POLS 3311. University of Houston, Fall 2026.

This course offers an introduction to theoretical and empirical research in comparative politics, a field that seeks to explain variation in political institutions and outcomes across countries, and variation in political behavior across individuals and groups within them. We will study the concept of state and its formation, political regimes, constitutional design, electoral rules and political parties, focusing throughout on how institutions shape the policies governments adopt and the outcomes those policies produce. Making sense of these explanations requires understanding the nature of power: who holds it, how it is exercised, and what constrains it.