Comparative Politics and the Comparative Method
Abstract
This paper is a systematic analysis of the comparative method. Its emphasis is on both the limitations of the method and the ways in which, despite these limitations, it can be used to maximum advantage. The comparative method is defined and analyzed in terms of its similarities and differences vis-à-vis the experimental and statistical methods. The principal difficulty facing the comparative method is that it must generalize on the basis of relatively few empirical cases. Four specific ways in which this difficulty may be resolved are discussed and illustrated: (1) increasing the number of cases as much as possible by means of longitudinal extension and a global range of analysis, (2) reducing the property space of the analysis, (3) focusing the comparative analysis on “comparable” cases (e.g., by means of area, diachronic, or intranation comparisons), and (4) focusing on the key variables. It is argued that the case study method is closely related to the comparative method. Six types of case studies (the atheoretical, interpretative, hypothesis-generating, theory-confirming, theory-infirming, and deviant case analyses) are distinguished, and their theoretical value is analyzed.
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The present analysis meets the requirements of a most similar systems research design.
“the present analysis meets the requirements of a most similar systems research design in an optimal way”
From Moral Communities? Religion as a Source of Social Trust in a Multilevel Analysis of 97 German Regions (2011) · cites this paper as Lijphart, 1971
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“…also map onto the overall divide within comparative politics between scholars who recommend large-n comparisons across many countries and time periods (Lieberson 1991; Lijphart 1971), and those who favour bounded comparisons including only a few cases (Collier and Mahoney 1996; Ragin 2000).”
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- Authors
- Lijphart, A.
- Affiliations
- Leiden University (NL)
- Corresponding author
- Lijphart, Arend
- Venue
- American Political Science Review
- Publisher
- Cambridge University Press (CUP)
- Published
- 1971-09
- Volume
- 65
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 682-693
- ISSN
- 0003-0554 (ISSN-L)
- 1537-5943
- OpenAlex
- W2077556346
- Cited by
- 3,151
- References
- 1
- Citations by year
- 2026: 94 · 2025: 106 · 2024: 106 · 2023: 138 · 2022: 135 · 2021: 153 · 2020: 144 · 2019: 181 · 2018: 193 · 2017: 130 · 2016: 128 · 2015: 139 · 2014: 143 · 2013: 125 · 2012: 120
- FWCI
- 20.69
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- American Political Science Review (publishedVersion)
- RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Qualitative Comparative Analysis Research
- Social Sciences › Political Science and International Relations › Political Science Research and Education
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Political Conflict and Governance
- Keywords
- comparative analysis, comparative politics, case study method, experimental method, statistical method, diachronic comparison, key variables
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