What is comparative politics -- The challenges of modernization -- Liberal democracies -- Democratic development--case studies -- Communist and post-communist regimes: the failure of the state socialist development model -- Communist regimes--case studies -- Non-communist single-party regimes -- Non-communist single-party regimes--case studies -- Personalistic regimes -- Personalistic regimes--case studies -- Unstable democracies--the dictatorship-democracy cycle -- Unstable democracies--case studies -- The future of democracy.