The Politics of the Developing Areas

Political science Professor Emeritus David Abernethy described Almond as a "master classifier" who was able to consider a variety of political systems and identify their differences and similarities. "His classification schemes enabled us to talk about political systems around the world," Abernethy said. The innovation allowed American political scientists to move beyond Western democracies to include the study of non-Western and non-democratic societies as demonstrated in The Politics of the Developing Areas, which Almond co-authored in 1960. The book was one of many collaborative projects on political analysis supported by the Social Science Research Council, which Almond chaired for many years. His other important books included The American People and Foreign Policy (1950) and The Appeals of Communism (1954).