Comparative politics is a broad field. The common thread running through the research presented at our workshop is the search for broad theoretical propositions and fresh empirical insights through the comparative study of politics. What explains levels of violence in civil wars? Why have some former communist systems evolved into democracies with substantial patronage and corruption, whereas other democracies in the region are relatively clean? Why do poor people sometimes migrate internationally to countries that are just as poor as the countries they left? If economic growth encourages democratization, is this because modern economies are wealthier or because they are more egalitarian? These are the sorts of questions raised by papers presented at the workshop.