Comparing Political Regimes: A Thematic Introduction to Comparative Politics

Comparing Political Regimes A Thematic Introduction to Comparative Politics By Alan Siaroff

There are now 192 sovereign states in the world. Contrary to many assumptions (or hopes), these have hardly all converged onto a liberal democratic model; instead, there is still great variation in national political regimes. This book provides a comprehensive and current assessment of the world’s political systems. It does so primarily by outlining and contrasting the aspects of four different regime types—liberal democracies, electoral democracies, semi-liberal autocracies, and closed autocracies—and classifying all 192 countries within this typology. Empirical explanations answer the question of why countries tend to be in one regime type rather than another.

In contrast to standard introductory comparative politics texts that focus on a few large countries, this textbook is organized thematically. There are modern examinations of the still-relevant concept of political development and of the military in politics. The various democracies are further compared in terms of their political institutions and party politics. The different totalitarian, sultanistic, and authoritarian subtypes of autocracy are explained and contrasted. Democratic transition, consolidation, breakdown, and re-equilibration are analyzed and modelled. Key historical examples are noted where appropriate. Finally, the text looks ahead to potential changes in regime numbers over the next couple of decades. A list of websites is provided so that students can remain up-to-date about the world’s countries.