Understanding the Political World: A Comparative Introduction to Political Science

by James N. Danziger

Understanding the Political World offers a comparative perspective on how politics works at the global, national, group, and individual level. Focusing on how fundamental concepts in political science relate to real political events, this bestselling text surveys political behavior, systems, and processes throughout the world and asks students to evaluate and apply this knowledge. Through an engaging writing style, numerous examples, and the instructive use of cartoons and photographs, Understanding the Political World encourages students to think like political scientists and to critically examine new and enduring political realities and challenges.

Genres: Politics, Textbooks, Political Science, Nonfiction, History, Economics, Reference

528 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1991

About the author

James N. Danziger is a Research Professor of Political Science at the University of California, Irvine, where he also has served as Chair of the Department of Political Science, campus-wide Dean of Undergraduate Education, and Chair of the Academic Senate. He is recipient of many honors and awards, including a Marshall Scholarship (to Great Britain), a Foreign Area Fellowship, Woodrow Wilson Fellowship, Phi Beta Kappa, and an IBM Faculty Award. He received the first UC Irvine Distinguished Faculty Lectureship Award for Teaching in 1987, the UC Irvine Distinguished Service Award in 1997, and the campus’ highest honor, the Extraordinarius Award in 2009. His Ph.D. is from Stanford University, and he has held visiting appointments at the universities of Aarhus (Denmark), Pittsburgh, and Virginia. His research has received awards from the American Political Science Association and the American Society for Public Administration. He has published extensively, particularly on information technology and politics, and been an active participant in local politics.

Reviews

[Patricia · Rating 1 out of 5]

Spends a great deal of time talking about what it will be talking about and then talking about what it has talked about,....not that books can actually talk... The go along audio was inconsistent at times as to the manner in which the chapter items were presented--sometimes the charts were presented as they were refered to and some times it wasn't until much later that they were presented. (All the items in parenthesis and all the abbreviations for items that didn't seem to really need abbreviations save for saving a little more ink on each page became rather annoying.) (All in all a rather boring and very repititious work.) (You see? Only two sentences in parenthesis and it is already somewhat annoying). I tend to like politics and learning in general,...after reading this, I find myself liking both much less, which is not a good thing. I also find myself feeling bad for anyone who has had to rely on/endure this book in college, especially my daughter who is still not impressed with political science. Maybe the second half of the college introductory Political Science Class she is required to take in the Fall will change her mind...I'm hoping for a book written by someone else and that is presented in a more interesting and non redundant and annoying manner. The web-site tests, quizzes, videos, text and audio were very helpful supplements and I am very grateful that unlike some of my daughter's fellow classmates, she was able to have access to them having purchased this item new and not in the secondary market. I look forward to never reading a book similar to this one.

[Christopher · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review

This book was informative. Easy to read format. The setup was excellent. I would recommend this book to those needing it for a college course.

[Zack · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a decent introduction to comparative politics. It can be a bit of a boring topic and very dry at times, but I think the author and editor did about as well as could be hoped for to make it readable. However, I can only give it 3 stars as anymore would make it seem as if this book should actually be read by anyone for fun or pleasure. Definitely not so. It was part of the required reading for an Intro to Comparative Politics class I needed to finish up prerequisites for my second Bachelor's degree. It was fine for what it was, nothing more and nothing less.

[Anissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Textbook for Political Science class

[Nissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

textbook for political science class

[Karmi Mariscal · Rating 1 out of 5]

ok