Comparative Political Analysis Through Case Studies

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Responsible: Associate Professor Karl Löfgren, Roskilde University & Maurice Falk Professor of American Government B Guy Peters, University of Pittsburgh
From: 2010/05/25 to: 2010/05/28
Registration Deadline: 2009/04/05
Place: Roskilde University, Building 25.3
Fee: 750 DKK
ECTS (Get approval from your own department!!!): 4,5

Short description:

The course will provide a systematic presentation of major research problems in comparative politics. There will be some attention to case study methods but those methods will be embedded in the basic logic of comparative analysis, including issues of selecting cases for analysis and problems of developing concepts and measures that can travel across cultures.

Lecturers: Karl Löfgren & B Guy Peters

Further information: sek@polforsk.dk

Programme:

The course covers the following topics:
1) Logics of Comparing and Selecting Cases for Comparison
2) Using Concepts and Conceptualisations in Comparison
3) Case Methods
4) Approaches to Aggregating Case Materials, and other Qualitative Techniques.
The purpose of this course will be to introduce the student to some of the crucial areas of comparative political analysis. The focus will not be on quantitative analysis, but rather on methods such as the case method and the aggregation of cases that are more appropriate for the "Small-N" research in which many comparativists engage. The primary topics covered in the course will be:

Logics of Comparing and Selecting Cases for Comparison

Presentation by Karl Löfgren & Guy Peters:

Tuesday 25 May 2010, 9-12am
One of the fundamental issues for comparative analysis is which cases. We will discuss issues such as most-similar and most-different designs, selecting cases on the dependent variable, and classic methods of difference and agreement.
Workshop
Tuesday 25 May 2010, 1-3pm

Key Readings

Geddes, B. Paradigms and Sand Castles: Theory Building and Research Design in Comparative Politics University of Michigan Press, 2003, Chapter 3
S. Lieberson, Small N's and Big Conclusions: An Examination of the Reasoning in Comparative Studies Based on a Small Number of Cases, Social Forces 70 (1991), 307-20.
A. Lijphart, The Comparable Cases Strategy in Comparative Research, Comparative Political Studies 8, (1975), 158-77.
G. De Meur and D. Berg-Schlosser, Conditions of Authoritarianism, Fascism and Democracy in Interwar Europe: Systemic Matching and Contrasting of Cases for "Small-N" Research, Comparative Political Studies 29 (1996), 423-68.
L. De Winter, D. Della Porta and K. Deschouwer, Comparing Similar Countries: Italy and Belgium, Res Publica 38 (1996), 215-35.

2) Using Concepts and Conceptualisations in Comparison

Presentation by Karl Löfgren & Guy Peters:

Wednesday 26 May, 9-12am
Sartori and others have argued for the importance of conceptualization in comparative analysis. We will begin with Sartori’s work and discuss the alternatives to “classical categorization” that have become important for comparative analysis.
Workshop
Wednesday 26 May, 1-3pm

Key Readings

Giovanni Sartori, "Concept Misinformation in Comparative Research", American Political Science Review, 64 (1970), 1033-53.
Giovanni Sartori, "Comparing and Miscomparing", Journal of Theoretical Politics 3 (1991), 243-57.
R. Rose, Comparing Forms of Comparative Analysis, Political Studies 39 (1991), 446-62.
D. Collier and J. E. Mahon, "Conceptual 'Stretching' Revisited: Adapting Categories to Comparative Analysis", American Political Science Review 87 (1993), 845-55.
M. R. Somers, "What's Political or Cultural about Political Culture and the Public Sphere", Sociological Theory 13 (1995), 113-44.
D. Collier and S. Levistsky, "Democracy with Adjectives: Conceptual Innovation in Comparative Research, World Politics 49 (1997), pp, 430-51.
Alvarez et al., "Classifying Political Regimes...," Studies in Comparative International Development 31 (1996), 3-36.
A. Lijphart, Typologies of Democratic Systems, Comparative Political Studies 1 (1968), 3-44.
A. Marradi, "On Classification" in A. Bebler and J. Seroka, Contemporary Political Systems: Classifications and Typologies

The Case Method.

Presentation by Karl Löfgren & Guy Peters:

Thursday 27 May, 9-12am
A good deal fo comparative analysis is still done using the case method. We will discuss the nature of case analysis and methods such as “process tracing” that are intended to improve its utility.
Workshop
Thursday 27 May, 1-3pm

Key Readings

George, A. & Bennett, A. Case Studies and Theory Development in the Social Sciences MIT Press, 2005
H. Eckstein, "Case Study and Theory in Political Science", in Greenstein and Polsby, Handbook of Political Science, V. 7
G. Munck, "Canons of Research Design in Qualitative Analysis", Studies in Comparative International Development 33 (1998), 18-45
J. Geering, What is a Case Study and What is it Good For?, American Political Science Review
98 (2004) 341-54.
Geering, J. (2007) Is There a (Viable) Crucial Case Method?, Comparative Political Studies 40, 231-53.

Aggregating Cases.

Presentation by Karl Löfgren & Guy Peters:

Friday 28 April, 9-12am
There is a huge body of existing case material that can be aggregated to make more definitive theoretical statements about underlying causal processes. We will discuss methods such as Boolean algebra and fuzzy sets that can be used for this purpose.
Workshop
Friday 28 April, 1-3pm

Key Readings

Ragin, C. Fuzzy-Set Social Science University Of Chicago Press, 2000, Chapters 1-4
Ragin, C. The Comparative Method: Moving Beyond Qualitative and Quantitative Strategies University of California Press, 1987. passim
Wickham-Crowley, T. Guerrillas and Revolution in Latin America: A Comparative Study of Insurgents and Regimes Since 1956 Princeton University Press, 1992. passim
J. Markoff, "A Comparative Method: Reflections on Charles Ragin's Innovations in Comparative Analysis, Historical Methods, 23 (1990), 177-81.

Time table and programme:

Preliminary timetable:

Dates:	09:00 - 12:00	12:00 - 13:00	13:00 - 15:00
Tuesday 25 May 2010	Lecture by Guy Peters about the logics of comparing and selecting cases for comparison	Lunch- break	Paper presentations, opponent presentation and discussions supervised by Karl Löfgren
Wednesday 26 May 2010	Lecture by Guy Peters about using concepts and conceptualisations in comparison	Lunch- break	Paper presentations, opponent presentation and discussions supervised by Karl Löfgren
Thursday 27 May 2010	Lecture by Guy Peters about the case method	Lunch- break	Paper presentations, opponent presentation and discussions supervised by Karl Löfgren
Friday 28 May 2010	Lecture by Guy Peters about aggregating cases	Lunch- break	Paper presentations, opponent presentation and discussions supervised by Karl Löfgren

Obs: the specific order of paper presentation will be released after all papers have been handed-in.

Details:

The paper paper presentation should take about 5 min and the opponent presentation should spand over 20 min. Lastly, there is allocated about 10-15 min for comments from the floor. Therefore you can expect that there will be time for two papers a day.

Practical information:

The course will take place in House 25.3 on RUC Campus. Lunch will be served between 12:00 and 13:00 in the cantine, which can be found in building 0.1. We are also  planning a dinner on the 25th of May at 19:00 and if you cannot attend this, do please notisfy us so we can change and adjust the reservation. The dinner will be take place in Copenhagen and will be in a restaurant. Further information about this dinner will be released later.

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