Researching the Politics of Illegal Activities

Max Gallien

doi:10.1017/s1049096521000317

Abstract

ABSTRACTAlthough an object of increasing interest, researching illegal activities generates a range of methodological challenges for political scientists. Rather than an exhaustive discussion, this article provides a simple framework that structures these challenges. It highlights that illegality is an insufficient guide to method development and needs to be supplemented by an analysis of three dimensions in addition to legality: enforcement, normalization, and ethics. The article explains that beyond providing insight into the feasibility and challenges of different methodologies, examining these dimensions also directly points researchers to key political science questions about illegal activities.

Highlights

Traditionally regarded as a niche area within the discipline, illegal activities have clear empirical and theoretical relevance to political science
There has been no wider discussion or mapping within political science about how the methodological challenges of studying illegal activities relate to the discipline
There is value in mapping these challenges and exploring how they connect to the interests of political science scholars and students more explicitly

Summary

Introduction

Traditionally regarded as a niche area within the discipline, illegal activities have clear empirical and theoretical relevance to political science. These scholars provided practical methodological examples of the study of illegal activities in political science. There has been no wider discussion or mapping within political science about how the methodological challenges of studying illegal activities relate to the discipline.

Results

Conclusion