Foundations of Comparative Politics

This course provides an introduction to concepts, theories, and evidence in the field of comparative politics.

Topics include origins of nation-states, democracy and authoritarianism, social revolutions, politics of economic development, ethnicity and ethnic violence, modernization, political culture, institutions, and civil society.

The course also instructs students in the basic tools of research design in comparative politics, including qualitative case selection, large datasets, and natural experiments.

Empirical evidence is drawn from cases in Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe, Eurasia, and the Middle East.