"This rich collection of essays reflects the wide sweep of theoretical and geographical research interests and accomplishments of Alfred Stepan. Stepan’s pioneering ideas and probing questions have inspired and supported social science colleagues and students for over four decades in the search for ways to construct more peaceful, tolerant, and democratic societies. These fine essays provide some of the answers discovered in this ongoing search, and they point the way forward in the research agenda." —Evelyne Huber, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill "Through critical and enthusiastic engagement with the wide-ranging contributions of Alfred Stepan, a leading agenda-setter in comparative social science for the last forty years, the contributors offer cutting-edge essays on the most pressing problems facing democracies across the world today. The geographical scope of the volume, like the work of Stepan itself, is especially impressive, as is its cross-generational coalition of contributors, which includes very distinguished senior scholars and 'scholar-politicians' as well as some promising younger scholars who are now starting to make their mark in the field." —Richard Snyder, Brown University "A revisiting of Stepanian themes—democracy and its links with the military, the state, federalism, and religion—that explores and develops Stepan’s original insights and suggests new avenues for research. This is comparative politics with a sense of purpose. It is a rightful recognition of a scholar who challenges us to think big and search for ways to make democracy work." —Gerardo Munck, University of Southern California "For the past half-century Alfred Stepan has been one of the world's most innovative and influential scholars in the field of comparative politics. . . . Stepan's distinction as a comparativist has now been marked by an excellent volume in his honour, edited by Scott Mainwaring and Douglas Chalmers. In order to give the book intellectual coherence the editors limit the contributions to an examination of the problems confronting contemporary democracies." —Government and Opposition