There a Connection?

2022

Introduction to Comparative Government and Politics is the first open educational resource (OER) on the topic of comparative politics, and the second OER textbook in political science funded by ASCCC OERI, in what we hope will become a complete library for the discipline. This textbook aligns with the C-ID Course Descriptor for Introduction to Comparative Government and Politics in content and objectives. With chapter contributions from Dr. Julia Wendt at Victor Valley College, Dr. Charlotte Lee at Berkeley City College, Jessica Scarffe at Allan Hancock College, Dr. Masahiro Omae at San Diego City College, Dr. Josue Franco at Cuyamaca College, Stefan Veldhuis at Long Beach City College, Dr. Byran Martin at Houston Community College, and myself, the purpose of this open education resource is to provide students interested in or majoring in political science a useful textbook in comparative politics, one of the major subfields in the discipline. It is organized thematically, with 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. I chose to pursue this project as I felt that an OER textbook in comparative politics would otherwise never have been written. After many years of teaching at a community college, my colleagues and I realized a need existed for a zero-cost textbook. With the rising costs of education and textbooks, community college students may be deterred from exploring political science courses. I believe that this is where the next elected leader, policymaker or military strategist needs to come from. This is a grassroots textbook, written with these and future community college students in mind. This open education resource is free to students and faculty and available under the Creative Commons - Attribution - Noncommercial (CC BY-NC) license. We hope that it will encourage them further their studies in comparative politics and in political science.

Introduction to Comparative Government and Politics, 2022

Chapter Outline 1.1: What is Comparative Politics? 1.1.1: Overview 1.1.2: A Brief History and Expanded Definition 1.2: Ways Comparativists Look at the World 1.2.1: Area Studies 1.2.2: Cross-national Studies 1.2.3: Subnational Studies 1.3: Things that Comparativists Study and Say 1.3.1: Approaching this Textbook 1.3.2: Organization of this Book 1.3.3: Part One: Institutions and Institutional Change 1.3.4: Part Two: Intersections and Boundaries 1.3.5: Part Three: Comparative Political Behavior

Comparative Political Thought, 2012

Compare this account of the history of the field with those of Freeden (2007), Godrej (2011) and Von Vacano (2015). On the parallels between Orientalist scholarship, and comparative political theory in terms of seeking to articulate the value of non-Western scholarship for Western knowledge, see Thomas (2010).

Introduction to Comparative Government and Politics, 2022

Chapter Outline 2.1: The Scientific Method and Comparative Politics 2.1.1: What Makes Political Science a Science? 2.1.1: The Scientific Method 2.2: Four Approaches to Research 2.2.1: Experimental 2.2.2: Statistical (Large-N) 2.2.3: Comparative Methods (Intermediate-N) 2.2.4: Case Studies (Single-N) 2.2.4: The Use of Case Studies in Comparative Politics 2.3: Case Selection (Or, How to Use Cases in Your Comparative Analysis) 2.3.1: Types of Case Studies: Descriptive vs. Causal 2.3.2: Most Similar / Most Different Systems Approach

Graduate level core course in the M.A. Program in International and Comparative Politics, Wright State University

Foundations of Comparative Politics, 2009

Acknowledgements List of briefings List of fact files List of controversies List of tables List of figures List of abbreviations and acronyms Key terms and concepts PART I The state: origins and development 1 The development of the modern state What is a state? Territory, people and sovereignty The rise of the modern state Historical origins and development State formation and nation building

This seminar is the second in a two-course sequence aiming to introduce students to some of the central concepts, arguments, and debates in the field of comparative politics. By providing foundational training in the subfield, the two-course sequence prepares students to take the comparative politics preliminary examination. The material covered in the course also should be of use to students preparing for other qualifying examinations in political science.

What enables some countries to "make it" in the modern world while others remain locked in poverty?