Usable Theory

Rueschemeyer, Dietrich

doi:10.2307/j.ctvcm4j6k

Cited by 45 publications

(3 citation statements)

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“…A theoretical proposition is "general" in the sense that it transcends description of particular facts; it claims to hold universally, but only under specified conditions.' 22 To simplify our discussion, we may define theory minimally as 'a statement of concepts and their interrelationships that shows how and/or why a phenomenon occurs'. 23 However, as Dina Zinnes elegantly puts it: 'Although everyone is for "more theory", most of us have rather little understanding of how to get "more theory"'.…”

Section: Engaging With Ir Theorymentioning

confidence: 99%

Doing international relations

2022

Handbook of Research Methods in International Relations

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In this chapter we offer some reflections, as well as references for further study, for scholars engaged in research and knowledge production in the field of international relations (IR), that is those 'doing IR'. We may think of research methods as the strategies and tools that allow us to acquire knowledge about international relations. To make the most of the research techniques available to us, it is first useful to consider the objects of our study, as well as the nature of the disciplinary context in which knowledge production takes place. Understanding these elements gives rise to a set of important preliminary questions: What is the nature of IR, both as an area of inquiry and disciplinary practice? What are the purposes and aims of 'doing' IR? How do we formulate a research question of value and develop a theory to answer it? What are some common pitfalls and fallacies when doing IR? Although it would be naïve to convey definitive answers -it is always tempting to prescribe instructions which align with one's own preferences or habits -it is only with a firm understanding of the debates surrounding these questions that we as researchers can employ research methods productively. To align methods with our needs, we must understand what those needs are. We also believe that it is necessary, prior to discussing methods fruitfully, to make explicit and examine certain assumptions -and relative fallacies -that may underlie our work in the field.It is not a straightforward task to circumscribe the boundaries of IR. At the heart of this challenge are competing views over its disciplinary status. Without reprising these disputes, it is our view that there are solid grounds to consider IR -emergent as it may be from proximate fields -as a distinct sphere of inquiry, constituted by its scientific and practical elements. IR forms part of political science, but its breadth, elements, and experiences go beyond a single discipline. We have already seen in the introduction to this book that IR is interdisciplinary. And yet, this should not be viewed as an obstacle to its own disciplinary standing, as 'all disciplines beg, borrow and steal from each other'. 1 Nor is the cartographic problem of borders unique to IR. Every discipline encounters questions of nature and scope which evolve and reshape over time. The history of science is one where 'scholars have contemplated how to view an issue or problem from multiple angles and in myriad ways -in effect, pushing boundaries'. 2 Like any scholarly enterprise, IR is bound together by a shared perception among its participants that they form part of a common endeavour. This perception -coloured by its debates and dissenters -is actualized through an array of institutional and professional features. Prominent among them is 'an extensive body of networks, conferences, working groups, associations, journals and career hierarchies'. 3 The relationship between IR and political science is apparent -many of their practical features intersect -but the former 'has a story of its own'. ...

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Section: Engaging With Ir Theorymentioning

confidence: 99%

Doing international relations

2022

Handbook of Research Methods in International Relations

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“…Nevertheless, definitions are still a long way from being analytical concepts or usable "focused theory frames" 34 that allow us to reduce the complex real world of existing phenomena, order them into types or classes, and to formulate assumptions about the causal powers the core dimensions have when they interact with the outside world. 35 From a functionalist point of view, 36 one can distinguish three possible reactions of political regimes to internal and external challenges 37 :…”

Section: Conceptualizing Democratic Resiliencementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Both seem to us to be essential for pro-democratic interventions in turbulent times. The concept of resilience understood as a "focused theory frame" 46 amplified by functions, structures and actors can now fully be defined as follows.…”

Section: Conceptualizing Democratic Resiliencementioning

confidence: 99%

Resilience of democracies: responses to illiberal and authoritarian challenges

Merkel

Lührmann

2021

Democratization

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Illiberalism and authoritarianism have become major threats to democracy across the world. In response to this development, research on the causes and processes of democratic declines has blossomed. Much less scholarly attention has been devoted to the issue of democratic resilience. Why are some democracies more resilient than others to the current trend of autocratization? What role do institutions, actors and structural factors play in this regard? What options do democratic actors have to address illiberal and authoritarian challenges? This Special Issue addresses these questions. The present introduction sets the stage by developing a new concept of democratic resilience as the ability of a democratic system, its institutions, political actors, and citizens to prevent or react to external and internal challenges, stresses, and assaults. We sketch three potential reactions of democratic regimes: to withstand without changes, to adapt through internal changes, and to recover without losing the democratic character of its regime and its constitutive core institutions, organizations, and processes. The more democracies are resilient on all four levels of the political system (political community, institutions, actors, citizens) the less vulnerable they turn out to be in the present and future.

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Verification of Requirements: System of Systems Theory, Framework, Formalisms, Validity

Langford

2017

INCOSE International Symp

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Building on the success of systems verification, a new approach and method were developed to improve verification of requirements for system of systems. Following the formal logic (mereology) of Leśniewski, an integrative framework was structured on ontology‐based artifacts built from objects and processes within the problem domain. Meta‐structures of systems and system of systems artifacts were extracted to form a model of verification to a system of systems and its constituent systems.

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Usable Theory

Cited by 45 publications

References 0 publications

Doing international relations

Doing international relations

Resilience of democracies: responses to illiberal and authoritarian challenges

Verification of Requirements: System of Systems Theory, Framework, Formalisms, Validity

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