Dr. Mayer is Professor of Political Science at Texas Tech University specializing in Comparative Politics and the Politics of Advanced Western Democracy. In addition to AMERICAN PUBLIC POLICY: AN INTRODUCTION, he is the author of COMPARATIVE POLITICAL INQUIRY, THE POLITICS OF INDUSTRIAL SOCIETIES, REDEFINING COMPARATIVE POLITICS: PROMISE VERSUS PERFORMANCE, COMPARATIVE POLITICS: NATIONS AND THEORIES IN A CHANGING WORLD, COMPARATIVE POLITICS: THE QUEST FOR THEORY AND EXPLANATION, CONFLICTING PERSPECTIVES IN COMPARATIVE POLITICS: A READER, IDENTITY POLITICS: THE EMERGENCE OF NEO VOLKISM IN ADVANCED WESTERN SOCIETIES, and THE CHANGING BASIS OF POLITICAL CONFLICT IN ADVANCED WESTERN DEMOCRACY. His current research is on the determinants of tolerance in western societies.