Includes bibliographical references and index.

Basics: Acquiring a vocabulary; Government institutions; Political parties & elections; Citizen participation; Influence; Political recruitment, socialization, & change -- Acquiring influence: Political recruitment, Understanding public issues, Political resources, Into institutions; Political socialization, Who can rule?, What do I seek from rulers?, How should I use influence? -- Using influence: Political culture, National identity, Equality & recruitment, Power & authority, Legal protection, Assimilation into modern institutions; Parties, interest groups, & elections, Political parties, Interest groups, Consensual parties & change; Government institutions, Legislatures & executives, Bureaucracy, military, pluralism, & corruption, Law & public policy -- Influence & people's lives: Equality, Material well-being, Opportunity; Freedom; Environment; Public order -- Systems, influence & change: Influencing change; Corporate and state consumer systems; Patron-client systems; Transforming systems.

Study of comparative politics ... Throughout this book, we shall be discussing nine political systems ... United States, West Germany, United Kingdom ... commonly called industrialized democracies ... India, Peru, Nigeria ... developing nations ... Commonwealth of Independent States, East Germany, China ... are (or have been until recently) communist systems.-Pref.