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This essay first reviews the literature on life-course politics and generational politics. The major contributions and problems inherent in each perspective are identified, and an interactive approach to life-course and generational politics is suggested. Second, the methodological designs employed to study life-course and generational politics are outlined, including the cross-sectional, time series, longitudinal, and aging-cohort-period designs. An evaluation is made of the major shortcomings and suitability of the various research strategies to studying life-course and generational politics. HISTORICAL AND THEORETICAL ORIGINSExplaining political behavior has intrigued Western scholars for centuries, and one of the most enduring explanations has been age. "The truest community to which one can belong ," observed Wohl (1979:203), "is that defined by age and experience. " Age is one of the most basic social categories of human existence and a primary factor in all societies for assigning roles and granting prestige and power. However, age is not a unitary concept and may be used in reference to life-cycle development (young, middle-aged , and old) or in a generational sense (lineage descent or a particular age group in history). Those born around the same period in time share a similarity in both life-cycle development and 205 0360-0572/86/0815-0205$02.00 Annu. Rev. Sociol. 1986.12:205-231. Downloaded from www.annualreviews.org Access provided by McMaster University on 02/06/15. For personal use only. Quick links to online content Further ANNUAL REVIEWS

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