Systematic, coherent, and user friendly, this decidedly nontraditional introduction to comparative politics is designed to teach students how to think comparatively and theoretically about the world they live in. The core of the book is organized around a set of critical questions - why are poor countries poor? why is East Asia rich? what makes a democracy? what makes a terrorist? what makes a social movement? - each the topic of a full chapter. These issue chapters are based on the solid methodological and theoretical foundation laid out in the first part of the book. Graphics and definition boxes enhance the text. Doing Comparative Politics will stimulate your students to critically engage with both the content and the methods of the field.

Author Biography

Timothy Lim is associate professor of political science at California State University, Los Angeles, and associate director of the university's Center for Korean American and Korean Studies.