Comparative politics

Academic texts and research come in different formats, and academic texts can be used for different purposes. For example:

- Textbooks for students and encyclopedias and can provide definitions, overviews and insights. Both provide definitions, but textbooks provide more nuanced professional insight.

- Research reports and research articles present up-to-date research in the field. These are important for the literature/theory section of assignments or articles you write.

- Public statistics, grey literature and 'policy documents' can be used as a data basis and analyzed, but can also provide useful information for the introduction, context and literature section of the assignment you are writing.

Critical appraches to litterature and resources

Litterature given in courses by academic employees at the university, are reliable as they quality approved by these empoyees. However, wehn searching for additional litterature as a student, it can be challanging to navigate vast amounts of books, journals and research reports. Before using a (seeminly) academic text, it can be useful to investigate:

- Where and by whom is the text published?

- Is the publisher recognized, and is it in the "register of scientific publishing channels"?

- Is the journal or book peer-reviewed?

- Are the authors within their field of expertise? (eg. check their profile at the institution they work at)

- What does the text look like and is it relevant to your purpose?

- Are there references to recognized works in the field?

- Does it contain sufficient information about methods and limitations?

- Is the text still relevant? Or is it perhaps a classic?

See also https://kildekompasset.no/kildekritikk/

Today printed literature is only a fraction of the library collection, most of the books are avaiable as e-books.

Physical books are listed by subject, not by subject. To find the number of the book you want to borrow, you can search in Oria. You access Oria via the University Library website. "Politics" is on shelves 320 to 328. The table below shows where you can look.

UBBSV har fleire store samlingar av e-bøker.

• E-books central. Mainly English language titles, with some German, French and Spanish as well.
• OECD iLIbrary - all OECD publications
• World Bank eLibrary 

Norwegian e-bboks on bokhylla.no

All e-books avaialble through oria.no

Encyclopedias 

• Oxford Dictionary of Politics and International Relations
• Dictionary of Critical Theory
• Dictionary of the Social Sciences
• Encyclopedia of Social Measurement
• International Encyclopedia of political science
• International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences
• Wiley-Blackwell Encyclopedia of Globalization
• Wiley‐Blackwell Encyclopedia of Social and Political Movement

Handbooks -  some examples from different topics

Political theory and political science in general

• Handbook of Political Epistemology  
• Handbook on governmentality  
• Handbook of international political theory -
• Handbook of political science.
• Handbook of international political theory
•  Handbook of Contextual Political Analysis

International and comparative politics

• Handbook of comparative politics
• Handbook on the politics of international development.
• Handbook of European Union governance
• Handbook of EU crises
• Handbook of public diplomacy -
• Research handbook on trade wars
• Handbook of transformative global studies -
• International handbook on decolonizing justice
• Handbook of global policy and transnational administration -
• Handbook on the United Nations -
• International handbook on informal governance
• Handbook of comparative territorial autonomies -
• Handbook of the politics of development  
• Handbook of pan-Africanism

States, law and political systems

• Handbook of Politicization and Political Patronage.
• Handbook of governance and limited statehood  
• Handbook on local and regional governance
• Handbook on law and political systems
• Handbook on judicial politics
• Handbook of the Welfare State
• Handbook on the politics of human rights law   
• Handbook of Governance in Small States  
• Handbook of Regionalism and Federalism
• Handbook of comparative judicial behaviour

Political parties, participation and elections

• Handbook of political parties
• Sage Handbook of Electoral Behaviour
• Handbook of political representation in liberal democracies  
• Handbook of local elections and voting in Europe
• Handbook of electoral persuasion
• Handbook of political participation,

Polarization, populism and politics

• Handbook on austerity, populism and the welfare state
• Handbook of the radical right
• Research handbook on populism
• The Oxford handbook of illiberalism
• Routledge Handbook of Global Populism
• Handbook on radicalisation and countering radicalisation
• Handbook of Affective Polarization

Public policy and governance

• Handbook of Governance
• Handbook on trust in public governance
• Handbook of AI Governance
• Handbook on measuring governance
• Handbook on public policy and artificial intelligence  
• Handbook on think tanks in public policy
• Handbook on theories of governance: Second Edition
• Handbook of Classics in Public Policy and Administration
• Handbook of Expertise and Democratic Politics
• Handbook of Labour Market Policy in Advanced Democracies 

Gender and politics

• International handbook of masculinity studies
• Handbook of Gender and Citizenship

• Handbook of feminist governance
• Handbook of global LGBT and sexual diversity politics  
• The Oxford handbook of women, peace and security
• The Oxford Handbook of Media and Social Justice
• The Palgrave Handbook of Gender and Migration
• Handbook of sexuality, gender, health and rights
• Handbook of the Politics of the #MeToo Movement -
• Handbook on gender, diversity and federalism

