Political Science
Political science is best defined in comparison to political philosophy: one attempts to understand politics from first principles, reasoned outward, in a coherent and consistent theory; the other attempts to understand politics from observations and theories of what explains the variance therein. This page addresses the latter.
Public Choice and Social Choice Theory
Political Economy
International Relations
Comparative Politics
- resources for Comparative Politics on this wiki:
listings of states and city-states
listings of empires (including de facto empires)
Reading Notes
Note: reading notes for the above topics are listed on the respective pages, not here.
Plunkitt of Tammany Hall, William L. Riordon, 1905
England in the Age of the American Revolution, Lewis Namier, 1931
An Economic Theory of Democracy, Anthony Downs, 1957
Who Governs? Democracy and Power in an American City, Robert Dahl, 1961
The Calculus of Consent, James M. Buchanon and Gordon Tullock, 1962
The Theory of Political Coalitions, William H. Riker, 1962
Congressmen in Committees, Richard F. Fenno, Jr., 1973
Congress: The Electoral Connection, David R. Mayhew, 1974
Hard and Soft Law in International Governance, Kenneth Abbott and Duncan Snidal, 2000
The Limits of Party: Congress and Lawmaking in a Polarized Era, James M. Curry and Frances E. Lee, 2020
City Diplomacy: From City-States to Global Cities, Raffaele Marchetti, 2021
Is It the Message or the Messenger? Examining Movement in Immigration Beliefs, Hassan Afrouzi, Carolina Arteaga, and Emily Weisburst, 2024
Economic Sanctions as a Foreign Policy Tool, Michael Klein and Daniel W. Drezner, 2024
A Case for Congress: Shared Power for a Divided Society, Frances E. Lee, 2024