Advances have been made in the electronic characterization and analysis of thin-film ferroelectric (FE) memory capacitors using capacitance vs. voltage (C-V) measurements. A mathematical model of the small-signal electrical behavior of the FE capacitor has been developed. This analysis shows that the small-signal characteristics of the FE capacitor are largely determined by the space charge concentrations at the ferroelectric to contact interface. These space charge regions have an adverse effect on the permittivity, coercivity and switching characteristics of the ferroelectric capacitor. These results will contribute to improving ferroelectric processing, appraising the quality of ferroelectric devices, and developing device models of the ferroelectric memory capacitors for use in circuit design.