“大事必作于细”:比较政治学中的次国家比较案例研究

Small Works:Subnational Comparative Case Studies in Comparative Politics

近年来,比较政治分析呈现出向“次国家转向”的趋势。聚焦于国家(间)内部的制度差异及其影响的次国家比较研究取得长足进步,而中国的发展经验和以中国为背景的相关研究则对此起到了重要推动作用。文章主要探讨了与次国家比较案例研究相关的研究议题与方法论问题,包括:第一,简述次国家比较研究在比较政治学领域的前沿发展与主要议题;第二,讨论了次国家比较案例研究设计的要点,以及如何应对研究中的挑战;第三,通过研究实例展示国家内部与国家间的次国家比较案例研究如何进行;第四,总结了次国家比较案例研究在应用比较方法上的天然优势,同时也探讨了其方法论局限与改进方向。研究的主要意义在于,启发研究者重新审视那些基于国家层面所建构的理论命题,思考如何拓展比较政治学的理论边界,同时也有助于中国学者思考如何通过次国家比较研究来为世界贡献新理论与新知识。

Comparative politics has shown a trend toward the subnational turn in this century. With a focus on institutional differences and effects within a country and among countries, subnational comparative studies have made considerable progress. China’s development experience and relevant studies have played an important role in this process. This study mainly investigates the research topics and methodological issues of this research approach. Firstly, I briefly introduce the main topics of subnational comparative studies in comparative politics. Secondly, this article lists the key points of the research design and discusses how to deal with the challenges in practice. Thirdly, I show how to conduct the subnational comparative case studies within a country like China and between countries through two examples. Last, I summarize the natural advantages of the subnational comparative case studies in the application of comparative methods and also discuss its methodological limitations. The significance of this study is aimed at inspiring researchers to re-examine those theories built at the national level, and to rethink how to expand the theoretical boundaries of comparative politics. Also, it can help Chinese scholars discuss how to contribute new knowledge through subnational comparative research.