Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-fscjk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-01-05T06:06:02.620Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

This Is Not a Turn: Canadian Political Science and Social Mechanisms

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 April 2017

Mireille Paquet  and
Jörg Broschek
Mireille Paquet*
Affiliation:
Concordia University
Jörg Broschek*
Affiliation:
Wilfrid Laurier University
*
Department of Political Science, Concordia University, 1455 Maisonneuve Ouest, Montreal, Quebec, H3 G 1M8, email: [email protected]
Department of Political Science, Wilfrid Laurier University, 75 University Avenue West, Waterloo, Ontario, N2L 3C5, email: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Mechanism-based explanations are gaining in popularity in the social sciences. Canadian political science has somewhat embraced these debates. Recent work has explicitly identified with mechanismic explanation and, at the same time, there is a point to be made about the compatibility of CPS's cannons with a mechanism-based understanding of causation. In this paper, we survey past and recent work aligned with this ontological approach. We demonstrate a heterogeneous engagement with the methodological literature regarding mechanisms and different understandings as well as uses of mechanisms in political analysis. This survey allows us to argue for the potential of mechanism-based explanations for CPS while also forcing us to advocate for a sober and discerning use of this approach.

Résumé

Les explications basées sur les mécanismes gagnent en popularité dans les sciences sociales. La science politique canadienne, toutes langues confondues, ne fait pas exception à cette tendance. Plusieurs recherches récentes ont explicitement mobilisé une ontologie mécanistique afin d'expliquer des phénomènes politiques. Nous proposons que cela soit en partie aligné avec des travaux classiques en science politique canadienne, qui s'arrimaient implicitement avec cette conception de la causalité. Dans cet article, nous résumons les travaux passés et récents alignés avec cette approche ontologique. À l'heure actuelle, les apports canadiens utilisant les mécanismes sont caractérisés par un engagement hétérogène avec la littérature méthodologique, par des définitions différentes des mécanismes et par des utilisations variées des mécanismes sociaux dans la construction de théories. Nous concluons en soutenant le potentiel de l'approche par mécanismes pour la science politique canadienne, à condition que les chercheurs l'utilisent de façon sobre et précise.

