Lecture 2 - only the reading will be tested

it is an abstract term, when filling it in -> Used in different ways that are incompatible + are often undefined

abstract definition: a systematic and organized set of ideas that help understand and analyze political phenomena

• understanding and analyzing political phenomena • bridge what we observe in the political world and how we explain or understand these (e.g. normative theories) • not all theories are created equal: they differ in scope, focus, and how they’re applied

a general set of explanatory claims about some specifiable empirical range - doesn’t work for all types of theory: only focuses on explanation (specific to positivist empirical theories)

trying to identify necessary and specific reasons as to why things happen

• behaviouralism • rational choice • (neo-) institutionalism • constructivism • marxism • feminism • normative political theory all these approaches have different views on theory

normative theory = - ethical and value-driven (often stemming from philosophy - seek to evaluate or prescribe - generalized set of categories that helps generate normative claims e.g. liberal theory -> normative claims empirical theory = - grounded in observation, data collection, and factual analysis - seek to explain or understand

methodological emphasizes observable and measurable behaviors - context of voting patterns and public opinion thin theory: not substantive (it doesn’t offer expectations), rather it is methodological: it says that we can/should identify patters (human behavior follows patterns) - it makes epistemological and ontological claims rather than that it offers concrete/substantive expectations/explanations

works from the assumption that individuals often engage in politics based on calculated decisions, aiming to maximize their interest substantive expectation: people will behave in calculated way empirical + positivist observation

highlights formal structures, institutions, and procedures play a central role in shaping political actions and outcomes ambivalent in terms of interpretivism and positivism substantive theory: self-interest maximalization

geared towards providing causal explanations with the goal of explaining behavior

no such thing as generalized pattern behavior internal reasons for action -> no generalized patterns possible -> no predictions possible political science should be to understand specific cases, how they see/interpret their own behavior generally: skeptical about the quantification of phenomena

underscores how politics is deeply influenced by shared beliefs, norms and ideas generally: most constructivists will reject that behavior can be isolated into statistics in a way to generate expectations and predictions, pattern identification is impossible on a great scale complication to …… free choice -> two identical people in identical circumstances can still take other actions - agency

normative + empirical theory stresses politics as an arena of class struggle, rooted in economic determinism and power dynamics critical realism

can be normative and empirical focus on gender relations, patriarchal structures, and the fight for gender equality within the political sphere can be positivist and interpretivist

a specific prediction, derived from a theory, that can be tested against empirical evidence = by meaning positivist empirical approach (empirical positivist theories are dominant in political science)

via falsification Popper; trying to prove a claim that all swans are white, we can’t prove that positively by looking at white swans: we’ll never see all of them, even if we were able to we couldn’t go to the past -> no definitive answer. We should try to reject a hypothesis

no the more often you fail to disprove a hypothesis, it is more likely to be correct, but a theory can never be proven to be correct

• interpretative inquiry • thick description (Geertz): not causal explanations, but trying to understand a phenomena by describing its novel features in rich detail • critical theory, including Marxist, feminist and post-colonial perspectives • normative analysis

substantive = based on content of people behavior - makes certain assumptions about human nature e.g. rational choice theory (people behave in self-interest) + institutionalist ( methodological assumption = human behavior overall, how to research it

points of reference, to capture and communicate specific political phenomena or ideas conceptualization = articulating concepts - to compare they are abstract categories or representations that we compose on the world

• clarity • coherence: concepts can be easily understood without multiple possible interpretations • logically consistency: elements of concepts shouldn’t logically conflict + related concepts must be mutually illegible • usefulness: concept should add value to discussions, comparisons, and even policy-making (the clearer it is, the more useful it is) *usefulness is also: when you take a definition that doesn’t match with the broad acceptance, it isn’t useful

concepts don’t exist in the world, we make them people have different definitions of concepts when researching -> study the literature for definitions, pick one, or introduce a new one be clear which definition you take

processs of making concepts measurable *particularly important for empirical theories !!we shouldn’t ‘retro-fit’ concepts to what we happen to be able to measure easily it is important that operational measures truly reflect the core essence of a concept (though there can be pragmatic concessions)