American Political Science Association Research Articles

Updating Bayesian(s): A Critical Evaluation of Bayesian Process Tracing

Given the increasing quantity and impressive placement of work on Bayesian process tracing, this approach has quickly become a frontier of qualitative research methods. Moreover, it has dominated the process-tracing modules at the Institute for Qualitative and Multi-Method Research (IQMR) and the American Political Science Association (APSA) meetings for over five years, rendering its impact even greater. Proponents of qualitative Bayesianism make a series of strong claims about its contributions and scope of inferential validity. Four claims stand out: (1) it enables causal inference from iterative research, (2) the sequence in which we evaluate evidence is irrelevant to inference, (3) it enables scholars to fully engage rival explanations, and (4) it prevents ad hoc hypothesizing and confirmation bias. Notwithstanding the stakes of these claims and breadth of traction this method has received, no one has systematically evaluated the promises, trade-offs, and limitations that accompany Bayesian process tracing. This article evaluates the extent to which the method lives up to the mission. Despite offering a useful framework for conducting iterative research, the current state of the method introduces more bias than it corrects for on numerous dimensions. The article concludes with an examination of the opportunity costs of learning Bayesian process tracing and a set of recommendations about how to push the field forward.

What Did They Wish For? Party Government, Polarization and the American Political Science Association

In tracing the development of increased polarization in the United States, numerous scholars have noted the apparent importance of the American Political Science Association's (APSA's) Committee on Political Parties. The committee's influential (and often criticized) report,Toward a More Responsible Two-Party System, called for a wholesale transformation of political parties in the United States. On its publication in October 1950, political scientists quickly concluded that, taken together, the committee's recommendations represented a reworking of a distinct approach, usually known as “party government” or “responsible party government.” (The origins of responsible parties dated back to Woodrow Wilson's classic 1885 textCongressional Government.) Since then, the notion of party government has become a core issue in the study of American political parties, albeit a contentious one. A recent survey ranked the APSA document at seventh as a canonical text in graduate syllabi concerning parties.

Innovative Approaches of Political Education in Ukraine: On the Example of Developed Western Democracies

This article was composed to discuss the particular traits of the contemporary political education of students in Ukraine. A system of political education is introduced to develop the fundamental political knowledge and skill-set of students, as well as aiding in the formation of their civic consciousness. The innovative modernization approaches are represented by American Political Science Association. The main purpose of the research to show modernization methods of political education what is the basis for the formation of democratic values of Ukrainian society. Much attention is paid to the correlation between civic and political education. The need for value content of political education adds to the urgency of the study. This involves making greater use of the tools of political education to support the dialogue of cultures in the modern world. Ensuring that society is prepared to solve global problems by developing the active position and individual responsibility of each young person should be an equally important result of political education in the 21st century. Political education now requires a walkthrough approach of implementation (through project initiatives, socio-cultural activities, networking and various types of cooperation between those who get education in the socio-political sector). The authors emphasize that it is worth rethinking the new opportunities of social networks, the Internet era to build youth initiatives and teams for project work. However, one of the challenges of the information society is the dominance of different types of data (“information noise”), which requires young people to have a higher level of media literacy and more developed critical thinking. Systematization literary sources and approaches for solving the problem indicates that the new systems of political values have been formed, which are essential for the democratization. Two groups of mutually perceived values were approved. The first group is dominant. It is associated with values such as security, sovereignty, patriotism, freedom, human rights, justice, political stability. The second group of established values is evolving: legality, responsibility, equality, political pluralism, legitimacy. This article reveals the understanding of these values of Ukrainian citizens on the basis of Ukrainian and European sociological research.

Wendy Brown. In the Ruins of Neoliberalism: The Rise of Antidemocratic Politics in the West. New York: Columbia University Press, 2019. Pp. 264. $75.00 (cloth).

Previous articleNext article No AccessBook ReviewWendy Brown. In the Ruins of Neoliberalism: The Rise of Antidemocratic Politics in the West. New York: Columbia University Press, 2019. Pp. 264. $75.00 (cloth).William M. CurtisWilliam M. CurtisUniversity of Portland Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUSFull Text Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by American Political Thought Volume 9, Number 2Spring 2020 Published in association with the American Political Thought organized section of the American Political Science Association and the Jack Miller Center Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/708297 Views: 294Total views on this site For permission to reuse, please contact [email protected]PDF download Crossref reports no articles citing this article.

