Chair: Giulio M. Gallarotti
Status: Call for Papers
Please, submit your paper proposal to the IPSA RC36 vice-chair Alina V. Vladimirova: alina.v.vladimirova@gmail.com
Taking Place: 25th World Congress of Political Science
July 21-26, 2018 | Brisbane, Australia
Abstract: must not exceed 350 words
Deadline: 1 October 2017
Power is a central concept in social and political sciences yet one of the most troublesome regarding linking theory to empirical research. On the one hand, we can see an established power analysis domain with standards set by numerous noted scientists. On the other hand, leading authors of the field express the doubt of whether power is a suitable concept for purposes of analysis. If we agree with Haugaard’s argument that multiplicity of usage gives us the freedom to create our own tools best suited to the task at hand, how can we actually do it in practice? How can we preserve a commitment to the rigorous conceptual analysis of power while we are exploring empirical data? Which approaches are available for us now and which of them let us to escape criticism on different stages of political power research?
By introducing this panel, we would like to provide room for a broad discussion on different aspects of so called “theory and practice gap” in analysis of political power. We encourage potential participants to submit papers that describe state of the art and papers that present case studies, including systematic testing of theoretical models with empirical data in the fields of domestic and international politics.