Drawing on the rich resources of the 10-volume series of The Oxford Handbooks of Political Science this one-volume distillation provides a comprehensive overview of the main branches of contemporary political science. It will serve as the reference book for political scientists and those following their work for years to come.

Robert Goodin is Distinguished Professor of Social & Political Theory and Philosophy in the Research School of Social Sciences at Australian National University, having previously taught in the Government Department at the University of Essex. He is a Corresponding Fellow of the British Academy, founding editor of The Journal of Political Philosophy and general editor of the ten-volume series of Oxford Handbooks of Political Science. His work straddles democratic theory (e.g. Reflective Democracy, OUP 2003), empirical welfare-state studies (e.g., The Real Worlds of Welfare Capitalism, CUP 1999; Discretionary Time, CUP 2008) and theoretical reflections on public policy (e.g., Social Welfare as an Individual Responsibility, CUP 1998; What's Wrong with Terrorism? Polity 2006).

• About the Contributors


• Preface


• PART 1 INTRODUCTION


• 1: ROBERT E. GOODIN: The State of the Discipline, the Discipline of the State


• PART II POLITICAL THEORY


• 2: JOHN S. DRYZEK, BONNIE HONIG and ANNE PHILLIPS: Overview of Political Theory


• 3: RUSSELL HARDIN: Normative Methodology


• 4: J.G.A. POCOCK: Theory in History: Problems with Context and Narrative


• 5: RICHARD J. ARNESON: Justice After Rawls


• 6: JANE BENNETT: Modernity and its Critics


• PART III POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS


• 7: R.A.W. RHODES: Old Institutionalisms: An Overview


• 8: JAMES G. MARCH and JOHAN P. OLSEN: Elaborating the "New Institutionalism"


• 9: JOSEP M. COLOMER: Comparative Constitutions


• 10: JOHN H. ALDRICH: Political Parties In and Out of Legislatures


• 11: JOHN BRAITHWAITE: The Regulatory State?


• PART IV LAW and POLITICS


• 12: KEITH E. WHITTINGTON, R DANIEL KELEMEN and GREGORY A CALDEIRA: Overview of Law and Politics: The Study of Law and Politics


• 13: RAN HIRSCHL: The Judicialization of Politics


• 14: JEFFREY A. SEGAL: Judicial Behavior


• 15: LYNN MATHER: Law and Society


• 16: JUDITH A. BAER: Feminist Theory and the Law


• PART V POLITICAL BEHAVIOR


• 17: RUSSELL J. DALTON and HANS-DIETER KLINGEMANN: Overview of Political Behavior: Political Behavior and Citizen Politics


• 18: DIANA C. MUTZ: Political Psychology and Choice


• 19: ANNE WREN and KENNETH M. McELWAIN: Votes and Parties


• 20: ERIC M. USLANER and THOMAS ZITTEL: Comparative Legislative Behavior


• 21: JAMES L. GIBSON: Political Intolerance in the Context of Democratic Theory


• PART VI CONTEXTUAL POLITICAL ANALYSIS


• 22: CHARLES TILLY and ROBERT E. GOODIN: Overview of Contextual Political Analysis: It Depends


• 23: COLIN HAY: Political Ontology


• 24: JAMES G. MARCH and JOHAN P. OLSEN: The Logic of Appropriateness


• 25: GÖRAN THERBORN: Why and How Place Matters


• 26: CHARLES TILLY: Why and How History Matters


• PART VII COMPARATIVE POLITICS


• 27: CARLES BOIX and SUSAN C. STOKES: Overview of Comparative Politics


• 28: HENDRIK SPRUYT: War, Trade and State Formation


• 29: BARBARA GEDDES: What Causes Democratization?


• 30: HERBERT KITSCHELT: Party Systems


• 31: SUSAN C. STOKES: Political Clientelism


• PART VIII INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS


• 32: CHRISTIAN REUS-SMIT and DUNCAN SNIDAL: Overview of International Relations: Between Utopia and Reality


• 33: ANDREW MORAVSCIK: The New Liberalism


• 34: TIM DUNNE: The English School


• 35: MICHAEL BARNETT and KATHRYN SIKKINK: From International Relations to Global Society


• 36: ROBERT O. KEOHANE: Big Questions in the Study of World Politics ROBERT O. KEOHANE


• 37: STEVE SMITH: Six Wishes for a More Relevant Discipline of International Relations


• PART IX POLITICAL ECONOMY


• 38: BARRY R. WEINGAST and DONALD A. WITTMAN: Overview of Political Economy: The Reach of Political Economy


• 39: DAVID AUSTEN-SMITH: Economic Methods in Positive Political Theory


• 40: TORBEN IVERSEN: Capitalism and Democracy


• 41: JOHN D. HUBER and CHARLES R SHIPAN: Politics, Delegation and Bureaucracy


• 42: SAMUEL BOWLES and HERBERT GINTIS: The Evolutionary Basis of Collective Action


• PART X PUBLIC POLICY


• 43: ROBERT E. GOODIN, MICHAEL MORAN and MARTIN REIN: Overview of Public Policy: The Public and Its Policies


• 44: DAVIS B. BOBROW: Social and Cultural Factors: Constraining and Enabling


• 45: EUGENE BARDACH: Policy Dynamics


• 46: MARTIN REIN: Reframing Problematic Policies


• 47: RUDOLF KLEIN and THEODORE R. MARMOR: Reflections on Policy Analysis: Putting it Together Again


• PART XI POLITICAL METHODOLOGY


• 48: HENRY E. BRADY, DAVID COLLIER and JANET M. BOX- STEFFENSMEIER: Overview of Political Methodology: Post-behavioral Movements and Trends


• 49: HENRY E. BRADY: Causation and Explanation in Social Science


• 50: ALAN S. GERBER and DONALD P. GREEN: Field Experiments and Natural Experiments


• 51: JOHN GERRING: The Case Study: What It Is and What It Does


• 52: DAVID D. LAITIN and JAMES D. FEARON: Integrating Qualitative and Quantitative Methods


• APPENDIX: Tables of Contents of the Other Ten Oxford Handbooks of Political Science


• Index