Section I. Theories and methods. 1. The relevance of comparative politics / Bo Rothstein ; 2. Approaches in comparative politics / B. Guy Peters ; 3. Comparative research methods / Hans Keman and Paul Pennings -- Section II. The historical context. 4. The nation-state / Gianfranco Poggi ; 5. Democracies / Aníbal Pérez-Liñán ; 6. Authoritarian regimes / Natasha Lindstaedt -- Section III. Structures and institutions. 7. Legislatures / Amie Kreppel ; 8. Governments and bureaucracies / Wolfgang C. Müller ; 9. Constitutions, rights, and judicial power / Alec Stone Sweet ; 10. Elections and referendums / Michael Gallagher ; 11. Multilevel governance / Liesbet Hooghe, Gary Marks and Arjan H. Schakel -- Section IV. Actors and processes. 12. Political parties / Richard S. Katz ; 13. Party systems / Daniele Caramani ; 14. Interest groups / Roland Erne ; 15. Regions / James Bickerton and Alain-G. Gagnon ; 16. Social movements / Dieter Rucht ; 17. Political culture / Christian Welzel and Ronald Inglehart ; 18. Political participation / Herbert Kitschelt and Philipp Rehm ; 19. Political communication / Frank Esser and Barbara Pfetsch -- Section V. Public policies. 20. Policy making / Christoph Knill and Jale Tosun ; 21. The welfare state / Kees van Kersbergen and Philip Manow ; 22. The impact of public policies / Jørgen Goul Andersen -- Section VI. Beyond the Nation-State ; 23. The EU as a new political system / Simon Hix ; 24. Globalization and the nation-state / Georg Sørensen ; 25. From supporting democracy to supporting autocracy / Peter Burnell.

"With unparalleled empirical material, this is the most comprehensive introduction to comparative politics written by the leading experts in the field who bring together a diverse and informed international perspective on comparative politics. Five new authors join the team for the fifth edition, bringing fresh ideas and insights to the comparative analysis the book provides. The new edition has been brought fully up to date with coverage of Brexit, Trump and the resurgence of Populism, and a greater focus on developing countries through a reworked Chapter 15 on Regions and Ethnicity. Furthermore, the chapter on Political Culture includes more in-depth coverage of gender and representation in the era of the #MeToo movement. Importantly, issues around migration and how different countries respond are explored in Chapter 24 on Globalization. An unrivalled amount of empirical material in the text and in the supporting online resources illustrates key similarities and differences of political systems in practice. The wealth of empirical data also encourages students to go beyond the 'what' of comparison to the 'how'. Combining cutting edge treatment of theories and truly global geographical coverage, this exciting textbook is essential reading for all comparative politics students." -- Provided by publisher.