conditions of Use
Attribution-NonCommercial
CC BY-NC
Reviews
It is a very good textbook for intro-level comparative politics class as it covers all important topics in this field. read more
It is a very good textbook for intro-level comparative politics class as it covers all important topics in this field.
Content is accurate and error-free except for some minor typos.
Content is up-to-date and it contains a lot of real-world examples that won't need to be updated within a short period time.
This text book is easy enough for students who do not have any prior knowledge in this field.
Some chapters have lower quality than most of chapters in terms of writing and contents.
The length of each chapter is ideal for a week of class.
I really like the order of topics/chapters. It is intuitive and logical.
The text is free of significant interface issues, including navigation problems, distortion of images/charts, and any other display features that may distract or confuse the reader.
I have not found any obvious grammatical errors.
The examples used in this textbook are inclusive in that they use different countries from different regions as examples.
It is a great intro-level Comparative Politics course textbook. I appreciate the authors' work and their efforts to make it as an open textbook.
The book is very comprehensive, covering approaches to studying comparative politics, states, democratization, authoritarian regimes, and collective action. One big advantage of this book is that it also includes some important topics like race,... read more
The book is very comprehensive, covering approaches to studying comparative politics, states, democratization, authoritarian regimes, and collective action. One big advantage of this book is that it also includes some important topics like race, ethnicity, gender, political violence, political economy, and public opinion. These topics are neglected by some other textbooks. Additionally, the book is rich in examples and comparative country cases. At the end of each chapter, the authors also provide a glossary, section summary, review questions, critical thinking questions, and suggestions for further study. Readers can refer to key terms easily, and the information could be helpful for class discussions.
However, there are a few areas that could be expanded. Some important missing subjects include discussions on parliamentary, presidential, and semi-presidential political systems and hot topics like polarization and immigration. I think instructors could easily fill this gap by assigning additional and complementary readings.
I found no obvious error or bias in the book.
This book is up-to-date and integrates both historical and contemporary cases in a way that makes it relevant without becoming obsolete in the near future.
The text is easy to follow and well-written. I feel that the text is effective at breaking down and conveying information. It’s very accessible for introductory classes.
The book’s structure and framework are consistent.
Each chapter can stand alone, so instructors can easily reorganize the chapters and assign single chapters.
The book is presented in a very logical and clear fashion. Readers can benefit from the chapter outline, learning objectives, subsections, and short paragraphs.
The book contains many pictures, tables, charts, and graphs. The text is free of major interface issues.
Only a few places seem to be off (e.g., on page 48, part of Image 2.3 is missing).
This book is well-edited, and I found no obvious grammatical errors.
The text is largely inclusive, and I found no culturally insensitive or offensive material.
I will likely adopt this book in my Intro to Comparative Politics class, given its great quality and the nature of open educational resources. I think students would benefit a lot from this book. But I will supplement it by assigning other materials, especially readings on political institutions.
Table of Contents
- Chapter 1 – Why Study Comparative Politics
- Chapter 2 – How to Study Comparative Politics – Using Comparative Methods
- Chapter 3 – States and Regimes
- Chapter 4 – Democracies and Democratization
- Chapter 5 – Non-democracies and Democratic Backsliding
- Chapter 6 – Political Identity – Culture, Race, Ethnicity, and Gender
- Chapter 7 – Political Identity – Nationalism, Religion, and Class
- Chapter 8 – Political Economy
- Chapter 9 – Collective Action and Social Movements
- Chapter 10 – Comparative Public Opinion
- Chapter 11 – Political Violence
- Chapter 12 – Challenges and Questions in Comparative Politics
Ancillary Material
About the Book
Introduction to Comparative Government and Politics, 1st edition, is an Open Education Resource Textbook that surveys contemporary comparative politics.
The textbook is organized thematically and includes chapters that cover a wide range of topics in comparative politics: how and what comparativists study; methods in comparative politics; states and regimes; democracies and democratization; non-democracies and democratic backsliding, political identity, including culture, race and ethnicity, gender, nationalism, religion, and class; political economy; collective action and social movements; comparative public opinion; political violence; and globalization and fragmentation. Each chapter accompanied by a case study or a comparative study, one of the main methodological tools used in comparative politics.
By contextualizing the concepts, we hope to help students learn the comparative method, which to this day remains one of the most important methodological tools for all researchers.
About the Contributors
Authors
Dr. Dino Bozonelos, Victor Valley College, Political Science: Dino Bozonelos is a Professor of Political Science at Victor Valley College. He holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of California, Riverside. His research interests revolve around global issues, including geopolitics, migration, religious tourism and pilgrimage, religion and politics, and comparative political economy. He has published in several journals, including Politics & Religion and the International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage, and in several edited volumes. He is also the coauthor of another open-source textbook, Introduction to Political Science Research Methods and is the co-editor of an upcoming book, The Politics of Religious Tourism.
Dr. Julia Wendt, Victor Valley College, Political Science & Cooperative Education: Julia Wendt is Professor at Victor Valley College. She teaches in two departments, Political Science and Cooperative Education. Her research interests in Political Science revolve around comparative politics and international relations, focusing on global human capital development and investment. Her work in Cooperative Education centers on giving students the opportunity to prepare for the workforce upon graduation by providing the opportunity for students to earn transferrable college credit for working at their jobs or participating in internships. She holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from the Claremont Graduate University and two Master’s Degrees, one from Claremont Graduate University in International Studies with an emphasis quantitative studies, and a Master’s Degree from the University of San Diego in International Relations with an emphasis in qualitative methods.
Dr. Charlotte Lee, Berkeley City College, Political Science: Charlotte Lee teaches courses in Comparative Politics, International Relations, and Global Studies. Her research focuses on bureaucratic politics and institutional change. She has published research on the politics of China, transition in Eastern Europe, and the democratic peace. She is the author of Training the Party: Adaptation and Elite Training in Reform-era China (Cambridge University Press, 2015). With support from the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges, she was a contributing author for an Open Educational Resources (OER) textbook in political science research methods. She received her B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley, in Political Economy and Asian Studies. She holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from Stanford University. Prior to that, she was a US Peace Corps Volunteer (assigned to Romania).