This best-selling textbook continues to lead the way in providing an approachable and wide-ranging introduction to politics. It covers the key concepts, theories and debates, actors and institutions that drive politics, exploring their application and relevance to contemporary political developments. This sixth edition's new co-author, Matthew Laing, builds on previous editions and provides significant revisions to chapters covering populism, elections, global policing, security and governance, race and gender in politics, and law and the media to reflect rapidly changing global practice and scholarship. Brand new global examples and a range of tried-and-tested pedagogical tools, including Key Thinker profiles, Politics in Action features and debating boxes, allow students to develop nuanced responses to political issues. Carefully designed and written to map onto degree curricula, it remains the go-to text for undergraduate introductory and comparative politics courses. It can also be used as pre-course reading or as a point of reference for politics majors or minors. New to this edition: - The popular have been updated with new case studies to reflect the latest political developments, including the COVID-19 pandemic, the persistent rise of populism, the climate emergency, China's continuing emergence as a world power and Russia's invasion of Ukraine. - A with new emphasis on flawed democracies, hybrid regimes and democratic backsliding in the modern world. from around the world, with many more case studies and analyses drawn from Africa, Asia and Latin America. Updated and free-to-use online resources that support teaching and learning can be found at , featuring flashcards, a glossary, additional cases, interactive simulations and weblinks for students, and for lecturers PowerPoint slides, a testbank and a guide to using the book.