In this episode of Chalkboard Politics, the team sits down with two political science professors to gain insight into how political scientists conduct research. By speaking with scholars of American politics and political theory, this episode investigates where empirical and theoretical research methods may converge and examines the utility of dividing the study of political science into distinct subfields.
Our first guest is Justin Phillips, the Eaton Professor of Political Science as well as Director of Undergraduate Studies for Columbia University’s Political Science department. Professor Phillips is a scholar of state and sub-national American politics with current research interests in the emergence of abortion politics in the United States. In our conversation, he discusses how he leverages sub-national data to measure government responsiveness to public opinion, his use of archival data to research abortion politics, and his interests in breaking down the subfield barriers in the study of political science.
Our second guest is Nadia Urbinati, who serves as the Kyriakos Tsakopolous Professor of Political Theory at Columbia University. Professor Urbinati investigates various forms of popular decision-making, including democratic representation and populism. She discusses the issues that political representation attempts to overcome, the importance of engaging with each of the subfields as a student of political science, and why she believes it is important to write for public audiences.
These discussions shed light on unexpected connections between two different areas of political science research. In addition to dealing with historical and archival data, both professors are interested in the evolution and mobilization of public opinion. More than that, they agree that the study of political science benefits greatly from broad engagement with each of the subfields.
This episode is the first of two parts. In our next episode, we will hear from professors in the two other subfields of political science: comparative politics and international relations.
Research Themes:
Using Sub-National Data to Analyze American Institutions
Professor Phillips explains how state-level variation in political institutions make them the perfect site for detailed comparative analysis of institutional design. He uses this data to investigate the factors that influence government responsiveness to public opinion. Key terms: sub-national politics, responsiveness, public opinion
Emergence and Polarization of Abortion Politics in the U.S.
In the late 1960s, pro-abortion views migrated from the Republican Party to the Democratic Party. Professor Phillips traces the origins of this phenomenon to a Democratic party overhaul in 1968 and the consequent polarization of abortion politics. He proposes federalism as a solution that would afford state governments to adopt more nuanced stances. Key terms: partisan politics, depolarization, political salience, federalism
Using Empirical Data in Political Theory
While political theory may be thought of as a discipline that deals with abstractions, Professor Urbinati denies the misconception that political theorists are uninterested in empirical data. She details how she uses archival data to understand certain political regimes and discusses how political theory aims to extract conceptual consistency from current and historical events. Key terms: empirical, social science
The Role of Representation in Democracy
Professor Urbinati discusses the role of representation as a vehicle of democracy. Representation, she argues, makes unified decision-making possible in pluralistic societies where people disagree with one another. She points to populism as a novel form of representation and argues that it is not a distinct regime, but in fact a form of democracy. Key terms: pluralism, democracy, representation, populism
Suggested Reading:
Justin Phillips
Gamm, G., Phillips, J. H., Carr, M., & Auslen, M. (2024). “The Culture War and Partisan Polarization: State Political Parties, 1960–2018.” Studies in American Political Development, 38(2), 117–137. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0898588X2400004X.
Kousser, T., & Phillips, J. H. (2012). The Power of American Governors: Winning on Budgets and Losing on Policy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139135542.
Lax, J. R., & Phillips, J. H. (2012). “The Democratic Deficit in the States.” American Journal of Political Science, 56(1), 148–166. http://www.jstor.org/stable/23075149.
Phillips, J. H. (2008). “Does Direct Democracy Weaken Party Government in the U.S. States?” State Politics & Policy Quarterly, 8(2), 127–149. https://doi.org/10.1177/153244000800800202.
Nadia Urbinati
Urbinati, N. (2019). Me the People: How Populism Transforms Democracy. Harvard University Press.
Urbinati, Nadia. “Representation as Advocacy: A Study of Democratic Deliberation.” Political Theory 28, no. 6 (2000): 758–86. https://doi.org/10.1177/0090591700028006003.
Urbinati, N. (2006). Representative Democracy: Principles and Genealogy. University of Chicago Press.
Articoli e commenti di Nadia Urbinati. (n.d.). Domani. https://www.editorialedomani.it/autore/nadia-urbinati-lxlgjmrr
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