Political analysis

326 Pages·2002·1.602 MB·English

by  Hay, Colin

P
OLITICAL
A
NALYSIS
Series Editors:
B.Guy Peters, Jon Pierre
and Gerry Stoker
Political science today is a dynamic discipline. Its substance, theory and methods
have all changed radically in recent decades. It is much expanded in range and scope
and in the variety of new perspectives – and new variants of old ones – that it encom-
passes. The sheer volume of work being published, and the increasing degree of its
specialization, however, make it difficult for political scientists to maintain a clear
grasp of the state of debate beyond their own particular subdisciplines.
The Political Analysis series is intended to provide a channel for different parts of
the discipline to talk to one another and to new generations of students. Our aim is
to publish books that provide introductions to, and exemplars of, the best work in
various areas of the discipline. Written in an accessible style, they will provide a
‘launching-pad’ for students and others seeking a clear grasp of the key method-
ological, theoretical and empirical issues, and the main areas of debate, in the
complex and fragmented world of political science.
A particular priority will be to facilitate intellectual exchange between academic
communities in different parts of the world. Although frequently addressing the same
intellectual issues, research agendas and literatures in North America, Europe and
elsewhere have often tended to develop in relative isolation from one another. This
series is designed to provide a framework for dialogue and debate which, rather than
advocacy of one regional approach or another, is the key to progress.
The series will reflect our view that the core values of political science should be
coherent and logically constructed theory, matched by carefully constructed and
exhaustive empirical investigation. The key challenge is to ensure quality and
integrity in what is produced rather than to constrain diversity in methods
and approaches. The series will provide a showcase for the best of political science
in all its variety, and demonstrate how nurturing that variety can further improve
the discipline.
P
OLITICAL
A
NALYSIS
Series Editors:
B.Guy Peters, Jon Pierre
and Gerry Stoker
Published
Colin Hay
Political Analysis
Jon Pierre and B. Guy Peters
Governance, Politics and the State
Forthcoming
Peter Burnham, Wyn Grant, Zig Layton-Henry and Peter John
Research Methods in Politics
Vivien Lowndes
Why Institutions Matter
David Marsh
Political Behaviour
David Marsh and Gerry Stoker
Theory and Methods in Political Science (2nd edn)
Martin Smith
Power, Politics and the State
Political Analysis Series
Series Standing Order
ISBN 978-0-333-78694-9 hardback
ISBN 978-0-333-94506-3 paperback
(outside North America only)
You can receive future titles in this series as they are published by placing a standing order.
Please contact your bookseller or, in case of difficulty, write to us at the address below with
your name and address, the title of the series and one of the ISBNs quoted above.
Customer Services Department, Macmillan Distribution Ltd, Houndmills, Basingstoke,
Hampshire RG21 6XS, England
Political Analysis
Colin Hay
© Colin Hay 2002
All rights reserved.No reproduction,copy or transmission of
this publication may be made without written permission.
No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced,copied or
transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with
the provisions of the Copyright,Designs and Patents Act 1988,
or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying
issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency,90 Tottenham Court
Road,London W1T 4LP.
Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this
publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil
claims for damages.
The author has asserted his right to be identified
as the author of this work in accordance with the
Copyright,Designs and Patents Act 1988.
First published 2002 by
PALGRAVE
Houndmills,Basingstoke,Hampshire RG21 6XS and
175 Fifth Avenue,New York,N.Y.10010
Companies and representatives throughout the world
PALGRAVE is the new global academic imprint of
St.Martin’s Press LLC Scholarly and Reference Division and
Palgrave Publishers Ltd (formerly Macmillan Press Ltd).
ISBN 978-0-333-75002-5 hardback
ISBN 978-0-333-75003-2 ISBN 978-0-230-62911-0 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-0-230-62911-0
This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and
made from fully managed and sustained forest sources.
A catalogue record for this book is available
from the British Library.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Hay,Colin,1968–
Political analysis :a critical introduction / Colin Hay.
