Concept and Theory Analysis Method: The Tradition of Sartori

Abstract

Studies that assess the track record of International Relations and sister disciplines, such as Political Science and Public Administration, in Turkey, draw attention to the shortcomings regarding concept and theory generation, revision, and test. Giovanni Sartori’s seminal works that shifted concepts into the center of methodological issues have paved the way for a tradition named after his name. Through concept and theory analysis based on mathematical logic, this tradition has contributed to the generation of highly valid concepts and theories, hence to scientificity. This article analyses the ‘Sartori tradition’ and provides a user’s guide with demonstrations. Its original contributions are to analyze the structural and mathematical relations within the concepts of populism, competitive authoritarianism, social justice, failed state, and diplomatic apology; to analyze the structure of the theory of revolution from above and the theory of peace; to formalize these theories with mathematical notations and to visualize them.

Keywords

Social Science Methodology, Necessary and Sufficient Condition, Family Resemblance, Mathematical Logic, Validity

Citation

Mehtap Söyler, "Concept and Theory Analysis Method: The Tradition of Sartori", International Relations, Volume 17, Issue 66, 2020, pp. 93-115, DOI: 10.33458/uidergisi.720627

Affiliations

• Mehtap SÖYLER, Dr. Assoc. Prof., Izmir Katip Celebi University, Department of Political Science and Public Administration