Dan Moller. Governing Least: A New England Libertarianism. New York: Oxford University Press, 2019. Pp. 336. $35.00 (cloth).

Previous articleNext article No AccessBook ReviewsDan Moller. Governing Least: A New England Libertarianism. New York: Oxford University Press, 2019. Pp. 336. $35.00 (cloth).Bob Pepperman TaylorBob Pepperman TaylorUniversity of Vermont Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUSFull Text Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by American Political Thought Volume 9, Number 2Spring 2020 Published in association with the American Political Thought organized section of the American Political Science Association and the Jack Miller Center Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/708291 Views: 44Total views on this site For permission to reuse, please contact [email protected]PDF download Crossref reports no articles citing this article.

Marilyn Fischer. Jane Addams’s Evolutionary Theorizing: Constructing “Democracy and Social Ethics.” Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2019. Pp. 264. $45.00 (cloth).

Previous articleNext article No AccessBook ReviewMarilyn Fischer. Jane Addams’s Evolutionary Theorizing: Constructing “Democracy and Social Ethics.” Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2019. Pp. 264. $45.00 (cloth).Patricia M. ShieldsPatricia M. ShieldsTexas State University Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUSFull Text Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by American Political Thought Volume 9, Number 2Spring 2020 Published in association with the American Political Thought organized section of the American Political Science Association and the Jack Miller Center Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/708292 Views: 303Total views on this site For permission to reuse, please contact [email protected]PDF download Crossref reports no articles citing this article.

Jessica Blatt. Race and the Making of American Political Science. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2018. Pp. 216. $55.00 (cloth).

Previous articleNext article No AccessBook ReviewJessica Blatt. Race and the Making of American Political Science. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2018. Pp. 216. $55.00 (cloth).Nick DorzweilerNick DorzweilerWheaton College Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUSFull Text Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by American Political Thought Volume 9, Number 1Winter 2020 Published in association with the American Political Thought organized section of the American Political Science Association and the Jack Miller Center Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/707031 Views: 103Total views on this site For permission to reuse, please contact [email protected]PDF download Crossref reports no articles citing this article.

Neil Roberts, ed. A Political Companion to Frederick Douglass. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 2018. Pp. 490. $80.00 (cloth).

Previous articleNext article No AccessBook ReviewNeil Roberts, ed. A Political Companion to Frederick Douglass. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 2018. Pp. 490. $80.00 (cloth).Leslie F. GoldsteinLeslie F. GoldsteinUniversity of Delaware Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUSFull Text Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by American Political Thought Volume 9, Number 1Winter 2020 Published in association with the American Political Thought organized section of the American Political Science Association and the Jack Miller Center Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/707032 Views: 39Total views on this site For permission to reuse, please contact [email protected]PDF download Crossref reports no articles citing this article.

Sophia Rosenfeld. Democracy and Truth: A Short History. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2018. Pp. 224. $22.50 (cloth).

Previous articleNext article No AccessBook ReviewSophia Rosenfeld. Democracy and Truth: A Short History. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2018. Pp. 224. $22.50 (cloth).Keith E. WhittingtonKeith E. WhittingtonPrinceton University Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUSFull Text Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by American Political Thought Volume 9, Number 1Winter 2020 Published in association with the American Political Thought organized section of the American Political Science Association and the Jack Miller Center Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/707035 Views: 135Total views on this site For permission to reuse, please contact [email protected]PDF download Crossref reports no articles citing this article.

Jamie Susskind. Future Politics: Living Together in a World Transformed by Tech. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2018. Pp. xvi+544. $27.95 (cloth).

Previous article No AccessBook ReviewJamie Susskind. Future Politics: Living Together in a World Transformed by Tech. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2018. Pp. xvi+544. $27.95 (cloth).Kyong-Min SonKyong-Min SonUniversity of Delaware Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUSFull Text Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by American Political Thought Volume 9, Number 1Winter 2020 Published in association with the American Political Thought organized section of the American Political Science Association and the Jack Miller Center Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/707073 Views: 279Total views on this site For permission to reuse, please contact [email protected]PDF download Crossref reports no articles citing this article.

James T. Schleifer. Tocqueville. Medford, MA: Polity, 2018. Pp. 192. $69.95 (cloth); $24.95 (paper).

