Comparative Politics in Borderlands: Actors, Identities, and Strategies

2021 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Braun ◽  
Otto Kienitz
Keyword(s):  
Political Violence ◽  
Comparative Politics ◽  
Border Studies ◽  
Annual Review ◽  
Publication Date ◽  
Political Processes ◽  
Border Regions ◽  
Local Identities ◽  
Research Designs ◽  
Measurement Strategies

Comparativists are increasingly researching national border regions. Yet the distinct way in which proximity to borders independently shapes politics is rarely theorized explicitly. Drawing on the emerging subdiscipline of border studies, we identify three types of border effects: Borders involve specific actors, shape local identities, and provide distinct strategies, each of which directly affects key areas of comparative politics. An in-depth review of work on political violence and state formation shows that specifying these effects ( a) demands that comparativists consider the ways in which borderlands differ from other regions and be careful in attributing processes found there to nations as a whole, ( b) improves theories by elucidating scope conditions, and ( c) scrutinizes the validity of our research designs and measurement strategies. We end with a call to move from a comparative politics in border regions to a comparative politics of border regions that contextualizes how borders alter political processes. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Political Science, Volume 25 is May 2022. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.

scholarly journals What Can We Learn from Written Constitutions?

2021 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Zachary Elkins ◽  
Tom Ginsburg
Keyword(s):  
Data Analysis ◽  
Comparative Politics ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
Comparative Research ◽  
Original Data ◽  
Science Volume ◽  
Annual Review ◽  
Publication Date ◽  
Research Designs ◽  
The Face

This article responds to a set of well-known challenges to empirical research on formal institutions in comparative politics. We focus on the case of written constitutions and discuss the scholarly utility of studying such documents in the face of four analytic and theoretical challenges. Each of these challenges, in turn, implies a set of empirical questions, for which we invoke original data to sketch a broad-brushed set of answers. The data analysis and accompanying discussion suggest a set of guidelines for how written constitutions should be deployed in comparative research designs on topics that involve political institutions. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Political Science, Volume 24 is May 2021. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.

scholarly journals Analytic Criminology: Mechanisms and Methods in the Explanation of Crime and its Causes

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Per-Olof H. Wikström ◽  
Clemens Kroneberg
Keyword(s):  
Action Theory ◽  
Theory Development ◽  
Annual Review ◽  
Publication Date ◽  
Criminological Research ◽  
Integrated Research ◽  
Research Designs ◽  
Research Findings ◽  
Development Methods ◽  
Advance Knowledge

Criminology is a smorgasbord of disparate theory and poorly integrated research findings. Theories tend to focus either on people's crime propensity or the criminogenic inducements of environments; rarely are these two main approaches effectively combined in the analysis of crime and its causes. Criminological research often either avoids questions of causation and explanation (e.g., risk factor approach) or is based on research designs that yield highly partial accounts (e.g., place-oriented experimental work). To advance knowledge about crime and its causes and prevention, we argue that there is a need for an analytic criminology that allows key theoretical insights and central empirical findings about people's crime propensities and environments’ criminogenic inducements and their combination to be integrated based on an adequate action theory. In this review, we outline this approach and its main methodological implications and discuss how its focus on why and how questions leads to a characteristic integration of theory development, methods, and research. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Criminology, Volume 5 is January 2022. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.

scholarly journals Violence Against Civilians During Armed Conflict: Moving Beyond the Macro- and Micro-Level Divide

2020 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Laia Balcells ◽  
Jessica A. Stanton
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
Comparative Politics ◽  
Macro Level ◽  
Annual Review ◽  
Publication Date ◽  
Event Data ◽  
Theoretical Understanding ◽  
Micro Level ◽  
Violence Against Civilians ◽  
Different Levels

