CHAPTER TWO: THEORETICAL APPROACHES

2.1 Theoretical approaches as ways of understanding that structure the questions we ask and constrain the answers we can obtain (p. 25).

2.2 The institutional approach: focus on the organizations of government. Emphasis on roles or positions, not individuals. Institutions create interests and a house view. Their capacity for long-term, credible commitments. The approach can be static and ignore social context: who benefits? (pp. 25-28).

2.3 The behavioural approach: ‘the root is man’, not institutions. Focus on individuals and their attitudes, especially among the public. Search for generalizations, tested against quantitative data. Useful findings, but apolitical and static (pp. 28-31).

2.4 The structural approach: emphasizes the objective relationships between social actors (including social classes and the state) as the driver of political change. ‘Structure’ as underlying social forces, operating at a deeper level than institutions or individuals (pp. 31-33).

2.5 The rational choice approach: seeks to explain and predict political outcomes as the product of strategic interaction between individuals pursuing their own goals. ‘As if’ application to larger units (e.g. parties). A universal model with limited applicability to understanding variations between countries (pp. 33-37).

2.6 The interpretive approach: seeks to understand (rather than explain) political action by grasping its meaning for the actor. The approach regards concepts such as ‘class’ and ‘state’ as socially constructed rather than as existing in a ‘real’ world (pp. 37-41).

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