Student's Guide for Writing in Political Science 9780773583184

Table of contents :
Cover
CONTENTS
PREFACE
I: DIFFERENT KINDS OF TEXT
II: THE RESEARCH PAPER
III: "ACTIVE" READING
IV: THE BIBLIOGRAPHY
V: FOOTNOTES/ENDNOTES
VI: BOOK REVIEWS
ENDING THOUGHTS
APPENDIX 1 PLAN FOR A RESEARCH PAPER
APPENDIX 2 SUGGESTED JOURNALS

Citation preview

A STUDENT'S GUIDE

for Writing in

POLITICAL SCIENCE

Andre Martel

CARLETON UNIVERSITY PRESS

1

Carleton University Press, 1997

Canadian Cataloguing in Publication Date Martel, Andre, 1968A student's guide for writing in political science Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 0-88629-329-4 1. Political science—Authorship. 2. Report writing. I. Title. JA86.M37 1997

808'.06632

C97-900936-7

Carleton University Press gratefully acknowledges the support extended to its publishing program by the Canada Council and the Ontario Arts Council. The Press would also like to thank the Department of Canadian Heritage, Government of Canada, and the Government of Ontario through the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Recreation, for their assistance.

CONTENTS

I II

PREFACE

1

DIFFERENT KINDS OF TEXT

3

THE RESEARCH PAPER

5

III

"ACTIVE" READING

1O

IV

THE BIBLIOGRAPHY

14

V

FOOTNOTES/ENDNOTES

2O

BOOK REVIEWS

26

ENDING THOUGHTS

29

APPENDIX 1 PLAN FOR A RESEARCH PAPER

3O

APPENDIX 2 SUGGESTED JOURNALS

32

VI

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PREFACE

A

cademic expectations in universities are very different from those encountered in high school. For example, students now specialize in a particular discipline such as political science, and have to understand the methods used in that discipline. Professors and teaching assistants often spend a lot of time discussing their expectations of students writing political science papers. These discussions sometimes cut into the time allotted for actually teaching the topics planned in the course outline. Many students also have methodological difficulties which can impede their academic progress. This guide aims to provide new students with a starting point before they consult other political scientists on the "most frequently asked questions." It is not intended to be comprehensive, or to present one favoured approach to doing research in political science. However, it does make many important recommendations that will help new students to obtain the skills they need to be successful in their field. Discussion is kept simple but is broad enough to cover the basic tasks required of a first-year student. This guide is influenced by the epistemological tradition of positivism, with the thought that new students in political science must understand this view of the discipline before exploring the post-positivist perspective promoted by an increasing number of authors. This writer has benefited from critical readings by Jason Husiak, Doug Nathanson, Christian Rouillard, Michel Roussel and Professor W.A. Mullins who made very useful suggestions on the content and the form of this text. Thanks are also due to Philippe Azzie and Dan Cohn, who believed in this project from the beginning, and to Professor Francois Rocher, who turned my attention to the importance of including Internet sources in the section on bibliography. Their time and insights are appreciated. 1

I would like to thank John Flood, Director of Carleton University Press. I also benefited from Heather Murray's efforts to improve my english in the first draft, and from Jennifer Strickland's efforts to transform it into a real book.

2

I

DIFFERENT KINDS OF TEXT

T

he dissemination of knowledge, to members of the discipline as well as those outside it, is usually done through a writing and reading process, either on paper or on the Internet. It is, therefore, very important to understand both what kind of text is acceptable in political science and the characteristics that will improve the quality of your papers. There are three basic kinds of text: artistic, descriptive and analytical. These categories are "ideal types" to use Max Weber's words. There are no "pure" artistic, descriptive or analytical texts. However, it is important to differentiate between texts written with a goal to create a fiction, and those that describe or explain real events. As political scientists, you will be asked to explain political phenomena. Therefore, you will be writing analytical texts. Artistic texts, such as novels or poetry, aim to express ideas through the construction of symbol and narrative. Authors of this type of text are describing a fiction, while authors of the two other types are describing or explaining real events or real phenomena. The main goal of descriptive texts, such as articles in newspapers, is to describe phenomena, events or particular situations. On the other hand, the aim of analytical texts is to explain social and political phenomena. The author tries to identify a causal relationship between different variables. Here, a political phenomenon is defined as any event having important political implications. It can be a common situation as well as an exceptional one. Many artistic texts implicitly aim to describe real social phenomena and thus could be considered as realist artistic texts. For example, Emile Zola's novel Germinal, published in 1885, depicts the social and economic conditions of workers in the last century. Zola observed miners in northern France before he wrote this novel. Therefore, Germinal can be considered a realist novel because it is based on 3

