Ideas and Politics in Social Science Research

1. Auflage 2010
ISBN: 978-0-19-973687-4
Verlag: Oxford University Press

Buch, Englisch, 320 Seiten, Format (B × H): 152 mm x 229 mm, Gewicht: 465 g

Outlines an ambitious research agenda for the study of ideas and politics
Examines the relationship between ideas, interests and institutions
Stellar cast of contributors, among the best known students of the role of ideas in politics
Engages political science and sociology

Writing about ideas, John Maynard Keynes noted that they are "more powerful than is commonly understood. Indeed the world is ruled by little else." One would expect, therefore, that political science-a discipline that focuses specifically on the nature of power-would have a healthy respect for the role of ideas. However, for a variety of reasons-not least of which is the influence of rational choice theory, which presumes that individuals are self-maximizing rational actors--this is not the case, and the literature on the topic is fairly thin. As the stellar cast of contributors to this volume show, ideas are in fact powerful shapers of political and social life.

In Ideas and Politics in Social Science Research, Daniel Béland and Robert Henry Cox have gathered leading scholars from a variety of subdisciplines in political science and sociology to provide a general overview of the theoretical, empirical, and methodological issues raised by social science research on ideas and politics. Throughout, they hone in on three central questions. What is the theoretical basis for studying ideas in politics? What are the best methods? What sort of empirical puzzles can be solved by examining ideas and related phenomena such as discourse, policy paradigms, and framing processes? In sum, this is a state-of-the-art academic work on both the role of ideas in politics and the analytical utility that derives from studying them.

Zielgruppe

Researchers, scholars, and graduate students in political science methodology, comparative public policy, comparative politics, political sociology, political economy

Autoren/Hrsg.

Beland, Daniel

Béland, Daniel

Cox, Robert Henry

Fachgebiete

• Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Soziologie Allgemein Empirische Sozialforschung, Statistik
• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Politikwissenschaft Allgemein Politische Theorie, Politische Philosophie

Inhaltsverzeichnis

About the Contributors
Preface
Introduction: Ideas and Politics, Daniel Béland and Robert Henry Cox
PART I THEORY
1.: The Varied Roles of Ideas in Politics: From "Whether" to "How", Jal Mehta
2.: Reconciling Ideas and Institutions Through Discursive Institutionalism, Vivien A. Schmidt
3.: Ideas and the Construction of Interests, Colin Hay
4.: Ideas, Uncertainty and Evolution, Mark Blyth
PART II ANALYSIS
5.: Ideology, History and Politics, Sheri Berman
6.: Ideas, Position, and Supranationality, Craig Parsons
7.: Ideas, Policy Change and the Welfare State, Daniel Wincott
8.: Knowledge Regimes and Comparative Political Economy, John Campbell and Ove K. Pedersen
9.: Ideas, Expertise and Think Tanks, Andrew Rich
10.: Ideas and Institutions in Race Politics, Robert C. Lieberman
Bibliography
Index

Über Autor(innen)

Edited by Daniel Béland, Chair in Public Policy and Professor, University of Saskatchewan, and Robert Henry Cox, Professor of International and Area Studies, University of Oklahoma

Contributors:
Sheri Berman, Associate Professor of Political Science, Barnard College; Mark Blyth, Professor of International Political Economy, Department of Political Science, Brown University; John L. Campbell, Class of 1925 Professor in the Department of Sociology, Dartmouth College and Professor of Political Economy, International Center for Business and Politics, Copenhagen Business School; Colin Hay, Professor of Political Analysis, University of Sheffield; Robert C. Lieberman, Professor of Political Science and Public Affairs, Columbia University; Jal Mehta, Assistant Professor, Harvard Graduate School of Education; Craig Parsons, Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Oregon; Ove K. Pedersen, Professor of Comparative Political Economy and the former director and founder of the International Center for Business and Politics at the Copenhagen Business School; Andrew Rich, President and CEO of the Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Institute; Vivien A. Schmidt, Jean Monnet Professor of European Integration and Director of the Center for International Relations, Boston University; Daniel Wincott, Blackwell Law and Society Chair, Cardiff Law School