Governments around the World

September 1, 2015

Comparing the governments, politics, and economics of different countries can be a challenge. Shelley (chair, dept. of geography, Univ. of Oklahoma) provides detailed information on these subjects with countries listed according to whether they are democracies, communist states, monarchies, transitional states, or theocracies. Each region is introduced by several pages of charts of statistics on education, energy, geography, health, finances, number of Facebook users, and a plethora of more subjects. The data come from several sources including the CIA World Factbook, the U.S. Census Bureau, International Monetary Fund (IMF), and the country's World Bank. A brief overview is followed by details on the government, constitution, arms of government, political situation, economy, society and contemporary issues. The final two chapters focus on other government types, and transnational organizations such as North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the United Nations, and the African Union. The appendix has viewpoints by scholars and forecasts on changing political situations in Cuba, North Korea, Puerto Rico and in transnational organizations such as the North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the European Union. In some ways this text is reminiscent of the World Factbook, from which it takes many of its statistics. Both include maps for each country and descriptions of the political situation, and both allow for the comparison of different countries. The World Factbook website provides better historical context, is updated regularly, and contains links for rankings, which makes direct comparisons easier. However, it doesn't supply the same depth of coverage on political and government organization. Highly useful in this volume are the excerpts of each country's constitution and the inclusion of contemporary issues. VERDICT A helpful reference for anyone needing information on individual countries and governments.--Susanne Caro, Univ. of Montana Lib., Missoula

Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

December 15, 2015
There are more than 200 countries in the world, each with its own distinct form of governance. Most of these countries belong to some transnational organization, and membership in these organizations influences both the function of the organizations and the governance of the member countries. Although the majority is nominally democratic, there is wide variation in the forms of governance, with some countries rejecting democratic principles and adopting variant forms of governance. This work organizes the various forms of governance into seven representative categories and profiles example countries within each category. A total of 24 countries are profiled in depth in the various categories. Each profile starts with a series of economic and population statistics. A brief overview and description of the government system is followed by a summary of the country's politics, economy, and society. Next, contemporary issues are outlined, and extracts of guiding documents are provided. Governance is influenced by a country's history and its ideals. Hence, a focus on just governance without an adequate background in the other areas does not help readers understand the attitudes expressed and changes implemented by a country when faced with unfolding world events. Although this work does provide a brief social background, more motivated readers would want to delve deeper into a country's history and shared ideals. This work is well suited for survey or introductory courses at the undergraduate level. For a single-volume work, it is an excellent reference on the topic.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)