Comparative Politics: Rationality, Culture, and Structure

Cambridge Studies in Comparative Politics

by Mark Irving Lichbach, Alan S. Zuckerman

Comparative Politics: Rationality, Culture, and Structure brings together leading political scientists to assess the research schools that direct scholarship in comparative politics. It examines rational choice theory, culturalist analysis, and structuralist approaches, by applying them to the study of electoral politics, social movements and revolutions, political economy and the state. The essays return analysis to basic questions concerning the development of theory and the nature of explanations. The contributors are established scholars and pioneers in the various subfields of comparative politics.

Genres: Political Science, Politics, Nonfiction

336 pages, Paperback

First published August 28, 1997

Reviews

[Trashy Pit]

Really good overview of different approaches to comparative politics

[Sequoyah]

These comparative politics essayists couldn’t write a compelling, readable paper if they had a gun held to their head. Sciensifying the study of humanities was a mistake.

[Michael Gerald]

This is an excellent introduction to the three dominant paradigms in Comparative Politics: rational-choice analysis, cultural analysis, and structural analysis. The contributors are widely-known in political science and allied disciplines and the book also presents a synthesis of the three approaches.

[Benemint]

Some chapters were excellent.

[Katia Andronikidou]

A great overview of different strands in comparative politics and a must-read for students using the comparative method in their studies.

[Kate Poz]

I read parts of this book for a graduate student seminar, I would like to return to it when I have more time.