Tackling Political Science Questions using Historical Cases

Abstract

One of the ways to understand and explain relevant contemporary questions in political science is to do research on contemporary or recent events and phenomena. Another option is to learn from history in order to understand the developments that led to the present situation. Historical cases can be useful for proving that a hypothesis works under different systemic conditions or when picking an 'extreme case' to clearly see the subject of inquiry or when studying the same case under different time periods. However, working with historical cases also means tackling certain challenges and problems, such as the limited number of methods or the issue of interpreted data. This panel focuses on those studies that use historical case studies for tackling current issues within the political science discipline. The aim of the panel is to explore how the historical cases are relevant and can help to explain and understand present-day problems, but also to explore the challenges that come with working with historical cases and ways to mitigate these.

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