International Encyclopedia of Political Science

The work of an international legion of over 600 contributors was shepherded by Badie (political science & international relations, Sciences Po, Paris), Dirk Berg-Schlosser (political science, Philipps-Univ., Marburg, Germany), and Leonardo Morlino (political science, Libera Univ. Internazionale degli Studi Sociali, Rome). This massive resource offers a comprehensive examination of the topics and empirical principles related to politics. Arranged in a single alphabet, the approximately 700 articles, complemented by occasional diagrams, range in scope from "cabinets" and "cohort analysis" to "War and Peace" and in length from about 1800 to 12,000 words. Each article is furnished with myriad further-reading recommendations and cross-references; each volume boasts topical and alphabetical article lists and a complete index. Aside from summary articles on major religions, a few biographical entries on theorists such as Niccolò Machiavelli and Max Weber, and a series of articles viewing democracy from various perspectives, the contents display a technical slant more suitable for serious academic study than casual enquiry. On the other hand, sufficiently motivated nonspecialists will find rewarding introductions to generally useful tools for research and analysis—from structural equation modeling and data visualization to thick description—as well as insights into individual and collective human psychology, political methodologies from Maoism to caudillismo, and current thinking about such nebulous concepts as peace, justice, and concept formation. BOTTOM LINE The more digestible, if narrowly focused, articles in George Thomas Kurian's The Encyclopedia of Political Science (CQ Pr., 2010) include greater measures of historical and biographical background and guide general readers in search of specific case studies of politics in action either to the likes of Cathal J. Nolan's Greenwood Encyclopedia of International Relations (2002) or daily newspapers. Readers wanting deeper analysis, though, and far more international coverage, will do better with this set. Wide of scope, scholarly in approach, and focused on theory, this merits consideration as a foundation stone for all academic collections supporting advanced studies in political science.—John Peters, Bronx, NY