Includes bibliographical references (p. [198]-208) and index.

1. Introduction -- 2. State and Society -- 3. Democracy -- 4. Economic Growth and Development -- 5. Religion, Ethnicity and Identity -- 6. Human Rights -- 7. Women and Power -- 8. The Politics of the Natural Environment -- 9. Conclusion.

Purposefully written for those coming to politics for the first time, this new textbook provides on exploration and analysis of the most important contemporary political issues of the Third World.

It offers a different, deeper perspective to the standard texts in this field, encouraging an understanding of the concerns - and drawbacks - of the traditional approaches.

This ensures that the reader can fully appreciate the breadth and nature of a range of pressing - and previously understated - issues: the striving for democracy; the political consequences of economic growth and development; the struggle of religious and ethnic minorities; women's and human rights; and the politics of the natural environment.

In doing so, the interaction of domestic and global factors affecting many aspects of Third World politics is highlighted and a new, qualitatively different set of concerns is identified resulting from recent international changes such as the end of the Cold War and the demise of the Soviet bloc.