SUMARIO: Preface - Comparing politics and governments - Nations, governments, and politics - Political institutions and political power - Legislatures: menaing and estructure - Legislature: functions and structure - Executives and executive powers - Patterns of administration - Bureaucratic pathologies and prescriptions - Political interest and pressures - Violence and corruption in politics - Political participation and social structure - Political elites and conflict management - Political parties and the political process - The future as politics - Author index - Subject index