Previous articleNext article No AccessBook ReviewJames T. Schleifer. Tocqueville. Medford, MA: Polity, 2018. Pp. 192. $69.95 (cloth); $24.95 (paper).Raul RodriguezRaul RodriguezUniversity of Notre Dame Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUSFull Text Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by American Political Thought Volume 9, Number 1Winter 2020 Published in association with the American Political Thought organized section of the American Political Science Association and the Jack Miller Center Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/707033 Views: 46Total views on this site For permission to reuse, please contact [email protected]PDF download Crossref reports no articles citing this article.

Archiving and Re-using of Qualitative Data as a Path to Development of Public Administration Research

In response to the assumptions of new public management models and public or good governance, practical aspects of research in the area of public admin­istration and the development possibilities of qualitative research methods are presented in the article. Due to the fact that qualitative research has become increasingly popular in the above disciplines, data archiving and trans­parency is discussed (Moravcsik), (Yom et al.) and guidelines and principles are established (American Political Science Association). However, there is a lot of controversy among scholars (Monroe), and some examples are missing. This paper presents the challenge of ‘openness’ in the empirical activities (or empirical practice) of researchers. Its purpose is to present the archiving data potential from in-depth interviews on the example of a small set of qualitative data from research in the field of public administration. Firstly, the basic assumptions of new models of functioning of public administration and related consequences for researchers are described. In the second part, the challenges related to openness in contemporary public administration models are briefly mentioned. Next, the method of creating an archive from existing data, individual stages, documents, and data is outlined; it is based on the au­thor’s best practice on Qualidata (American Political Science Association; Van den Eynden et al.) and DA-RT principles.1 The summary includes examples of probable opportunities and challenges related to usage of data archiving for the research in public administration and political science development.

Behavioral differences: insights, explanations and comparisons of French and US Twitter usage during elections

Social networks and social media have played a key role for observing and influencing how the political landscape takes shape and dynamically shifts. It is especially true in events such as national elections as indicated by earlier studies with Facebook (Williams and Gulati, in: Proceedings of the annual meeting of the American Political Science Association, 2009) and Twitter (Larsson and Moe in New Med Soc 14(5):729–747, 2012). Not surprisingly in an attempt to better understand and simplify these networks, community discovery methods have been used, such as the Louvain method (Blondel et al. in J Stat Mechanics Theory Exp 2008(10):P10008, 2008) to understand elections (Gaumont et al. in PLoS ONE 13(9):e0201879, 2018). However, most community-based studies first simplify the complex Twitter data into a single network based on (for example) follower, retweet or friendship properties. This requires ignoring some information or combining many types of information into a graph, which can mask many insights. In this paper, we explore Twitter data as a time-stamped vertex-labeled graph. The graph structure can be given by a structural relation between the users such as retweet, friendship or follower relation, whilst the behavior of the individual is given by their posting behavior which is modeled as a time-evolving vertex labels. We explore leveraging existing community discovery methods to find communities using just the structural data and then describe these communities using behavioral data. We explore two complimentary directions: (1) creating a taxonomy of hashtags based on their community usage and (2) efficiently describing the communities expanding our recently published work. We have created two datasets, one each for the French and US elections from which we compare and contrast insights on the usage of hashtags.

Exploring Diversity and Student Political Activism through Archival Research

ABSTRACTIn 2011, the American Political Science Association stated that integrating issues of diversity, inclusiveness, and equality into political science curriculum and pedagogy was crucial to the success of the discipline in the twenty-first century. Although consensus is forming about the need to teach diversity, the question of how to do this effectively remains open. This article describes an archives-based assignment in an introduction to American government course created by the authors of this article—a professor of political science and the college archivist—that includes greater understanding of diversity and engaged citizenship as learning objectives. For this assignment, students are immersed in archival material about their own college and tasked with analyzing the political actions of previous generations of students as the civil rights and women’s movements emerged, as the student population became more diverse, and as the campus reacted to national and local events relating to racial intolerance and injustice. By examining their college’s political past—both the conflicts that animated the community and the student-led efforts to make the campus more inclusive—current students engage with issues of diversity and political activism in a way that helps them better understand themselves and their role as citizens in a democratic nation.

Stephen E. Maizlish. A Strife of Tongues: The Compromise of 1850 and the Ideological Foundations of the American Civil War. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2018. Pp. 332. $45.00 (cloth).