Early research on wartime violence against civilians highlighted a distinction between macro- and micro-level approaches. Macro-level approaches, grounded in the international relations subfield, focus on variation across countries or conflicts, while micro-level approaches, more influenced by the comparative politics subfield, focus on variation within countries or conflicts. However, some of the recent research on civilian targeting does not fit neatly into this dichotomy—such as research comparing subnational units or armed groups across conflicts or research relying on geo-referenced event data for multiple conflicts. We review the literature and advocate moving beyond the language of the micro- and macro-level divide, instead focusing on the determinants of violence against civilians at five different levels of analysis: international, domestic, subnational, organizational, and individual. While acknowledging significant advances in the field, we argue for continued research aimed at developing a more integrated theoretical understanding of the multiple actors and interactive social processes driving violence against civilians. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Political Science, Volume 24 is May 11, 2021. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.

scholarly journals The Causes of Populism in the West

2020 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sheri Berman
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Politics ◽  
The United States ◽  
Annual Review ◽  
Publication Date ◽  
Supply Side ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
The West ◽  
Demand And Supply ◽  
Structure And Agency ◽  
Right Wing Populism

The global ascendance of populism has produced an explosion of research, bringing together scholarship on American and comparative politics as well as encouraging intellectual exchange among political scientists, economists, and sociologists. A good way to get a handle on what is now a wide-ranging and interdisciplinary literature is to focus on the key debates characterizing it. This article reviews the literature on the causes of populism, and in particular right-wing populism, in the United States, Europe, and other advanced industrial nations generally, but much of this literature draws on and refers to research on other parts of the world as well. This review analyzes the nature as well as the strengths and weakness of demand- and supply-side explanations of populism, economic grievance–based and sociocultural grievance–based explanations of populism, and structure- and agency-based explanations of populism. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Political Science, Volume 24 is May 11, 2021. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.

Historical Persistence

2021 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexandra Cirone ◽  
Thomas B. Pepinsky
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Political Science ◽  
Contemporary Literature ◽  
Annual Review ◽  
Publication Date ◽  
New Approach ◽  
The Social ◽  
Research Designs ◽  
Art Research ◽  
Political Economic

This article reviews the literature on historical persistence in political science and the related social sciences. Historical persistence refers to causal effects that ( a) operate over time scales of a decade or more and ( b) explain spatial variation in political, economic, or social outcomes. Although political scientists have always drawn from history, the historical persistence literature represents a new approach to historical research in the social sciences that places a premium on credible research designs for causal inference. We discuss regional and national coverage, state-of-the-art research designs, analytical and inferential challenges, and mechanisms and theories of persistence, drawing broadly from the contemporary literature in political science and economics. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Political Science, Volume 25 is May 2022. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.

Recent Advances in Empirical Land-Use Modeling

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew J. Plantinga
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Spatial Scales ◽  
Spillover Effects ◽  
Annual Review ◽  
Publication Date ◽  
Data Sets ◽  
Land Use Modeling ◽  
Research Designs ◽  
Use Studies ◽  
Traditional Approaches

Data sets providing repeated observations of land use at fine spatial scales have enabled a new generation of land-use studies. In the past decade, these analyses have put increasing emphasis on empirical research designs that provide more convincing causal estimates. I review the use of instrumental variables, matching, difference-in-differences, regression discontinuity design, and randomized controlled trials in the recent land-use economics literature, exploring how new data have made possible the use of these research designs. I show that these estimators have produced different results than were obtained with traditional approaches and have provided new insights into important land-use policy issues such as additionality and spillover effects. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Resource Economics, Volume 13 is October 2021. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.

scholarly journals Ethics of Field Experiments

2021 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Trisha Phillips
Keyword(s):  
Political Science ◽  
Field Experiments ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Theoretical Research ◽  
Annual Review ◽  
Publication Date ◽  
Science Field ◽  
Political Processes ◽  
Present Complex ◽  
Current Guidance

Political scientists are increasingly conducting field experiments that raise ethical issues that standard review criteria and processes are ill equipped to address. Field experiments can answer important questions, but they can also present various harms to individuals, communities, and political processes; undermine autonomy; introduce partnerships that present complex questions of responsibility; and damage the public's trust in the discipline. This article reviews published empirical and theoretical research, professional guidelines, and media accounts, blog posts, and other sources when appropriate. It characterizes the state of the field regarding the identification of ethical problems, relevant normative guidance, proposed strategies for managing ethical concerns, and issues on the horizon. It concludes that the discipline is making good progress, with robust guidelines and strategies for conducting field experiments ethically. However, there is still much work to be done in refining and expanding current guidance, addressing remaining issues, and promoting norms. This review concludes with some general recommendations for researchers conducting political science field experiments. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Political Science, Volume 24 is May 2021. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.

