A central claim of both Marxist and neoclassical political theory is that under capitalism all governments must respect and protect the essential claims of those who own the productive wealth of society. This is the theory of “structural dependence of the state on capital.” Using a formal model, the internal logic and the robustness of the theory is examined. We conclude that in a static sense the theory is false: virtually any distribution of consumption between wage earners and owners of capital is compatible with continual private investment once an appropriate set of taxes and transfers is in place. Yet the state may be structurally dependent in a dynamic sense. Policies that, once in place, redistribute income without reducing investment do reduce investment during the period in which they are anticipated but not yet implemented.

Structural Dependence of the State on Capital

This article discusses developments in the field of qualitative methodology since the publication of King, Keohane, and Verba's (KKV 's) Designing Social Inquiry . Three areas of the new methodology are examined: (1) process tracing and causal-process observations; (2) methods using set theory and logic; and (3) strategies for combining qualitative and quantitative research. In each of these areas, the article argues, the new literature encompasses KKV 's helpful insights while avoiding their most obvious missteps. Discussion focuses especially on contrasts between the kind of observations that are used in qualitative versus quantitative research, differences between regression-oriented approaches and those based on set theory and logic, and new approaches for bringing out complementarities between qualitative and quantitative research. The article concludes by discussing research frontiers in the field of qualitative methodology.

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After KKV: The New Methodology of Qualitative Research

We examine the role of particularistic relationships (such as family and prior social ties) in business groups during institutional transition and test how particularistic ties between top leaders affect business group performance in Taiwan, where such ties have been central to the functioning of business groups. We propose that during market-oriented transition, family and prior social ties could improve group performance by providing informal norms that strengthen the intermediation within business groups and that family relationships could reduce strategic restructuring and generate performance benefits. Results of a longitudinal study over 24 years show that market transition enhanced the contribution of family and prior social relationships but not that of common-identity relationships, such as being from the same hometown, which do not involve prior direct personal contact. We also found that during transition, the positive contribution of family members would rise up to a threshold, after which add...

Keeping it all in the Family: The Role of Particularistic Relationships in Business Group Performance during Institutional Transition

Leading methods for pursuing qualitative research in the field of comparative politics are discussed. On one hand, qualitative researchers in this field use a variety of methods of theory developme...

Qualitative Methodology and Comparative Politics

Previous cross-sectional studies of economic influences on child maltreatment reveal that higher rates of child abuse are associated with undesirable economic conditions. The cross-sectional approach, however, is inherently unable to reveal causal direction and leaves open the possibility that the relationship between the economy and child maltreatment is due to some third variable. The present study employs an aggregate longitudinal approach to test the hypothesis that undesirable economic change leads to increased child maltreatment. Cross-correlational analyses of data over a 30-month period reveal that increases in child abuse are preceded by periods of high job loss. This finding is replicated in 2 distinct metropolitan communities under very conservative criteria which rule out most "third-variable" explanations. The loss of jobs in a community may endanger the well-being of children. Language: en

Economic antecedents of child abuse and neglect.

Introduction - focus on Western Europe, Richard F. Tomasson. Part 1 The south and the north: from corporation to neo-syndicalism - the state, organized labour, and the changing industrial relations systems of Southern Europe, Howard J. Wiarda. Part 2 Status and power: working class power and the political economy of western capitalist societies, J. Rogers Hollingsworth and Robert A. Hanneman problems and prospects in comparative status attainment research in Great Britain and the United States, Alan C. Kerckhoff. Part 3 The economies: the European Monetary System and national policy constraints, Hugo M. Kaufmann economic policy and election cycles - constraints in nine OECD countries, John D. Robertson the tax revolt in Britain, Canada and the United States, Kenneth Woodside transaction trends in Western Europe and the Nordic area, Peter R. Manoogian and Bengt Sundelius. Part 4 Welfare and education: the sequential development of social programmes in 18 welfare states, Saundra K. Schneider equality of educational opportunities in Western Europe, Maurice A. Garnier American and English student values, H. Wesley Perkins and James L. Spates. Part 5 Cities: British and French new towns programmes, Luther A. Allen class, politics, mass transit and the city - Frankfurt/Main and Chicago, Glenn Yago. Part 6 Social movements: the modern women's movement in Italy, France and Great Britain - differences in life cycles, Jane Jenson.

Craig J. Calhoun

Papers

Comparative Social Research