The Cumulation Problem in Political Science an Essay on Research Strategies

Abstract

Abstract After a discussion of possible components in a definition of “cumulation” and of the relative lack of cumulation in political science, a scheme for research strategies is outlined with the aim of facilitating cumulation, or at least facilitating a diagnosis of the state of political science in this respect. The scheme includes three types of studies: (1) analysis of the formal properties of theoretical approaches in political science, (2) content analyses in the form of inventories of problems, propositions and concepts in the discipline, (3) evaluational analysis, i.e. an assessment of what “theory criteria” to use for evaluating the approaches and of the probable relations between these criteria.