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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: Mireille.paquet@concordia.ca
Department of Political Science, Wilfrid Laurier University, 75 University Avenue West, Waterloo, Ontario, N2L 3C5, email: jbroschek@wlu.ca
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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 

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