PROCESS TRACING AND PROFESSIONALIZATION OF POLITICAL CAMPAIGNS

The Study of Political Campaigns

DO P O L I T I C A L C A M PA I G N S M AT T E R ? This question, like so many in political science, seems natural, important, and straightforward. Yet the answer founders on the difAculty of deAning both the subject and the predicate. What do we mean by political campaigns? How might they matter? This essay attempts to organize the study of campaigns by marking its boundaries and by ordering q...

Lies, damned lies, and political campaigns

Despite a pervasive presence in politics, lying has not traditionally played a role in formal models of elections. In this paper we develop a model that allows candidates in the campaign stage to misrepresent their policy intentions if elected to office, and in which the willingness to lie varies across candidates. We find that candidates more willing to lie are favored, but that this advantage...

Do Campaigns Really Change Behavior? New Understanding of the Behavioral Effects of Advertising, Political Campaigns and Health Communication Campaigns

Process tracing

tracing the progress of process tracing

Building on a Lakatosian approach that sees Social Science as an endeavour that confronts rival theories with systematic empirical observations, this article responds to probing questions that have been raised about the appropriate ways in which to conduct systematic process analysis and comparative enquiry. It explores varieties of process tracing, the role of interpretation in case studies, a...