Environment and climate change politics

• Handbook on European Union Climate Change Policy and Politics
• Handbook of Comparative Environmental Politics
• Handbook of Environmental Policy
• Handbook of Global Sustainability Governance 
• Handbook on pro-environmental behaviour change
• Cambridge Handbook of Environmental Sociology
• Handbook of climate change impacts and adaptation strategies on indigenous peoples and local communities
• Handbook of environmental movements

Regional or country specific (only books published 2020 - 2025)

• Handbook of politics and religion in contemporary America -
• Handbook of Middle East Politics
• Handbook of politics in Muslim societies
• Handbook on political parties in the Middle East and North Africa
• Handbook of public policy in Africa
• Handbook of Democratization in Africa
•  Handbook of EU-Africa Relations
• Handbook of Danish politics
• Handbook of Scottish politics
• Handbook of British politics and society
• Handbook of Russian politics and society
• Handbook of Arctic policy and politics
• Handbook on Geopolitics and Security in the Arctic : The High North Between Cooperation and Confrontation
• Handbook of contemporary North Korea

Other topics

• Handbook of Ubuntu, Inequality and Sustainable Development -
• Handbook of indigenous public policy
• The Oxford handbook of political consumerism
• The Oxford handbook of terrorism
• The Palgrave handbook of global slavery throughout history
• Handbook of urban geography
• Handbook on the Governance and Politics of Migration
• International Handbook of Migration Studies
• Oxford Handbook of Global Health Politics
• Research handbook on the law and politics of migration  

Political economy

• Handbook of Comparative Political Economy
•  Handbook of Comparative Economics
• The Oxford handbook of political economy
• The Palgrave Handbook of Political Economy
•  handbook of industrial policy
• handbook of economic sociology
•  Handbook of International Energy Economics

Methods books can be found under the following shelfmarks:

• Content, discourse analysis:300.14
• Evaluation, research design: 300.72
• General and inclusive methods texts:  300.721
• Qualitative methods (e.g. action research, case-studies, interviews):300.722
• Quantitive and comparative methods (e.g. survey design): 300.723
• Experimental and quasi-experimental methods: 300.724
• Statistical methods (STATA, SPSS): 300.717

For methods literature in electronic form, visit Sage Research Methods Online.

Are you looking for non-syllabus-related literature? Before you search for a topic in search engines, check the reference lists in syllabus books for inspiration!

Search engines / databases for non-syllabus-related literature:

• oria.no
• Proquest
• International Bibliography of the Social Sciences.
• Web of Science.
•  Google Scholar.

Newspapers

• For info, see: Kommunikasjonsavdelingen | UiB 
  • Nordic newspapers: Atekst: Retriever - News Archive (retriever-info.com) 
  • International newspapers: PressReader - Digital Newspaper & Magazine Subscriptions (pressdisplay.com) 
• Transitions online - current events in Eastern, the Middle East and Central Asia
• LatinNews (Latin American Weekly Newsletter) 
• Africa Confidential 

Research reports

Norwegian research institutes produce a variety of reports, which can be useful for finding both literature and theory, but primarily data and relevant research on specific topics. Check the websites of:

• Institutt for Samfunnsforskning
• NORCE Samfunn
• NIFU. Norsk institutt for studier av forskning og utdanning
• Kvinfo
• By og regionforskingnsinstitutt NIBR
• Institutt for Rural og Regionforskning
• Forbruksforskningsinstituttet SIFO
• Velferdsforskningsinstituttet NOVA
• Norks Utenrikspolitisk Institutt (NUPI)
• The Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO) (NB: har mange linker til internasjonale databaser) 
• Christian Michelsen's Insitutt (CMI)
• Fafo Institutt for arbeidslivs- og velferdsforskning
• Fritjof Nansens Institutt

Other

"Rokkanboka": State formation, nation-building, and mass politics in Europe i fulltekst.

Specialized databases:

ProQuest Health Management (health policy)

ProQuest Military Collection (security and defence policy)

OxResearch (Daglige landanalyser)

PressDisplay - International newspapers in PDF (to-days paper with a 45 day archive)

Cross-national time-series data archive ("Banks data")

Keesing's - global current events from 1931.

Europa World Plus- political-statistical-historical annual

• For general advice on writing assignments at undergraduate and graduate levels, check: Skriving | Søk & Skriv (sokogskriv.no). 
• Writing a bachelor's or master's thesis is a "project", so this page may be useful:Sage Research Methods Project Planner. 

Citing and references 

For Guidance on different referencing styles, check Referansestiler | Søk & Skriv (sokogskriv.no) 

If you use a lot of references, it may be a good idea to use automated tools, check Referanseverktøy: EndNote, Zotero og andre | Universitetsbiblioteket | UiB