Contents:
1. Introduction, Paul Pennings and Jan-Erik Lane
PART 1: COMPARING PARTY SYSTEM CHANGE
2. Electoral Instability and Party System Change in Western Europe,Svante Ersson and Jan-Erik Lane 3. Coalitional Potential and Governmental Power,Stefano Bartolini 4. Parties, Party Systems and Policy Effects,Uwe Wagschal 5. The Triad of Party System Change: Votes, Office and Policy, Paul Pennings
PART II: CHANGE AND STABILITY IN ESTABLISHED SYSTEMS 6. Electoral and Parliamentary Aspects of Dominant Party Systems, Francoise Boucek 7. Great Britain: A Stable, but Fragile, Party System? 8. German Unification and Party System Change, Oskar Niedermayer 9. Party Sytem Change in Israel, 1949-96: A Conceptual and Typological Border_Stretching of Europe, Reuven Y. Hazan 10. Electoral Politics and Governance: Transformation of the Party System in Iceland, 1970-96, Svanur Kristjansson PART III: CHANGE AND STABILITY IN RENEWING SYSTEMS
11. Party System Change in Redemocratizing Countries, Anne Bennett 12. The End of the Beginning: The Partial Consolidation of East Central European Parties and Party Systems, Atilla Agh 13. The Logics of Party System Change in Southern Europe, Jose M. Magone

This bold venture into democratic theory offers a new and reinvigorating thesis for how democracy delivers on its promise of public control over public policy. In theory, popular control could be achieved through a process entirely driven by supply-side politics, with omniscient and strategic political parties converging on the median voter's policy preference at every turn. However, this would imply that there would be no distinguishable political parties (or even any reason for parties to exist) and no choice for a public to make. The more realistic view taken here portrays democracy as an ongoing series of give and take between political parties' policy supply and a mass public's policy demand. Political parties organize democratic choices as divergent policy alternatives, none of which is likely to satisfy the public's policy preferences at any one turn. While the one-off, short-run consequence of a single election often results in differences between the policies that parliaments and governments pursue and the preferences their publics hold, the authors construct theoretical arguments, employ computer simulations, and follow up with empirical analysis to show how, why, and under what conditions democratic representation reveals itself over time. Democracy, viewed as a process rather than a single electoral event, can and usually does forge strong and congruent linkages between a public and its government. This original thesis offers a challenge to democratic pessimists who would have everyone believe that neither political parties nor mass publics are up to the tasks that democracy assigns them. Comparative Politics is a series for students, teachers, and researchers of political science that deals with contemporary government and politics. Global in scope, books in the series are characterised by a stress on comparative analysis and strong methodological rigour. The series is published in association with the European Consortium for Political Research. For more information visit: www.ecprnet.eu The Comparative Politics series is edited by Professor David M. Farrell, School of Politics and International Relations, University College Dublin, Kenneth Carty, Professor of Political Science, University of British Columbia, and Professor Dirk Berg-Schlosser, Institute of Political Science, Philipps University, Marburg.

What does the perfect family have to fear most? The perfect stranger. From the outside, Frank and Grace seem to have the perfect family. He's a loving husband, she's a devoted wife, and together they have two happy children. But appearances can be deceiving. A strange series of misfortunes has left them reeling: an unexplained break-in, a catastrophic accident, and a bizarre poisoning that's left Grace feeling especially unnerved. Packing up their RV for a move across the country, they're ready for a fresh start, expecting to leave all their problems safely behind. Then one night on the road to their new home, the figure of a young woman emerges from the darkness, causing them to swerve off the road. The injured stranger says her name is Mara. Miles from help, they invite her to stay. But Mara is hiding a secret. And she is not the only one. Was it all just another inexplicable accident? Or have they opened the door to an escalating family nightmare designed to tear their perfect world apart?

From bestselling Spanish author Paul Pen comes a haunting and hopeful tale of discovering light in even the darkest of places. For his whole life, the boy has lived underground, in a basement with his parents, grandmother, sister, and brother. Before he was born, his family was disfigured by a fire. His sister wears a white mask to cover her burns. He spends his hours with his cactus, reading his book on insects, or touching the one ray of sunlight that filters in through a crack in the ceiling. Ever since his sister had a baby, everyone's been acting very strangely. The boy begins to wonder why they never say who the father is, about what happened before his own birth, about why they're shut away. A few days ago, some fireflies arrived in the basement. His grandma said, There's no creature more amazing than one that can make its own light. That light makes the boy want to escape, to know the outside world. Problem is, all the doors are locked. And he doesn't know how to get out...

This is an immensely helpful book for students starting their own research... an excellent introduction to the comparative method giving an authoritative overview over the research process

"- Klaus Armingeon, University of Bern

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Doing Research in Political Science is the book for mastering the comparative method in all the social sciences

"- Jan-Erik Lane, University of Geneva

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This book has established itself as a concise and well-readable text on comparative methods and statistics in political science I...strongly recommend it.

"- Dirk Berg-Schlosser, Philipps-University Marburg

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This thoroughly revised edition of the popular textbook offers an accessible but comprehensive introduction to comparative research methods and statistics for students of political science. Clearly organized around three parts, the text introduces the main theories and methodologies used in the discipline.

Part 1 frames the comparative approach within the methodological framework of the political and social sciences.

Part 2 introduces basic descriptive and inferential statistical methods as well as more advanced multivariate methods used in quantitative political analysis.

Part 3 applies the methods and techniques of Parts 1 & 2 to research questions drawn from contemporary themes and issues in political science.

Incorporating practice exercises, ideas for further reading and summary questions throughout, Doing Research in Political Science provides an invaluable step-by-step guide for students and researchers in political science, comparative politics and empirical political analysis.