Introduction to comparative politics / Daniele Caramani -- Section 1 Theories and methods -- 1 The evolution of comparative politics / Klaus von Beyme -- 2 Approaches in comparative politics / B. Guy Peters -- 3 Comparative research methods / Hans Keman -- Section 2 The historical context -- 4 The nation-state / Gianfranco Poggi -- 5 Democracies / Peter Mair -- 6 Authoritarian regimes / Paul Brooker -- Section 3 Structures and institutions -- 7 Legislatures / Amie Kreppel -- 8 Governments and bureaucracies / Wolfgang C. Muller -- 9 Constitutions and judicial power / Alec Stone Sweet -- 10 Elections and referendums / Michael Gallagher -- 11 Federal and local government institutions / John Loughlin -- Section 4 Actors and processes -- 12 Political parties / Richard S. Katz -- 13 Party systems / Daniele Caramani -- 14 Interest groups / Roland Erne -- 15 Regions / James Bickerton and Alain-G. Gagnon -- 16 Social movements / Hanspeter Kriesi -- 17 Political culture / Christian Welzel and Ronald Inglehart -- 18 Political participation / Herbert Kitschelt and Philipp Rehm -- Section 5 Public policies -- 20 Policy-making / Christoph Knill and Jale Tosun -- 21 The welfare state / Kees van Kersbergen and Philip Manow -- 22 The impact of public policies / Jorgen Goul Andersen -- Section 6 Beyond the nation-state -- 23 The EU as a new political system / Simon Hix -- 24 Globalization and the nation-state -- 25 Supporting democracy / Peter Burnell -- Country profiles, Comparative data, and world trends.