A Part of Area Studies or a Core of Political Science?: Methodological Note for Studies of American Politics

This article provides a methodological perspective to guide studies of American politics. Main argument goes that studies of American politics should go beyond area studies to become a core of comparative politics. Full integration into the field of comparative politics would require a balance between contextual specificity and theoretical generality. A close observation of concrete details of specific cases in American politics must be complemented by a theoretical effort to find broad implications for comparative politics in general. A theory-conscious Americanist would take a theory-driven, not data-driven, approach and would view American politics as an important, but not exclusive, case to be theoretically compared with politics in other parts of the world. He or she would also understand that a theoretical effort calls for intellectual interactions with political scientists in various fields; in the words of King, Keohane, and Verba, studies of American politics ought to be a social enterprise." This article discusses in detail in what sense and how a researcher on American politics could elevate ones work to a core of comparative politics and, more generally ， political science. This artic1e also warns of some methodological problems hampering this theoretical elevation, and presents a sample of specific topics in American politics promising to avoid them