Politics offers a comprehensive, comparative, and interdisciplinary approach to the essential components of democratic politics in today's states. The book begins by addressing ways of thinking about politics, community, and society. Broad outlines of political theory are sketched; political ideas are treated by moving from an introduction, to political philosophers and their particular historical contexts, to the working out of their ideas in practical form as ideologies, and finally to the diffusion of political ideas within the culture of mass society. The institutions of constitutional government and the processes of electoral democracy are also covered. A special effort has been made to explore alternative features such as proportional representation, multi-party systems, and coalition government, as well as the variations of presidentialism, federalism, and direct democracy. A section on the nature of governing examines the public policy process, the evolving role of the courts in interpreting and reviewing policy, and the economic and social policies associated with the welfare state and its dismantlement. The book concludes by critically considering the unique political and demographic situation of the world's liberal democracies and the privileged economic position they occupy in the face of globalization, modernization, and technological transformation. Updated to reflect recent developments in North American elections and world events, Politics continues to provide students of political science with a foundation for future study within the discipline and the tools for a more informed practice of democratic citizenship. Politics is accompanied by a free CD-ROM for instructors that contains test questions and answers for each chapter of the book (approximately 300 questions in total).