Robert A. Dahl: Questions, Concepts, Proving it

Author(s): 

David R. Mayhew

ISPS ID: 
ISPS14-039
Full citation: 
Journal of Political Power (June 2015), 8:2.
Abstract: 
What were the ingredients of Robert A. Dahl’s genius as a political scientist? First, he asked good questions. Those were ordinarily bold, broad questions central to political theory that appear at the openings of his works and orient them. Second, he was resourceful in creating or tailoring holistic concepts such as ‘democracy’ and ‘power,’ as well as compositional categories such as ‘cumulative’ versus ‘noncumulative’ resources, or ‘participation’ and ‘contestation’ as routes to democratization. Third, he evangelized for hypothesis testing and reliance on datasets as the future of political science, and he acted on this advice.
Supplemental information: 

Link to journal article here.

Publication date: 
2015
Publication type: 
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