Chabal and Daloz's argument is one based on an analysis of culture understood as a system of meanings rather than as values. Hence, the authors offer a methodology that grounds political analysis in the interpretation of what 'makes sense' to the people concerned. Their approach, which resists the tyranny of particularisms but instead proposes a different 'scientific' method, draws upon a wide range of political, sociological and anthropological sources. The authors illustrate the analytical sharpness of this method with a comparative study of the state and political representation in three very different settings: France, Nigeria and Sweden.