[...]... Professor of Anthropology and Linguistics at the University of Chicago Herbert Gintis is a member of the External Faculty of the Santa Fe Institute, and Professor, Central European University Robert E Goodin is Distinguished Professor of Social & Political Theory and Philosophy at the Research School of Social Sciences, Australian National University Colin Hay is Professor of Political Analysis at the University... contributors xi Paul Lichterman is Associate Professor of Sociology at University of Southern California and Associate Professor (on leave) at the University of WisconsinMadison Arthur Lupia is Professor of Political Science and Senior Research Scientist at the Center for Political Studies of the University of Michigan James Mahoney is Associate Professor of Political Science and Sociology at Northwestern... its Place The variety of diVerent contexts in which political action occurs is, for some, a cherished part of the rich tapestry of political life For others bent on the pursuit of parsimonious generalizations, contextual eVects subvert their ambitions toward austerity Still, acount for them they must They can do so in either of two ways: by designing their studies in such a way as... be the thin edge of the wedge, the camel’s nose under the tent, or the elephant in the room—choose your metaphor! It initiates a remarkable series of moves including the assimilation of scientiWc inference to the world-view contained in statistics based on the general linear model, assumption that the fundamental causes of political processes do, indeed, consist of variables, consequent rejection of. .. and corporations They treat them as if they were uniWed intentional agents, with goals of their own and the capacity to pursue them, and who therefore should be held to the same standards of credit and blame The ubiquity of explanatory stories in everyday life makes the logical slippage all the easier Of course, even natural scientists resort to explanatory stories, at least in telling their tales to... described the two versions of a proper plot: Plots are either simple or complex, since the actions they represent are naturally of this twofold description The action, proceeding in the way deWned, as one continuous whole, I call simple, when the change in the hero’s fortunes takes place without Peripety or Discovery; and complex, when it involves one or the other, or both These should each of them arise... concerning political processes, and the very operation of political processes In our brief introduction to the handbook s varied discussions of these issues, we concentrate on showing the importance for systematic political knowledge of getting context right Here is another way of putting our main point: In response to each big question of political science, we reply ‘‘It depends.’’ Valid answers depend on the. .. out the contr i butors James N Druckman is Associate Professor of Political Science at Northwestern University Richard J Ellis is Mark O HatWeld Professor of Politics at Willamette University Roberto Franzosi is Professor of Sociology at the University of Reading Gary P Freeman is Professor of Government at the University of Texas at Austin Susan Gal is Mae and Sidney G Metzl Distinguished Service Professor... in Political Science at the University of California, Berkeley Kathleen M McGraw is Professor of Political Science at Ohio State University Philip Pettit is L S Rockefeller University Professor of Politics and Human Values at Princeton University Francesca Polletta is Associate Professor of Sociology at Columbia University Richard Price is Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of. .. processing of evidence than in either the initial framing of arguments or the Wnal interpretation of results At those two ends, explanatory stories continue to predominate Explanatory stories matter visibly, even vitally to our study of context They intervene in all three sorts of contextual eVect: Analysts’ understanding of political processes commonly takes the form of stories; as teachers of formal . alt="" the oxford handbook of CONTEXTUAL POLITICAL ANALYSIS Edited by ROBERT E. GOODIN and CHARLES TILLY 1 the oxford handbook of CONTEXTUAL POLITICAL ANALYSIS the oxford handbooks of political science General. Goodin The Oxford Handbooks of Political Science is a ten-volume set of reference books oVering authoritative and engaging critical overv iews of all the main branches of political science. The. Professor of Social & Political Theor y and Philosophy at the Research School of Social Sciences, Australian National Univer- sity. Colin Hay is Professor of Political Analysis at the University of