1. Chapter 1: Seeking New Lands, Seeing with New Eyes

2. What is comparative politics? –Content – focus on contentious issues –All the news that fits we print – we need more sources than journalists –Method – comparing alike and unalike things –Science Find general explanations (theory) Deductive work to falsify hypotheses

3. The State: One Focus Among Many –What is the State? Institutions and individuals who exercise power Government State Regime Nation

4. The State: One Focus Among Many –Types of States Industrialized democracies Current and former Communist regimes Less developed countries

6. The State: One Focus Among Many –Strong and Weak States –Other core concepts: system, democracy, capitalism, political culture, identity, political participation, public policy, imperialism, totalitarianism, cold war, globalization

7. Three Templates –The Political System Systems Theory: inputs, decision making, outputs, feedback, environment Political Culture

9. Three Templates –Historical and Contemporary Factors State building Imperialism The Cold War The international political economy –State, Society, and Globalization A world in Crisis?

12. Chapter 2: The Industrialized Democracies

14. Four Elections Common and Not So-Common Themes –Elections determine who governs –Elections are not about basic principles –Dissimilarities Electoral systems – direct, indirect, proportional, plurality Separation of powers and fusion of powers

15. Thinking About Democracy The Basics –Rights –Competitive elections –The Rule of Law –Civil Society and Civic Culture –Capitalism and Affluence Which countries are democracies by those criteria?

17. The Origins of the Democratic State Evolution of democratic thought _ Magna Charta _ Chartered Towns _ Enlightenment Movement –Hobbes –Laissez-faire –Locke –Suffrage

19. The Origins of the Democratic State Building Democracies –the creation of the state itself –the role of religion in society and government –the development of pressures for democracy –the industrial revolution –complications of cleavages –Cold War as solidifier of strong democracies

20. Political Culture and Participation The Civic Culture? –legitimacy –drop in participation and trust –social capital –tolerance

21. Political Culture and Participation Political Parties and Elections –social democratic parties –liberal or radical parties –Christian democratic and secular conservative parties Catch-all Parties – appeals to the center

25. Political Culture and Participation New Divisions –Gender –Post-industrial –Post-materialist Realignment? Interest Groups Political Protest

26. The Democratic State Presidential and Parliamentary Systems –separation of powers –cabinet responsibility –coalition government

29. The Democratic State The Rest of the State –bureaucracy –judiciary

31. Public Policy The Interventionist State –basic health care –subsidized or free education at all levels –unemployment compensation –pensions and programs for seniors Foreign Policy

32. Feedback greater access to information and opinion assessment of information more important competition between information and entertainment

33. Conclusion: The Worst Form of Government Except for All the Others balance between governors and governed balance between political world and rest of society balance between unbridled capitalism and the interests of those who do not benefit (much) from it balance between personal freedom and the need to maintain order and forge coherent public policy