Type
Research Article
Information
Canadian Journal of Political Science/Revue canadienne de science politique , Volume 50 , Issue 1 , March 2017 , pp. 295 - 310
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Political Science Association (l'Association canadienne de science politique) and/et la Société québécoise de science politique 2017 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Ancelovici, Marcos and Jenson, Jane. 2012. “La standardisation et les mécanismes du transfert transnational.” Gouvernement et action publique 1 (1): 37–58.Google Scholar
Banting, Keith. 2005. “Canada: Nation-Building in a Federal State.” In Federalism and the Welfare State: New World and European Experiences, ed. Obinger, H., Leibfried, S. and Castles, F. G.. New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Beach, Derek and Pedersen, Rasmus Brun. 2012. Process-Tracing Methods: Foundations and Guidelines. Ann Arbour: University of Michigan Press.Google Scholar
Beach, Derek and Pedersen, Rasmus Brun. Forthcoming. “Selecting Appropriate Cases When Tracing Causal Mechanisms.” Sociological Methods & Research. doi: 10.1177/0049124115622510 Google Scholar
Beach, Derek and Rohlfing, Ingo. Forthcoming. “Integrating Cross-case Analyses and Process Tracing in Set-Theoretic Research Strategies and Parameters of Debate.” Sociological Methods & Research. DOI: 0049124115613780 Google Scholar
Bennet, Andrew. 2010. “Process-Tracing and Causal Inference.” In Rethinking Social Inquiry: Diverse Tools, Shared Standards, ed. Brady, H. E. and Collier, D.. Toronto: Rowan & Littlefield.Google Scholar
Bennett, Andrew and Checkel, Jeffrey T., eds. 2014. Process tracing. New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Black, Edwin R. and Cairns, Alan C.. 1966. “A Different Perspective on Canadian Federalism.” Canadian Public Administration 9 (1): 27–44.Google Scholar
Blais, André, Cantin, H. and Crête, Jean. 1970. “Les élections comme phénomène de décision collective: les élections fédérales de 1957 à 1965 au Québec.” Revue canadienne de science politique 3 (4): 522–39.Google Scholar
Bourgault, Jacques. 1983. “Les hauts fonctionnaires québécois: Paramètres synergiques de puissance et de servitude.” Revue canadienne de science politique 16 (2): 227–56.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brady, Henry E. and Collier, David. 2004. Rethinking Social Inquiry: Diverse Tools, Shared Standards. Toronto: Rowan & Littlefield.Google Scholar
Broschek, Jörg. 2010. “Federalism and Political Change: Canada and Germany in Historical-Institutionalist Perspective.” Canadian Journal of Political Science 43 (1): 1–24.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cairns, Alan C. 1974. “Alternative Styles in the Study of Canadian Politics.” Canadian Journal of Political Science 7 (1): 101–28.Google Scholar
Cairns, Alan C. 1977. “The Governments and Societies of Canadian Federalism.” Canadian Journal of Political Science 10 (4): 695–725.Google Scholar
Cairns, Alan C. 1986. “The Embedded State: State-Society Relations in Canada.” In State and society: Canada in comparative perspective, ed. Banting, K.. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.Google Scholar
Charbonneau, Étienne, Henderson, Alexander C., Ladouceur, Benoit and Pichet, Philippe. Forthcoming. “Process Tracing in Public Administration: The Implications of Practitioner Insights for Methods of Inquiry.” International Journal of Public Administration. doi: 10.1080/01900692.2015.1127965 Google Scholar
Collier, David. 2011. “Understanding Process Tracing.” PS: Political Science & Politics 44 (4): 823–30.Google Scholar
Dion, Léon. 1969a. “A la recherche d'une méthode d'analyse des partis et des groupes d'intérêt.” Revue canadienne de science politique 2 (1): 45–63.Google Scholar
Dion, Léon. 1969b. “Politique consultative et systeme politique.” Revue canadienne de science politique 2 (2): 226–44.Google Scholar
Elster, Jon. 1989. Nuts and bolts for the social sciences. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Falleti, Tulia G. 2016. “Process tracing of extensive and intensive processes.” New Political Economy 21 (5): 455–62.Google Scholar
Falleti, Tulia G. and Lynch, Julia F.. 2008. “From Process to Mechanism: Varieties of Disaggregation.” Qualitative Sociology 31 (4): 333–39.Google Scholar
Falleti, Tulia G. and Lynch, Julia F.. 2009. “Context and Causal Mechanisms in Political Analysis.” Comparative Political Studies 42 (9): 1143–66.Google Scholar
Fourot, Aude-Claire. 2013. L'intégration des immigrants: cinquante ans d'action publique locale. Montreal: Les Presses de l'Université de Montréal.Google Scholar
Fourot, Aude-Claire. 2011. “Immigrants en banlieue et politiques publiques municipales: le cas lavallois (Québec, Canada).” Administration publique du Canada 54 (1): 97–119.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
George, Alexander L and Bennett, Andrew. 2005. Case Studies and Theory Development in the Social Sciences. Cambridge: MIT Press.Google Scholar
Gerring, John. 2008. “The Mechanismic Worldview: Thinking Inside the Box.” British Journal of Political Science 38 (1): 161–79.Google Scholar
Gibson, Edward L. 2005. “Boundary control: Subnational authoritarianism in democratic countries.” World Politics 58 (1): 101–32.Google Scholar
Grix, Jonathan. 2002. “Introducing students to the generic terminology of social research.” Politics 22 (3): 175–86.Google Scholar
