Analytic Narratives of Democratisation: Formal Theory and Qualitative Historical Research Workshop

29 November - 3 December

The aim of this workshop is to improve capacity to use sophisticated analytic tools while engaging in research that pays attention to the context and history of societies and explanatory processes. Participants will learn how to combine formal theory and qualitative research and become familiar with important recent advances in the analysis of democratisation.

This workshop will suit students or early career researchers in political sciences, economics, history, legal studies and sociology.

The pre-requisite for this workshop is a basic understanding of game theory.

Presenters

Margaret Levi: Former President of the American Political Science Association (2004-5), Levi is Director of the University of Washington's CHAOS (Comparative Historical Analysis of Organizations and States) Center and formerly the Harry Bridges Chair and Director, the Harry Bridges Center for Labor Studies. She is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. She is the general editor of Cambridge Studies in Comparative Politics, the co-general editor of the Trust series for Russell Sage Foundation Press, and the general editor of the Annual Review of Political Science.

Levi is the author of three solely authored books, including Consent, Dissent, and Patriotism (1997) and Of Rule and Revenue (1988); and the joint author of Analytic Narratives (1998); Cooperation Without Trust? (2005); and Democracy at Risk (2005). She is the co-editor of five additional books. Her current research focuses on: 1) the conditions under which people come to believe governments and organizations are legitimate representatives of their interest and the consequences of those beliefs for compliance, consent, and the rule of law; and 2) how organizations provoke member willingness to act beyond material interest. She also continues to write on issues concerning the analytic narrative approach to the study of complex historical and comparative processes. Concurrently, she is working on a range of issues having to do with labor unions and with global justice campaigns.

Barry Weingast: Weingast is Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution and the Ward C. Krebs Family Professor in the Department of Political Science at Stanford University. He served as Chair, Department of Political Science, from 1996 through 2001. In 1996, he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Weingast's research focuses on the political foundation of markets, economic reform, and regulation.