Causality and Big, Slow-Moving and Invisible Processes

Abstract

The title of this panel can be traced to Paul Pierson's contribution to the volume on Comparative Historical Analysis in the Social Sciences, edited by Mahoney and Rueschemeyer (2003). It is also inspired by other contributions to the same volume and similar, recently edited books. Broadly speaking, the papers in such a panel deal with the question of if and how it is possible to make causal arguments which deal with macro phenomena. This would allow for a broad range of contributions, covering both methodological arguments (such as the "Galton problem" in general; the influence of globalisation on the comparativity of formerly distinct nation states; the claim for the independence of units of analysis and diffusion processes via internet; Bayesian approaches; n = 1 designs, such as process tracing; over-time comparisons; etc.) and substantial work (analyses of globalisation; EU studies; macro sociological comparisons; etc.).

Title	Details
Leadership evaluations and vote choice: Which causes which? The British Case, 1964-2001	View Paper Details
Transcending the choice between case and variable-oriented analysis: a new method and its application to the welfare state regime controversy	View Paper Details
Modelling Slow - and Fast-Moving Processes: A Theoretical and Statistical Analysis of Democratic Survival in Africa and Asia	View Paper Details
Globalization, Diffusion and the Galton's Problem: Functional and Diffusional Causality in the Social Sciences	View Paper Details