Comparative Politics Textbook Info

After a wave of democratization in the 1990s, we are now seeing democratic erosion. How do democracies die? Not always via military coup. Often, it’s —elected leaders slowly undermine courts, media, and electoral integrity while retaining a democratic facade (e.g., Hungary under Orbán, Venezuela under Chávez).

: The SAGE Handbook of Comparative Politics for deep theoretical dives. Comparative Politics Textbook

This textbook is unique in its "hyrbid" structure. The first half introduces core concepts (states, nations, institutions, political economy). The second half provides deep case studies (Brazil, China, Germany, India, Iran, Mexico, Nigeria, Russia, UK, US). Each case study explicitly references the theoretical chapters, forcing students to apply abstract ideas to concrete examples. After a wave of democratization in the 1990s,

Comparative politics is a science of causation. The key challenge is —showing that X (e.g., oil wealth) causes Y (e.g., authoritarianism), not merely that they are correlated. The first half introduces core concepts (states, nations,