Grzymala-Busse, A. 2011. “Time Will Tell? Temporality and the Analysis of Causal Mechanisms and Processes.” Comparative Political Studies 44 (9): 1267–97.Google Scholar
Hall, Peter. 2003. “Aligning Ontology and Methodology in Comparative Politics.” In Comparative Historical Analysis in the Social Sciences, ed. Mahoney, J. and Rueschemeyer, D.. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Hall, Peter. 2008. “Systematic Process Analysis: When and How to Use It.” European Political Science 7 (3): 304–17.Google Scholar
Hedström, P. and Ylikoski, P.. 2010. “Causal Mechanisms in the Social Sciences.” Annual Review of Sociology 36: 49–67.Google Scholar
Hedström, Peter and Swedberg, Richard, eds. 1998. Social Mechanism: An analytical Approach to Social Theory. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Howlett, Michael and Rayner, Jeremy. 2006. “Understanding the Historical Turn in the Policy Sciences: A Critique of Stochastic, Narrative, Path Dependency and Process-Sequencing Models of Policy-Making Over Time.” Policy Sciences 39 (1): 1–18.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Horowitz, Gad. 1966. “Conservatism, Liberalism, and Socialism in Canada: An Interpretation.” Canadian Journal of Economics and Political Science 32 (1): 143–71.Google Scholar
Innis, Harold. 1999 [1927]. The Fur Trade in Canada : An Introduction to Canadian Economic History. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.Google Scholar
Jones, Bryan D. and Baumgartner, Frank R.. 2012. “From There to Here: Punctuated Equilibrium to the General Punctuation Thesis to a Theory of Government Information Processing.” Policy Studies Journal 40 (1): 1–20.Google Scholar
Landry, Réjean and Lemieux, Vincent. 1978. “L'analyse cybernétique des politiques gouvernementales.” Revue canadienne de science politique 11 (3): 529–44.Google Scholar
Lecours, Andre, ed. 2005. New Institutionalism. Theory and Analysis. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.Google Scholar
Lemieux, Vincent, dir. 1969. Quatre élections provinciales au Québec, 1956–1966. Quebec: Presses de l'Université Laval.Google Scholar
Mahoney, J. 2001. “Review essay: Beyond Correlational Analysis: Recent Innovations in Theory and Method.” Sociological Forum 16 (3): 575–93.Google Scholar
Mayntz, Renate. 2004. “Mechanisms in the analysis of social macro-phenomena.” Philosophy of the social sciences 34 (2): 237–59.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McAdam, Douglas, Tarrow, Sidney and Tilly, Charles. 2001. Dynamics of contention. Cambridge University Press: New York.Google Scholar
Noël, Alain. 2014. “Studying Your Own Country: Social Scientific Knowledge for Our Times and Places.” Canadian Journal of Political Science 47 (4): 647–66.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Paquet, Mireille. 2014a. “The Federalization of Immigration and Integration in Canada.” Canadian Journal of Political Science 47 (3): 519–48.Google Scholar
Paquet, Mireille. 2014b. “La construction provinciale comme mécanisme : le cas de l'immigration au Manitoba.” Politique et Sociétés 33 (3): 101–30.Google Scholar
Paquet, Mireille. 2016. La fédéralisation de l'immigration au Canada. Montreal: Presses de l'Université de Montréal.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pickup, Mark, Sayers, Anthony, Knopff, Rainer and Archer, Keith. 2004. “Social capital and civic community in Alberta.” Canadian Journal of Political Science 37 (3): 617–45.Google Scholar
Pierson, Paul. 2004. Politics in Time. History, Institutions and Social Analysis. Princeton and Oxford: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Radmilovic, Vuk. 2013. “Governmental Interventions and Judicial Decision Making: The Supreme Court of Canada in the Age of the Charter.” Canadian Journal of Political Science 46 (2): 323–44.Google Scholar
Sabatier, Paul A. 1988. “An advocacy coalition framework of policy change and the role of policy-oriented learning therein.” Policy sciences 21 (2–3): 129–68.Google Scholar
Skogstad, Grace. 2005. “The Dynamics of Institutional Transformation: The Case of the Canadian Wheat Board.” Canadian Journal of Political Science 38 (3): 529–48.Google Scholar
Smith, Miriam. 2009. “Diversity and Canadian Political Development.” Canadian Journal of Political Science 42 (4):831–54.Google Scholar
Tilly, Charles. 2001. “Mechanisms in Political Processes.” Annual review of political science 4 (1): 21–41.Google Scholar
Triadafilopoulos, Triadafilos. 2012. Becoming Multicultural: Immigration and the Politics of Membership in Canada and Germany. Vancouver: UBC Press.Google Scholar
Turgeon, Luc, Papillon, Martin, Wallner, Jennifer and White, Stephen, eds. 2014. Comparing Canada. Methods and Perspectives on Canadian Politics. Vancouver: UBC Press.Google Scholar
Wallner, Jennifer. 2014. Learning to School: Federalism and Public Schooling in Canada. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.Google Scholar
Wellstead, Adam, Rayner, Jeremy and Howlett, Michael. 2016. “Alberta's Oil Sands Reclamation Policy Trajectory: The Role of Tense Layering, Policy Stretching, and Policy Patching in Long-Term Policy Dynamics.” Journal of Environmental Planning and Management 59 (10): 1873–90.Google Scholar
White, Linda A, Simeon, Richard, Vipond, Robert and Wallner, Jennifer, eds. 2008. The Comparative Turn in Canadian Political Science. Vancouver: UBC Press.Google Scholar