Truly an ambitious, audacious, authoritative project, this five-volume reference encompasses the multifaceted field in some 1,500 signed articles by contributors from nearly 40 countries (although most are from the US). Arrangement of entries is alphabetical, but a detailed thematic table of contents in the front matter (of each volume) will help readers navigate the contents. The 44 themes include comparative politics, ethics and corruption, gender issues, globalization, interest groups, international relations, legislative studies, political behavior, political change, politics of oppression, public policy, and religion, among others. Each entry contains references and cross-references, and the complete index is included in each volume for convenience. Editor Kurian knows how to make an encyclopedia. He's given it plenty of thought as president of the Encyclopedia Society, which specializes in the sport. For this five-volume reference he worked in conjunction with the American Political Science Association and with the assistance of five associate editors, 23 content editors, a board of about 70 editorial consultants, an international board of editorial advisers (from the political science associations of Africa, Austria, Canada, China, Croatia, Czech Republic, and eight more countries), and about 500 contributing authors. Annotation ©2011 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)