Сравнительная политология: этапы развития и проблемы методологии

Abstract

This article discusses the main stages of a comparative methodology in political science. Special attention is paid to the analysis of methodological problems of modern comparative studies revealed heuristic possibilities and limitations of research methods. The evolution of the number of stages included comparative reflecting the dominance of one or another method, strategy. Comparative studies have been used in various combinations and neoinstitutional institutional, behavioral, structural-functional, historical and comparative methods, rational choice theory, and so on. Today largely formed a new comparative analysis tools, including the types of research such as the "case-study", binary, regional, thematic, cross-national and cross-temporal comparisons. Important for the researcher has knowledge and understanding of the constraints that can be encountered in their work. In connection with this article analyzes the problems of comparative studies, which can be divided into qualitative (the problem of "comparability", "failure cases", "many variables", "Galton’s problem") and quantitative (measurement problems, interpretation and equivalence studied political phenomena and institutions). Concludes, that there are many kinds of comparative studies depending on the characteristics of the object of research, which shows the development of comparative political science and the search for new areas of research as well as effective cognitive tools. Theoretical and methodological base articles constitute the most famous work of foreign and Russian comparativists.