Introduction; 1. Subnational research in comparative politics: substantive, theoretical and methodological contributions Agustina Giraudy, Eduardo Moncada and Richard Snyder; Part I. Issues of Method and Research Design: 2. Politics in space: methodological considerations for taking space seriously in subnational research Imke Harbers and Matthew C. Ingram; 3. Units of analysis in subnational research Hillel Soifer; Part II. Regimes and Representation: 4. Politics in the provinces: subnational regimes in Russia, 1992-2005 Gavril Bilev; 5. Multi-level causation in gender policy: abortion and violence against women laws in the Mexican states Caroline Beer; Part III. States and Security: 6. Multi-level Partisan conflict and drug violence in Mexico: when do criminal organizations attack subnational elected officials? Guillermo Trejo and Sandra Ley; 7. Subnational units, the locus of choice, and concept formation: conceptualizing civilian behavior in contexts of Civil War Ana Arjona; Part IV. Social and Economic Development: 8. Subnationalism and social development: the subnational welfare state in India Prerna Singh; 9. Indigenous welfare, tribal homelands, and the impact of civil society organizations: a subnational analysis of federal India Sunila S. Kale and Nimah Mazaheri; 10. Local states of play: land and urban politics in reform era China Meg Rithmire; Conclusion: 11. Empirical and theoretical frontiers of subnational research in comparative politics Agustina Giraudy, Eduardo Moncada and Richard Snyder.