Comparative Political Economy: States, Markets and Global Capitalism

Citation

Clift, B. (2021). Comparative Political Economy: States, Markets and Global Capitalism (2nd ed.). Red Globe Press (Bloomsbury Academic).

Chapter Summary

The second edition has 14 chapters in about 392 pages. Ben Clift, Professor of Political Economy at the University of Warwick, presents comparative political economy (CPE) as a way of "re-embedding" the economy in its social and political setting, against an economics that strips out social, historical and political context. The publisher says the book maps the field and its evolution, gives the analytical tools to explore the variants of capitalism, traces their roots to competing visions of how the fruits of growth should be distributed, and links CPE systematically to international political economy (IPE). The chapter order below follows the publisher's contents list.

Chapters 1–2: Introduction: The Focus and Rationale of the Book; Comparative Political Economy: Lineages From Classical Political Economy, Linkages To International Political Economy

The opening chapters set out the purpose of the book and place CPE in relation to classical political economy and to IPE. The publisher notes an expanded "how to use this book" section aimed at student readers.

Chapters 3–4: Capitalism & Classical Political Economy; Disciplinary Politics and the Genealogy of Comparative Political Economy

Two chapters of intellectual history: capitalism as classical political economy treated it, and the disciplinary politics behind the genealogy of CPE.

Chapters 5–7: Interest-based Analysis and Comparative Political Economy; Institutional Analysis and Comparative Political Economy; Ideational Analysis and Comparative Political Economy

The analytical core. By their titles, three chapters each devoted to one family of approaches: interest-based, institutional and ideational. (The retailer listing of the contents puts interests before institutions; the first edition's chapters ran in the reverse order.)

Chapters 8–9: The Comparative Political Economy of the State; Comparative Capitalisms

Chapter 8 turns to the state, and Chapter 9 to the variants of capitalism that the book's description highlights. The publisher says the second edition widens its coverage of types of economy beyond an exclusively Western focus to developing and emerging economies.

Chapters 10–12: The Comparative Political Economy of Finance and Corporate Governance; The Comparative Political Economy of Welfare; Inequality, the Political and Social Settlement Underpinning Advanced Capitalisms

Three topical chapters. Chapter 12 appears to be the new chapter of this edition, which the publisher describes as on the political economy of inequality, populism, Trump and Brexit.

Chapters 13–14: The Comparative Method and Comparative Political Economy; Conclusion

A chapter on method in CPE, then a conclusion.

Key Concepts

Foundations (Chapters 1–4)

• Re-embedding the economy: the book's claim that the economic must be analysed within social and political life.
• Classical political economy: the intellectual starting point, in Chapter 3.
• Linkages to IPE: the connection between the comparative and international sub-fields drawn in Chapter 2.

Approaches (Chapters 5–7)

• Interest-based analysis: explanation through the interests of actors.
• Institutional analysis: explanation through institutions.
• Ideational analysis: explanation through ideas.

Topics and Method (Chapters 8–14)

• Comparative capitalisms: the variants of capitalism in Chapter 9.
• Finance and corporate governance; welfare; inequality: the three topical chapters that follow.
• Comparative method: the subject of Chapter 13.

Critical Analysis

Strengths

• A clear map of the field. The contents move from the field's lineage and history to three named families of approach, then to topics, then to method. The publisher presents this as mapping the terrain and evolution of CPE and providing tools for exploring the variants of capitalism.
• Links to IPE. The publisher stresses systematic connection between CPE and IPE, which helps a student who will meet both subfields in the same course.
• Student orientation. The second edition adds an expanded "how to use this book" aimed at student readers, and the publisher recommends it as an introduction for students of both CPE and IPE.
• Updated scope. The new chapter on inequality, populism, Trump and Brexit ties the field to recent politics, and the broader range of economies, including developing and emerging ones, responds to an earlier Western focus.
• A single author's voice. The book is by one author throughout, which makes a continuous argument across the 14 chapters easier than in an edited survey.

Limitations

• Foundations before topics. Seven chapters (half the chapters) of history, disciplinary background and approaches come before the first topical chapter on the state in Chapter 8. Students who want the substance of national capitalisms quickly will have to wait for it.
• Narrow topical coverage. The contents list shows topical chapters on the state, comparative capitalisms, finance and corporate governance, welfare and inequality. It shows no separate chapters on labour relations, trade and industrial policy, or development, and the wider range of economies is described as an addition within chapters, not as dedicated chapters.
• Perspective. The publisher frames the book as a corrective to an economics that ignores social and political context. Readers who want the economic models themselves will need another source.
• Dated by its publication. A 2021 text will not cover later developments in the field, and a student doing a project on recent events will need to supplement it.

Where It Fits in the Course

Within the political-economy list this is the main textbook for comparative political economy. Fulcher's Capitalism: A Very Short Introduction is a short, accessible introduction that asks what capital is, uses historical cases and compares forms of capitalism across countries, so it is a gentler first step before Clift. Oatley's International Political Economy covers trade, money and finance, and development with basic economic models, and is the natural companion for the international side that Clift connects to.

Hall and Soskice's Varieties of Capitalism is the volume that set out the varieties of capitalism framework, and reading it after Chapter 9 on comparative capitalisms shows that framework in the original. Olson's The Logic of Collective Action is an influential analysis of why people with shared interests may fail to organise, and it is relevant to the interest-based chapter. Persson and Tabellini's Political Economics is a graduate text that uses the tools of economic theory to explain how institutions and incentives shape policy; it is a formal counterpart to the less technical treatment here and is not needed to follow Clift.

How to Use This Book

The book suits undergraduates coming to political economy from politics or economics; no formal modelling or statistics is required, according to the listing on this site. An introductory course in either discipline helps with the vocabulary.

A practical plan:

• Read first: Chapter 1 and the "how to use this book" guidance, then Chapter 2 for the map of the field.
• Core: Chapters 5–7, the interest, institution and idea approaches, and Chapter 9 on comparative capitalisms. Return to the approaches whenever a topical chapter applies them.
• Choose by interest: Chapters 8 and 10–12 (state, finance and corporate governance, welfare, inequality) can be taken in any order. Chapter 12 suits courses focused on recent politics.
• Intellectual history: Chapters 3–4 are optional for a short course but useful for essays on the field itself.
• Close with Chapter 13 on method if the course includes a research design assignment, and pair the book with a primary text such as Varieties of Capitalism.