Both qualitative and quantitative research routinely fall short, producing misleading causal inferences. Because these weaknesses are in part different, we are convinced that multi-method strategies are productive. Each approach can provide additional leverage that helps address shortcomings of...

In An Economic Theory of Democracy, Anthony Downs made two widely discussed predictions about political outcomes in a democracy: first, that where the principle of one person, one vote obtains, redistributive economic policies are likely to ensue; and second, that rational, vote-maximizing...

Careful work with concepts is a cornerstone of good social science methodology. This book, Concepts and Method in Social Science, demonstrates the crucial role of concepts, drawing on both the classic contributions of Giovanni Sartori and the writing of a younger generation of scholars. Part 1...

Spanish Abstract: Pese a que se ha entendido que el surgimiento de los regímenes autoritarios se relaciona con los problemas del desarrollo económico a partir del "modelo burocrático-autoritario", algunos elementos de este modelo han producido entre los estudiosos ciertas ideas para...

English Abstract: The “bureaucratic-authoritarian model” was one of the most important attempts to explain the emergence of authoritarian regimes in Latin America in the 1960s and 1970s, giving special attention to the connection between their emergence and problems of economic development....

The set-theoretic comparative method (STCM) — including very centrally Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) — has formulated valuable goals for comparative research. This symposium raises serious concerns about the specific analytic tools advocated for pursuing these important goals....

This symposium brings together ten essays that explore hypotheses about critical junctures, understood as major episodes of institutional innovation that generate an enduring legacy. Scholars routinely focus on episodes of innovation that occur in contrasting ways across cases, which in turn...

Process tracing is a fundamental method of qualitative analysis. While it is often invoked by scholars as they examine qualitative data, too frequently this tool is neither adequately understood nor rigorously applied. This deficit motivates the present article, which offers a new framework for...

Analysts who developed the set-theoretic comparative method (STCM) have formulated admirable goals for researchers who work in the qualitative and multi-method tradition. This method includes above all Charles Ragin’s innovative approach of Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA). However, the...

Cross-national research focused on corporative patterns of state-labor relations can be guided by the questions 'who does what, to whom, and how?' With reference to who, the actors launching corporative arrangements must be carefully identified. Regarding what and to whom, attention must focus...