Migration, Borders, and Identity in the Latin American Context

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Velasco Ortiz
Keyword(s):  
Latin American ◽  
Human Mobility ◽  
Empirical Relationship ◽  
Border Studies ◽  
Border Control ◽  
Border Regions ◽  
Identity Processes ◽  
Nation States ◽  
Global Connections ◽  
A Current

In concert with more localized analyses of border regions, the Border Studies field has contributed to our understanding of how mobility affects identity. The distinction between cultural and identification boundaries has proved relevant for analyzing the identity processes that arise in border interactions typically marked by ambiguity and contradiction. However, the current migratory context is defined by dehumanizing social and political inequalities. This poses a conceptual challenge to understanding the subjectivities produced by the current policies of border control that dehumanize the immigrant and mobile person. This chapter reflects on the conceptual and empirical relationship between migration, borders, and identity in a current climate characterized by global connections and nation-states’ increasing border control over human mobility. It also analyzes the symbolic dimension of state border control and its consequences for constituting identities.

Endogenous Retroviruses Drive Resistance and Promotion of Exogenous Retroviral Homologs

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Elliott S. Chiu ◽  
Sue VandeWoude
Keyword(s):  
Immune Modulation ◽  
Viral Infections ◽  
Viral Evolution ◽  
Endogenous Retroviruses ◽  
Annual Review ◽  
Publication Date ◽  
Biological Functions ◽  
Self Tolerance ◽  
Vertebrate Hosts ◽  
Insight Into

Endogenous retroviruses (ERVs) serve as markers of ancient viral infections and provide invaluable insight into host and viral evolution. ERVs have been exapted to assist in performing basic biological functions, including placentation, immune modulation, and oncogenesis. A subset of ERVs share high nucleotide similarity to circulating horizontally transmitted exogenous retrovirus (XRV) progenitors. In these cases, ERV–XRV interactions have been documented and include ( a) recombination to result in ERV–XRV chimeras, ( b) ERV induction of immune self-tolerance to XRV antigens, ( c) ERV antigen interference with XRV receptor binding, and ( d) interactions resulting in both enhancement and restriction of XRV infections. Whereas the mechanisms governing recombination and immune self-tolerance have been partially determined, enhancement and restriction of XRV infection are virus specific and only partially understood. This review summarizes interactions between six unique ERV–XRV pairs, highlighting important ERV biological functions and potential evolutionary histories in vertebrate hosts. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Animal Biosciences, Volume 9 is February 16, 2021. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.

Advancing Socioeconomic Rights Through Interdisciplinary Factfinding: Opportunities and Challenges

2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Knuckey ◽  
Joshua D. Fisher ◽  
Amanda M. Klasing ◽  
Tess Russo ◽  
Margaret L. Satterthwaite
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Mixed Methods ◽  
Social Science ◽  
Science Volume ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Limited Resources ◽  
Annual Review ◽  
Publication Date ◽  
Socioeconomic Rights ◽  
Human Rights Movement

The human rights movement is increasingly using interdisciplinary, multidisciplinary, mixed-methods, and quantitative factfinding. There has been too little analysis of these shifts. This article examines some of the opportunities and challenges of these methods, focusing on the investigation of socioeconomic human rights. By potentially expanding the amount and types of evidence available, factfinding's accuracy and persuasiveness can be strengthened, bolstering rights claims. However, such methods can also present significant challenges and may pose risks in individual cases and to the human rights movement generally. Interdisciplinary methods can be costly in human, financial, and technical resources; are sometimes challenging to implement; may divert limited resources from other work; can reify inequalities; may produce “expertise” that disempowers rightsholders; and could raise investigation standards to an infeasible or counterproductive level. This article includes lessons learned and questions to guide researchers and human rights advocates considering mixed-methods human rights factfinding. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Law and Social Science, Volume 17 is October 2021. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.

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