Previous articleNext article No AccessBook ReviewStephen E. Maizlish. A Strife of Tongues: The Compromise of 1850 and the Ideological Foundations of the American Civil War. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2018. Pp. 332. $45.00 (cloth).Fergus M. BordewichFergus M. BordewichSan Francisco, CA Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUSFull Text Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by American Political Thought Volume 8, Number 4Fall 2019 Published in association with the American Political Thought organized section of the American Political Science Association and the Jack Miller Center Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/705662 Views: 26Total views on this site For permission to reuse, please contact [email protected]PDF download Crossref reports no articles citing this article.

David Hendrickson. Republic in Peril: American Empire and the Liberal Tradition. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2018. Pp. 287. $34.95 (cloth).

Previous articleNext article No AccessBook ReviewDavid Hendrickson. Republic in Peril: American Empire and the Liberal Tradition. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2018. Pp. 287. $34.95 (cloth).Karl WallingKarl WallingUS Naval War College Monterey Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUSFull Text Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by American Political Thought Volume 8, Number 4Fall 2019 Published in association with the American Political Thought organized section of the American Political Science Association and the Jack Miller Center Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/705657 Views: 27Total views on this site For permission to reuse, please contact [email protected]PDF download Crossref reports no articles citing this article.

Robert Chiles. The Revolution of ’28: Al Smith, American Progressivism, and the Coming of the New Deal. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2018. Pp. ix+286. $55.00 (cloth).

Previous articleNext article No AccessBook ReviewRobert Chiles. The Revolution of ’28: Al Smith, American Progressivism, and the Coming of the New Deal. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2018. Pp. ix+286. $55.00 (cloth).Kristoffer SmemoKristoffer SmemoWashington University in St. Louis Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUSFull Text Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by American Political Thought Volume 8, Number 4Fall 2019 Published in association with the American Political Thought organized section of the American Political Science Association and the Jack Miller Center Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/705661 Views: 38Total views on this site For permission to reuse, please contact [email protected]PDF download Crossref reports no articles citing this article.

Andrew R. Lewis. The Rights Turn in Conservative Christian Politics: How Abortion Transformed the Culture Wars. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2017. Pp. 291. $29.99 (cloth).

Previous articleNext article No AccessBook ReviewAndrew R. Lewis. The Rights Turn in Conservative Christian Politics: How Abortion Transformed the Culture Wars. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2017. Pp. 291. $29.99 (cloth).Kevin R. den DulkKevin R. den DulkCalvin University Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUSFull Text Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by American Political Thought Volume 8, Number 4Fall 2019 Published in association with the American Political Thought organized section of the American Political Science Association and the Jack Miller Center Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/705653 Views: 141Total views on this site For permission to reuse, please contact [email protected]PDF download Crossref reports no articles citing this article.

Louis Fisher. President Obama: Constitutional Aspirations and Executive Actions. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 2018. Pp. xiv+278. $45.00 (cloth); $24.95 (paper).

Previous articleNext article No AccessBook ReviewLouis Fisher. President Obama: Constitutional Aspirations and Executive Actions. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 2018. Pp. xiv+278. $45.00 (cloth); $24.95 (paper).Thomas E. CroninThomas E. CroninColorado College Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUSFull Text Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by American Political Thought Volume 8, Number 4Fall 2019 Published in association with the American Political Thought organized section of the American Political Science Association and the Jack Miller Center Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/705655 Views: 21Total views on this site For permission to reuse, please contact [email protected]PDF download Crossref reports no articles citing this article.

Erik Mathisen. The Loyal Republic: Traitors, Slaves, and the Remaking of Citizenship in Civil War America. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2018. Pp. 240. $34.95 (cloth); $26.99 (e-book).

Previous articleNext article No AccessBook ReviewErik Mathisen. The Loyal Republic: Traitors, Slaves, and the Remaking of Citizenship in Civil War America. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2018. Pp. 240. $34.95 (cloth); $26.99 (e-book).Leslie F. GoldsteinLeslie F. GoldsteinUniversity of Delaware Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUSFull Text Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by American Political Thought Volume 8, Number 4Fall 2019 Published in association with the American Political Thought organized section of the American Political Science Association and the Jack Miller Center Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/705659 Views: 18Total views on this site For permission to reuse, please contact [email protected]PDF download Crossref reports no articles citing this article.