Introduction to Comparative Politics: Concepts and Processes

Rating:
Summary: Excellent book for political science students
Review: It would probably bore the average reader to tears, but Prof. Wiarda's book is a well-written, easilly digestable summary of the major subfields in Comparative Politics. It is written with the beginner in mind and avoids jargon. The writing is clear and concise.

Rating:
Summary: An excellent starting point for students and teachers
Review: This update of Wiarda's 1993 text is an excellent starting point for students new to comparative politics and their teachers. (It might also serve well those beginning to prepare for comprehensive exams). Wiarda begins with an introduction to the history and methodology of comparative politics. Three hearty chapters deal with the origins and evolution of political development theory, its challenges and alternatives (dependencia, corporatism, bureaucratic-authoritarianism, etc.), and the role of political culture. Wiarda turns next to democratization, particularly the theoretical debates about the "third wave" and post-communist transitions. He concludes with a global tour for analysis of "what works...and what doesn't," and a look toward the future of comparative politics itself.
This book is helpful to the beginner because it offers summaries of the debates in comparative politics over time, rather than just one school of thought or a "comparative politics today" snapshot. The section on early development literature, for example, identifies the similar kinds of work economists, sociologists and political scientists were doing at the time. He puts the "new institutionalism" of the early 1990s in context by reminding the reader of the pre-1950s institutionalism. And he concludes his tour of "what works" with possible U.S. policy implications.
Students might also examine the written format itself. The introduction, the exposition of the arguments, the analysis, the conclusions, and suggested future areas of research might serve as a useful model for those beginning a thesis.