3.0

credits

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This advanced level course is intended to help students understand the frontiers of empirical political science research – that is, research concerned with answering causal questions – as presented in recent books by (for the most part) junior scholars. The books represent the substantive and methodological pluralism of our field, with books coming from American, Comparative, IR, and Political Economy. We will give two weeks’ treatment to most books on the syllabus, spending the first week reading “motivating” or classic material that inspired the book project, as well a companion of a key methodological text that inspired the research design. Along with reading the materials that help to situate the book in larger debates in its subfield we will read the first several chapters of the book. In the second week of discussion we will read the second half of the book – the evidence chapters and the conclusion – and focus on understanding whether and how the evidence that is presented matches with the theoretical and empirical claims made in the book’s beginnings.