Contending Perspectives in Comparative Politics: A Reader - Couverture souple

Lawrence Mayer is Professor of Political Science at Texas Tech University. His current research interests include party system change, especially in the weakening of mainstream parties of the moderate left and right, and the emergence of populist parties of identity. His published books include: Comparative Politics: Nations and Theories in a Changing World (With Burnett, Ogden, and Tuman), American Public Policy (with Cochran, Carr, and Cayer), Redefining Comparative Politics, Politics in Industrial Societies (with Burnett), and Comparative Political Inquiry: A Methodological Survey. His articles have appeared in Political Science and Politics, Nationalism and Ethnic Politics, Comparative Political Studies, The Western Political Quarterly, Teaching Political Science, and West European Politics. Frank Thames is Assistant Professor of Political Science at Texas Tech University. His current research focuses on legislative behavior in post-communist legislatures and the economic effects of electoral systems. His journal articles have appeared in Communist and Post-Communist Studies, Demokratizatsiya, Europe-Asia Studies, Social Science Quarterly, and Comparative Political Studies. Dennis Patterson areas of specialization include comparative politics (advanced societies), politics of Japan/Asia, comparative political economy, political institutions/election systems, rational choice models of politics, and security in East Asia. He has published numerous articles and book chapters on such topics as elections and electoral influences on policymaking in Japan in journals such as Comparative Political Studies, British Journal of Political Science, World Politics, Women and Politics, and Pacific Focus. He recently published a co-authored book (with Dick Beason) The Japan That Never Was: Explaining the Rise and Decline of a Misunderstood Country and is currently working on a project that examines the politics of election system change in comparative perspective.

In addition to a well-chosen set of classic readings, Contending Perspectives also offers students access to cutting-edge research. By framing chapters around a central question in the field, the editors are able to show students how scholars approach inquiry with different perspectives, producing controversy and consensus in interesting and instructive ways. With these selections, students see work with data, theory, and analysis at its best and set in proper context not pieces chosen just for their currency or for pages of colorful detail. Chapter introductions and selection headnotes offer important background and critical thinking questions.