Ontology, Methodology and Causation in the American School of International Political Economy – with Martha Finnemore

This paper explores disjunctures between ontology and methodology in the American school to better understand both the limits of this approach and ways we can counter its blind spots. Tierney and Maliniak’s TRIP data point to a strong elective affinity between, on the one hand, rationalist/liberal 10 ontological assumptions and quantitative methodologies, and on the other, constructivist assumptions and qualitative methodologies. This affinity is neither natural nor obvious, as is discussed. It also raises deeper issues for
the field about the nature of causation. As a variety of philosophers of science have insisted, we need to do much better in thinking about the relationship 15 between our underlying notions of causation and the methodological tools that we employ. By so doing, we will not only be able to better build social- scientific knowledge, but also better help bridge the empirical-normative gap that Cohen identifies. More broadly, the paper suggests that by combining a more thoughtful approach to causation with a broadly pragmatist approach 20 to the philosophy of science we can both remedy some of the defects of the American school of international political economy, and provide some pointers to the British school, too.

Henry Farrell and Martha Finnemore (2009).”Ontology, Methodology and Causation in the American School of International Political Economy,” Review of International Political Economy, 16,1:58-71. Republished in Catherine Weaver and Nicola Phillips, eds. (2010) International Political Economy and the Transatlantic Divide. London, UK: Routledge Press.

Other Writing:

Academic Article

Codecision and Institutional Change

This article examines the sources and processes of institutional change in one important aspect of EU politics – the legislative procedure of codecision – and shows how interstitial change of institutions that emerges between formal Treaty revisions and under specific conditions may be formalised in subsequent formal Treaty reforms. We develop two related models of ...
Read Article
Essay

How Artificial Intelligence Can Aid Democracy – with Bruce Schneier and Nathan E. Sanders

There’s good reason to fear that A.I. systems like ChatGPT and GPT4 will harm democracy. Public debate may be overwhelmed by industrial quantities of autogenerated argument. People might fall down political rabbit holes, taken in by superficially convincing bullshit, or obsessed by folies à deux relationships with machine personalities that don’t really exist. These risks ...
Read Article