Comparative Politics in Transition
I was very much impressed, and my students have been as well, with McCormick's 'different way of seeing the world.' For some time I had sensed, with the collapse of the 'second world,' that the old way of dividing the countries of the world into 'three worlds,' was becoming more irrelevant with each passing year. I did experiment with other typologies and systems of classification but found them to be unsatisfactory. What I especially like about McCormick's 'different way of seeing the world' is that he derives his six arenas of countries from differences in political (Freedom House rankings), economic (Economic Freedom Index rankings), and social (HDI rankings) variables. Differences in such variables make a lot of sense to students and help them to understand why a country belongs in this arena rather than another one."I can only agree with the comments of Howard J. Wiarda. . . . John McCormick has succeeded in balancing 'scholarship with lively, readable writing. . . . [His] prose flows nicely, and he includes the most important comparative politics concepts while using a provocative and innovative approach. . . . When I first read the manuscript, I was astounded not only at how well he writes but also at the huge storehouse of information he has developed, usefully and coherently organized around his integrating theses and outline.' . . . [H]e seems to understand the undergraduate audience he is writing for and employs illustrative examples that students can relate to and use to grasp the underlying principles and concepts. Because he is the sole author of the text, John McCormick is able to maintain a consistent level of analysis and insights throughout the text."The greatest strength of this book is the easy-to read nature of the writing, the use of the country-by-country approach, the in-depth coverage of the countries, the categorization of the countries and the treatment of Islam as a political system as well as a religion."The author has written a highly readable text covering the essential topics and issues students need to understand and retain."The part openers are one of the strongest aspects of the book. They provide a rich comparative element to the book in terms of conceptualization and theoretical material, which sets this text apart from books that are strictly country comparisons. The openers are well written and comprehensive, yet very accessible for the introductory-level reader. . . . [O]ne of the greatest assets of this book is that it is not a simple collection of country case studies. Throughout the book, the author draws comparisons between countries using a variety of methods, among these the various text boxes. In addition, the 'comparative exercises' overtly draw the attention of the student back to the fact that the objective of comparative politics is not simply to learn about a slew of countries, but to be able to make conceptual, structural, and institutional comparisons between them for the purpose of broader generalizations and theory-making.