Comparative Politics: Interests, Identities, and Institutions in a Changing Global Order

This textbook has become a favorite for the introductory undergraduate course in comparative politics. The second edition features ten theoretically and historically grounded country studies that demonstrate how the three major concepts of comparative analysis (interests, identities, and institutions) shape the politics of nations. Organized to address the concerns of contemporary comparativists, the volume provides students with the conceptual tools and historical background needed to understand today's complex world politics.

Jeffrey Kopstein is the author of The Politics of Economic Decline in East Germany, 1945-1989 (1997). He has published over 40 articles in scholarly journals and books. He is currently Director of the Institute of European Studies at the University of Toronto.

Mark Irving Lichbach is Professor and Chair of Government and Politics at the University of Maryland. He is the author or editor of many books, including the award-winning The Rebel's Dilemma, and of numerous articles that have appeared in scholarly journals in political science, economics, and sociology.