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Originally published in 1975, this book advocates a certain approach to the study of government: the focus should be institutional, the method comparative and the level practical. The book divides into 2 sections on political science and public administration but the themes are common, as is much of the subject matter. Chapters on the institutional and comparative approach are intended to show how political institutions are often designed to reflect political theories, how institutional engineering may take place and how lessons for domestic reform may be learnt from foreign experience. The second section looks at the state of public administration studies in Britain, the nature of the subject, drawing on the work of earlier theorists, the role of the universities and the civic contribution such study can make

Intro -- Contents -- Preface and Acknowledgments -- Part 1 Establishing Benchmarks -- 1 Introduction: The Comparative Turn in Canadian Political Science -- 2 A Quantitative Analysis of the Comparative Turn in Canadian Political Science -- Part 2 Multiculturalism, Diversity, and Rights: Canada's Comparative Advantage -- 3 Is Canadian Multiculturalism Parochial? Canadian Contributions to Theorizing Justice and Ethnocultural Diversity -- 4 Canada as Counternarrative: Multiculturalism, Recognition, and Redistribution -- 5 Canada's Contribution to the Comparative Study of Rights and Judicial Review -- 6 Marketing Canadian Pluralism in the International Arena -- Part 3 Federalism and Multilevel Governance: Canada's Comparative Resurgence -- 7 Is the Secret to Have a Good Dentist? Canadian Contributions to the Study of Federalism in Divided Societies -- 8 Working around the American Model: Canadian Federalism and the European Union -- 9 Empirical Evidence and Pragmatic Explanations: Canada's Contributions to Comparative Federalism -- Part 4 Political Parties and Public Policy: Canada's Comparative Potential -- 10 What's So Bad about Cultivating Our Own Theoretical Gardens? The Study of Political Parties in Canada -- 11 Canadian Voting Behaviour in Comparative Perspective -- 12 Policy Networks and Policy Communities: Conceptualizing State-Societal Relationships in the Policy Process -- 13 How Can Comparative Political Economy Explain Variable Change? Lessons for, and from, Canada -- Conclusion: Are We on the Right Track? -- Notes -- References -- Contributors -- Index -- A -- B -- C -- D -- E -- F -- G -- H -- I -- J -- K -- L -- M -- N -- O -- P -- Q -- R -- S -- T -- U -- V -- W -- Y.

Analyzes the British approach to comparative research; based on a survey of major journals and books published in the 1970s and 1980s.

The internationalization of political science makes it especially difficult to identify a distinctive British approach to comparative politics. While there is certainly evidence of a distaste for cross-national comparison in Britain, this is no more marked than in other countries. In fact, on the evidence of a survey of major journals, Britons make relatively heavy use of the comparative method. British comparative research is less likely to use statistical indicators and methods than that found in other countries. Apart from this, the distinctions between comparative politics here and elsewhere are more matters of style and less matters of substance.

Internationalisation of political science makes it difficult to identify a distinctive British approach to comparative politics. On the evidence of a survey of major journals, Britons make relatively heavy use of method. British research is less likely to use statistical indicators and methods than that found in other countries. (Abstract amended)

Cover -- Contents -- List of Key Texts -- List of Tables -- Preface -- 1 The Importance of Comparison -- Forms of comparative analysis -- Types of comparative studies -- The content of comparisons -- Cross-time comparisons -- Conclusion -- 2 The Logic of Comparison -- Comparative research design -- Research design and case selection -- Levels of analysis -- Threats to validity in non-experimental research -- Conclusion -- 3 The Number of Cases and Which Ones? -- Strategies with different numbers of cases -- Small-N research in general -- Conclusion -- 4 Measurement and Bias -- The traveling problem -- Typologies -- Triangulation -- Nominal categories -- Ideal-type analysis and measurement -- Conclusion -- 5 The Role of Theory in Comparative Politics -- Levels of explanation -- Macro-level theories -- Meso-level theories -- Micro-level theories -- State and society -- Conclusion -- 6 The Case Study -- Improving case research -- Case studies -- Conducting case research -- Defining cases -- The purposes of case research -- The case as process -- Issues in case study research -- The role of the case researcher -- Conclusion -- 7 Building on Case Analysis -- Meta-analysis -- Boolean algebra and cumulation -- Conclusion -- 8 Events Data and Change Over Time -- Events data -- The method -- Relationships with other methods -- Potential problems -- Conclusion -- 9 Statistical Analysis -- Statistical modes of explanation in comparative politics -- The question of time -- The problem of context -- Coping with a small N -- Secondary analysis -- Conclusion -- 10 The Future of Comparative Politics -- Territory or function: choices in comparison -- Theory and the restriction of perspective -- Methods and the restriction of vision -- The exceptional and the ordinary: what can we learn from each? -- Modesty, but hope -- The future of comparative politics.