In person icon Configurational Thinking in Political Science: Theory, Methodology, and Empirical Application

Configurational approaches such as typologies and typological theories, process tracing, Comparative Historical Analysis or Qualitative Comparative Analysis have experienced increasing scholarly interest within political science over the last two decades. Deeply rooted in a case-oriented research tradition, these approaches share an understanding of the social world which essentially revolves around the ideas of the interconnectedness of simultaneous or sequential explanatory factors as well as patterns of diversity (e.g. equi- and multifinality, asymmetry, context and contingency). As such, configurational thinking clearly differs from standard quantitative perspectives offering an alternative perspective on social phenomena. We address the issue of configurational thinking in political science from three angles. (1.) With respect to theory, we take up the call by Hall, Ragin and others asking how we can align theories and methodology with configurational thinking. (2.) On methodological grounds, we strive for further advancements of our social sciences toolkit, both regarding specific configurational approaches and multi-method research. (3.) Regarding empirical applications, we are interested in studies either related to methodology via applying configurational methods in innovative ways, and/or related to theory by demonstrating the added value of configurational thinking. The proposed workshop wants to serve as a forum for theorists, methodologists, and application-oriented researchers interested in configurational thinking and techniques from various political science (sub)fields. By doing so, it centrally aims at assessing the state-of-the-art of configuration approaches and delineating an agenda for future research.