The new comparative-historical method and its contributions to political science and public administration

Abstract

This article seeks to identify the contributions that the new comparative-historical method (CHM) has made to political science and public administration. By showing how recent advances in CHM can generate analytical gains through establishing causal conditions and tests associated with process tracing, we hope this will contribute to strengthening qualitative-based research of these two disciplines in Brazil. To achieve this, the paper begins by dissecting the main elements of this method. Then we review the classic work entitled Sessenta e quatro: anatomia da crise (Sixty-four: anatomy of the crisis) by Wanderley Guilherme dos Santos in light of the method's precepts. The paper also reviews a number of studies on Argentine foreign policy and highlights the gains that can be generated by the disciplined application of CHM. In the conclusion, the potential and limitations of the method are identified and some considerations are made with regard to the importance of its application to Brazilian political science and public administration.

Keywords:
comparative-historical method; process tracing; causal conditions; Brazilian politics; Argentine foreign policy.