p. cm.– (Political analysis)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-333-75002-5 (cloth) – ISBN 978-0-333-75003-2 (paper)
1. Political science. I. Title. II. Political analysis (Palgrave)
JA71 .H348 2002
320 – dc21 2002020889
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
11 10 09 08 07 06 05 04 03 02
To Elspeth, without whom it would not have been possible
Contents
List of Figures, Tables and Boxes x
Preface and Acknowledgements xiii
1 Analytical Perspectives, Analytical Controversies 1
The scope and limits of political analysis 2
Analytical perspectives, analytical choices, analytical
controversies 6
Mapping the political science mainstream 7
Mapping the mainstream in international relations 13
Analytical strategies in contemporary political science and
international relations 27
The parsimony versus complexity trade-off 29
The role for and the nature of theory in political analysis 37
Context and conduct: dealing with the ‘problem’ of agency 50
The structure of the book 54
2 What’s ‘Political’ About Political Science? 59
Ontology and epistemology: the ‘political question’ and
the ‘science’ question 61
Specifying and respecifying the political 66
The nature of politics, the nature of the political 69
Science, politics and ethics 75
The retreat from positivism 81
Conclusion: the limits of political science and the ethics
of political analysis 86
3 Beyond Structure versus Agency, Context versus Conduct 89
What is – and what is not – at stake in the structure–
agency debate? 90
Conceptualising structure and agency 93
Operationalising structure and agency: the rise of fascism in
Germany in the 1930s 96
Positions in the structure–agency debate 101
vii
viii Contents
The centrality of structure and agency to political
explanation 113
Beyond structure versus agency 115
4 Continuity and Discontinuity in the Analysis of
Political Change 135
Time for change? 136
Analytical strategies for conceptualising change 143
Time, timing and temporality 150
Conclusion: structural, agential and ideational factors in
the analysis of political change 163
5 Divided by a Common Language?
Conceptualising Power 168
The ‘faces of power’ controversy 171
Power: analytical and critical perspectives 182
Foucault and the ‘microphysics of power’ 187
6 The Discursive and the Ideational in Contemporary
Political Analysis: Beyond Materialism and Idealism 194
The space for ideas in political analysis 195
Constructivism in and beyond international relations
theory 197
The difference that ideas (can) make 205
Structure, agency and ideas 209
Conclusion: paradigms and paradigm shifts 213
7 The Challenge of Postmodernism 216
Modernism and postmodernism as aesthetic
sensibilities 218
Postmodernism as an intellectual sensibility 225
The contribution of postmodernism to political analysis 234
The postmodernist challenge to (critical) political analysis 239
In defence of critical political analysis: resisting
postmodernism’s vow of silence 245
Conclusion: Critical–Political–Analytical 251
Empirical but not empiricist 252
Structure and agency 253
An inclusive and post-disciplinary conception of political
analysis 256
Contents ix
The causal and constitutive role of ideas 257
The contingency of political processes 259
Notes 261
Bibliography 273
Index 305
List of Figures, Tables and Boxes
Figures
1.1 The evolution of mainstream political science 11
1.2 The evolution of international relations theory 16
1.3 Deductive and inductive logics in political analysis 31
1.4 The parsimony–complexity trade-off 36
1.5 Inductive and deductive logics in the new institutionalism
and constructivism 47
2.1 Ontology, epistemology and methodology: a directional
dependence 64
2.2 Alternative conceptions of the political in political
analysis 67
2.3 The logic of positivist social and political analysis 81
3.1 From dualism to duality: the strategic–relational
approach 128
3.2 Structure, strategy and agency in the strategic–
relational approach 131
4.1 The development of a state system over time 143
4.2 The synchronic or ‘snapshot’ approach 145
4.3 Comparative statics as an analytical strategy 146
4.4 Comparative statics in historic materialism 148
4.5 The diachronic approach to systemic change 149
4.6 The revolutionary conception of political time 152
4.7 Gurr’s relative deprivation thesis 154
4.8 Revolutions as pressure-release valves 155
4.9 The evolutionary conception of political time 156
4.10 Punctuated equilibrium 162
6.1 The causal significance of ideas about globalisation 203
6.2 The role of ideational factors in political explanation 206
6.3 Discursive and strategic selectivity 212
6.4 The material–ideational dialectic 214
7.1 Postmodernist ontology, epistemology and
methodology 227
x