1991/07/01 by Giovanni Sartori · 5 citations
Business, Management and Accounting · Social Sciences · #Political Conflict and Governance #Political Influence and Corporate Strategies #Qualitative Comparative Analysis Research
paper · doi:10.1177/0951692891003003001
openalex publication_date 1991/07/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/25
I seek to explain the disappointing performance of the field of comparative politics addressing the three basic questions: Why compare? What is comparable? and How? I also challenge the view that the methodology of comparison is pretty well known and established. Hosts of unsettled issues remain, while a growing cause of frustration and failure is the undetected proliferation of `cat-dogs' (or worse), that is, nonexistent aggregates which are bound to defy, on account of their non-comparable characteristics, any and all attempts at law-like generalizations. The bottom line is that the comparative endeavor suffers from loss of purpose.