Theory and Methods in Political Science

Description

The systematically revised third edition of the leading text on approaches and methods in political science features a considerable internationalization in both the team of contributors and the range of coverage and examples. About half the chapters are entirely new and the rest are substantially revised and updated. Cover......Page 1 Contents......Page 6 List of Figures, Tables and Boxes......Page 13 Preface to the Third Edition......Page 14 Notes on the Editors and Contributors......Page 15 Introduction......Page 18 What is politics? What is it that political scientists study?......Page 23 What is a scientific approach to politics?......Page 26 The discipline of political science: a celebration of diversity......Page 28 PART 1 THEORY AND APPROACHES......Page 30 Introduction to Part 1......Page 32 1 Behavioural Analysis......Page 40 The rise of the behavioural movement and its core characteristics......Page 41 Criticisms of the behavioural approach......Page 46 The strengths of the behavioural approach: an example......Page 50 Conclusion: the behavioural legacy in the 21st century......Page 56 Further reading......Page 58 2 Rational Choice......Page 59 The method of economics (and rational choice)......Page 60 Rational choice in action: the logic of party competition......Page 62 Rational choice in the round......Page 67 What's wrong with rational choice?......Page 68 Types, tokens and leverage: a qualified defence of rational choice......Page 74 Further reading......Page 76 3 The Institutional Approach......Page 77 The 'traditional' institutional approach......Page 79 The rise of the 'new institutionalism'......Page 80 What's new about new institutionalism? The core features of the approach......Page 83 New institutionalist dilemmas......Page 88 Conclusion......Page 95 Further reading......Page 96 4 Constructivism and Interpretive Theory......Page 97 Origins of constructivism......Page 98 What is and isn't distinctive about constructivism......Page 100 Variations within constructivism......Page 106 Conclusion......Page 114 Further reading......Page 115 5 Political Psychology......Page 116 Roots and promise of political psychology......Page 117 'Homo psychologicus' in political life......Page 119 Political psychology at work......Page 123 The future for political psychology......Page 128 Further reading......Page 130 6 Feminism......Page 131 Debates within feminism......Page 132 Feminism and political science......Page 134 Re-conceptualizing politics......Page 139 Gendering the state......Page 144 Critical responses to feminist political science......Page 149 Conclusion: the way forward......Page 151 Further reading......Page 152 7 Marxism......Page 153 The continuing relevance of Marxism: from Communist Manifesto to No Logo......Page 155 Continuing problems in Marxism......Page 158 Marxism and international relations......Page 160 Insights from contemporary Marxist analysis......Page 162 Developing Marxism......Page 165 Conclusions......Page 171 Further reading......Page 172 8 Normative Theory......Page 173 The rise of liberalism......Page 174 Challenges to liberalism......Page 181 Conclusion: the victory of liberalism?......Page 190 Further reading......Page 193 PART 2 METHODS AND RESEARCH DESIGN......Page 196 Introduction to Part 2......Page 198 Ontology and epistemology introduced......Page 201 Ontological and epistemological positions......Page 205 Distinguishing broad epistemological positions......Page 208 Interrogating different approaches to ontology and epistemology......Page 210 Ontology and epistemology in political science: a case study of globalization......Page 223 Conclusion......Page 226 Further reading......Page 227 The connectedness of meta-theoretical issues......Page 229 Structure and agency: the dialectical approaches......Page 232 The material and the ideational: thin and thick constructivism......Page 238 Stability and change......Page 241 Conclusion......Page 246 Further reading......Page 248 11 The Challenge of Research Design......Page 249 Setting the stage: the philosophical foundations of research design......Page 250 From philosophy to research design......Page 252 The relevant universe......Page 256 Time and history in the social sciences......Page 259 The 'social' in social science......Page 262 Conclusion......Page 264 Further reading......Page 265 12 Debating Methods: Rediscovering Qualitative Approaches......Page 266 The rediscovery of qualitative methods......Page 267 What is distinctive about qualitative methods and analysis?......Page 272 Qualitative research techniques......Page 274 Interviews and group discussion......Page 275 Text/document based techniques......Page 278 Conclusions......Page 282 Further reading......Page 283 13 Quantitative Methods......Page 284 The collection and management of data......Page 285 The power of description......Page 288 Tables and inferential statistics......Page 289 Multivariate analysis......Page 292 Testing and reporting models......Page 295 Recent developments......Page 299 Conclusions......Page 300 Further reading......Page 301 Theory and the comparative method......Page 302 Basic forms of comparative explanation......Page 308 Large Ns: quantitative-comparative strategies......Page 311 Limitations of the quantitative comparative approach......Page 313 Small Ns: qualitative-comparative strategies......Page 317 Conclusion: carry on comparing!......Page 322 Further reading......Page 324 15 The Experimental Method: Prospects for Laboratory and Field Studies......Page 325 What is the experimental method?......Page 326 The rise of experimentation......Page 327 Learning from laboratory experiments......Page 330 Learning from field experiments......Page 333 Pitfalls in the experimental method......Page 334 Conclusions......Page 338 Further reading......Page 341 Introduction......Page 342 The case for relevance: objections and rebuttals......Page 343 Political science and democratic decay......Page 347 What do we know about political institutions?......Page 351 Political science and global governance......Page 354 Conclusion......Page 358 Bibliography......Page 360 C......Page 402 F......Page 403 I......Page 404 M......Page 405 P......Page 406 R......Page 407 U......Page 408 W......Page 409