Foundations of Comparative Politics: Democracies of the Modern World (Cambridge Textbooks in Comparative Politics)

Now in its fourth edition, this textbook gives a clear and concise account of the government and politics of democratic states, comprehensively updated with recent developments. It provides an ideal guide for undergraduate students who want to understand how and why democratic systems differ between countries and how they are changing in the modern world. It is written and structured in an easy to follow style, enabling students to gain a thorough understanding of the explanations behind complex ideas and theories. The 'Briefings' and 'Controversies' sections give life to the analyses with illustrations drawn from around the globe, whilst its 'Key Term' entries provide students with a route through the concepts of political science. The fourth edition has been fully revised to reflect recent changes in political attitudes and behaviour, voting, parties, party systems and ideologies. The final chapter addresses the future of democratic states facing with these changes and challenges, by examining democratic crisis, populism and post-democracy. "The first edition of this book was published in 2006, before the financial crash of 2008, Obama's election in the USA, Trump's unexpected win in 2016, Brexit, the war in Syria, and the rapid rise of refugees and migrants all over the world. In 2006 many western countries were beginning to register a decline in voting, party identification and political trust but it was too soon to say whether these were temporary fluctuations or the onset of longer-term trends. Some of the large parties of the centre ground were losing support and minor parties were appearing on the scene, but few managed to overtake the weakened major ones. Separatist movements were active all over the world, often many different ones in the same country, but most were small, even tiny, and success was rare. The troubles in Northern Ireland had been calmed by the Good Friday Agreement of 1998 and Kosovo gained its independence two years later. Nationalist movements were active in Catalonia and Scotland but nowhere near their future strength. Green parties had gained a secure foothold in some parliaments but remained minor in most. Fifteen years after the Berlin Wall fell the new states and democracies of East Europe were still finding their way and it was difficult to know where they would end up. Populist movements and parties were strong in a few places, but even specialist scholars did not recognise what was about to happen to them. The 'Gilet Jaunes' (French protesters) had not taken to the streets in France nor had Extinction Rebellion made itself known across the world. There were many books and scholarly articles about grass-roots, electronic, direct and deliberative democracy, few about post-democracy, populism or democratic decline. Twitter was launched in March 2006, but new forms of communication typically produce false prophecies and some said there would be no demand for microblogging limited to 140 characters. Facebook was only two years old with barely more than a paltry five million users"-- Provided by publisher Cover Front Matter Introduction Part I. The State: Origins and Development 1. The Development of the Modern State 2. States and Democracy 3. Democratic Change Part II. The Polity. Structures and Institutions 4. Constitutions 5. Presidential and Parliamentary Government 6. Multi-Level Government. International, National and Subnational 7. Policy Making and Legislating. Executives and Legislatures 8. Implementation. The Public Bureaucracy Part III. Citizens, Elites and Interest Mediation 9. Political Attitudes and Behaviour 10. Pressure Groups and Social Movements 11. The Media 12. Voters and Elections 13. Party Government Part IV. Policies and Performance 14. Political Ideologies 15. Policy Making 16. Public Spending and Public Policies 17. The Future of the Democratic State Postscript. How and What to Compare Glossary of Key Terms Index Now in its fourth edition, this textbook gives a clear and concise account of the government and politics of democratic states, comprehensively updated with recent developments. The ideal guide for undergraduate students who want to understand how and why democratic systems differ between countries and how they are changing in the modern world. An authoritative introductory text covering the key concepts, theories and issues in comparative politics, this work focuses on democratic government, covering topics in the field from constitutional design and institutions, through mass and elite politics, groups, parties, the media and governments