Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-mkpzs Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T06:45:39.107Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

On Laws of Politics and How to Establish Them

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 April 2022

Erik Weber*
Affiliation:
Ghent University, Belgium

Abstract

Alfred Cuzán proposed five “laws of politics” that allegedly govern elections in democracies. Drawing from insights in the general philosophy of science and the philosophy of the social sciences, I argue that—although his empirical evidence is impressive—he failed to develop a convincing argument for calling the five theses “laws.” This article discusses other examples that often are claimed to be “laws of politics” and describes the global picture supporting this analysis.

Type
Article
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the American Political Science Association

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Benoit, Kenneth. 2006. “Duverger’s Law and the Study of Electoral Systems.” French Politics 4:6983.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blais, André. 2016. “Is Duverger’s Law Valid?French Politics 14:126–30.10.1057/fp.2015.24CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cohen, Jonathan, and Callender, Craig. 2009. “A Better Best System Account of Lawhood.” Philosophical Studies 145:134.10.1007/s11098-009-9389-3CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cuzán, Alfred G. 2015. “Five Laws of Politics.” PS: Political Science & Politics 48:415–19.Google Scholar
Cuzán, Alfred G. 2019. “Five Laws of Politics: A Follow-Up.” PS: Political Science & Politics 52:457–64.Google Scholar
Davenport, Christian. 2007. “State Repression and Political Order.” Annual Review of Political Science 10:123.10.1146/annurev.polisci.10.101405.143216CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Duverger, Maurice. 1986. “Duverger’s Law: Forty Years Later.” In Electoral Laws and Their Political Consequences, ed. Grofman, Bernard and Lijphart, Arend, 6984. New York: Agathon Press.Google Scholar
Glennan, Stuart, and Illari, Phyllis. 2018. “Introduction: Mechanisms and Mechanical Philosophies.” In The Routledge Handbook of Mechanisms and Mechanical Philosophy, ed. Glennan, Stuart and Illari, Phyllis, 19. Abingdon, UK, and New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Goertz, Gary. 2012. “Descriptive–Causal Generalizations: ‘Empirical Laws’ in the Social Sciences?” In The Oxford Handbook of Philosophy of Social Science, ed. Kincaid, Harold, 85108. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Lebo, Matthew, and Norpoth, Helmuth. 2007. “The PM and the Pendulum: Dynamic Forecasting of British Elections.” British Journal of Political Science 37:7187.10.1017/S000712340700004XCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Levy, Jack. 1994. “The Democratic Peace Hypothesis: From Description to Explanation.” Mershon International Studies Review 38:352–54.10.2307/222744CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Levy, Jack, and Thompson, William. 2010. “Balancing on Land and at Sea: Do States Ally against the Leading Global Power?International Security 35:743.10.1162/ISEC_a_00001CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Michels, Robert. 1915. Political Parties: A Sociological Study of the Oligarchical Tendencies of Modern Democracy. New York: Hearst’s International Library.Google Scholar
Mitchell, Sandra. 2000. “Dimensions of Scientific Law.” Philosophy of Science 67:242–65.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schweller, Randall. 2016. “The Balance of Power in World Politics.” In Oxford Research Encyclopedias, Politics. https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780190228637.013.119.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shan, Yafeng, and Williamson, Jon. 2021. “Applying Evidential Pluralism to the Social Sciences.” European Journal for Philosophy of Science 11: Article 96.10.1007/s13194-021-00415-zCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Steel, Daniel. 2011. “Causality, Causal Models, and Social Mechanisms.” In The SAGE Handbook of the Philosophy of Social Sciences, ed. Jarvie, Ian and Zamora-Bonilla, Jesús, 288304. London: SAGE Publications.10.4135/9781473913868.n14CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stokes, Donald, and Iversen, Gudmund. 1962. “On the Existence of Forces Restoring Party Competition.” Public Opinion Quarterly 26:159–71.10.1086/267086CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Weber, Erik, and Bal, Inge De. 2018. “Causation, Lawhood, and Determinism in Electoral Systems Research: Why ‘Duverger’s Law’ Deserves to Be Called a Law.” French Politics 16:8095.10.1057/s41253-017-0050-9CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Weber, Erik, Makhnev, Karina, Leuridan, Bert, Barman, Kristian Gonzalez, and Coninck, Thijs De. 2022. “Thinking about Laws in Political Science (and Beyond).” Journal for the Theory of Social Behaviour 52:199222.10.1111/jtsb.12313CrossRefGoogle Scholar