empirical observations.1 However, while representing a real phenomenon, namely the exploitation of miners, it also aims to be fictional. The novel cannot be considered an analytical text since it does not pretend to explain the phenomenon depicted. By contrast, Karl Marx's analysis of a real socioeconomic structure actually helped define concepts such as "class," "bourgeoisie," and "proletariat." Evidently, these authors differed in their ultimate aim: Zola represented the social condition of the workers, while Marx explained it. It is worth noting, however, that both descriptive and analytical texts can be used as sources of information for an analytical text. Descriptive texts and analytical texts are often called primary and secondary sources respectively. Of course, this distinction is seldom clear in practice. No author can explain a phenomenon without describing it at the same time and some explanation is needed to give meaning to what is described. However, in writing an analytical text, the emphasis must be on explaining. We can divide analytical texts in two categories. The first includes the analysis of specific political questions (e.g., research papers, dissertations and essays).2 The second includes the analysis of previous research on specific questions (e.g., book reviews and analytical bibliographies).

1. For a discussion of this literary genre, see: Dennis Walder, Ed. (1995), The Realist Novel London: Routledge and Open University, 282p. 2. On the differences among the kinds of analytical text, see: Robert Tremblay (1989), Savoir-faire: precis de methodologie pratique pour le college et I'universite, Montreal: McGraw-Hill, 124-41. 4

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THE RESEARCH PAPER

D

oing an academic research paper is a long process, and can take weeks or months. However, even if you are willing and able to invest enough time in your work, there is still the danger of wasting time. For example, you might start your research by reading three or four books on a particular topic, such as the Gulf War. A month later, having read these books, you find that they examined very different aspects of the topic researched. One researched the domestic impact of the war in Iraq; another explored the bias in the media when reporting events related to the war; the third was on building the Western coalition; and the last analysed American foreign policy toward certain Middle East countries during the war. Because these issues are so diverse, you may find it extremely difficult to write a paper on a particular political question. You may write a paper on many different things without having explained to a reader the links among the points made. Indeed, it would have been much harder to write an analytical text. Remember, a specific question or problem must be identified in order to make an analysis. The probability is very high that you have written a descriptive text, not an analytical one, if you did not identify from the start a very specific issue to research. Your paper must examine a specific problem or question and must be analytical. Otherwise, your mark will probably be lower than what you deserved considering the time you spent on the paper. You must adopt a method that will "bring" you to write a structured analytical paper. Moreover, at the end you should be able to identify important weaknesses in your own paper, if there are any. I propose a method with seven stages that can help you maximize the quality of your work.3

3. You will find the plan proposed here in Appendix 1. 5

1. PREPARATION Try to establish: a) a general topic b) a specific issue c) a short bibliography. This preparation should take less than three hours to complete. Nevertheless, you will save a lot of time later if you start your research by thinking about what you are interested in (general topic) and what aspect of the topic you will research (specific issue). You should have only five to eight titles (articles and/or books) in the short bibliography. To find relevant articles, use the database Public Affairs Information Service (pAis)4 or any other databases that your librarian may suggest.

2. EXPLORATION a) A fast reading (summary, content, introduction, conclusion, book reviews5) b) Focussing on the specific question or problem. This second stage should take about a day or two to complete. With your specific issue in mind, you must identify a very specific question or problem. If you neglect this process you will probably read a lot of articles and books not directly relevant to your paper. You may come back to the specific question at any time in the next stages of your research to get even more specific. The answer to your question or problem will be the main point of your paper. You should always keep in mind that the aim is to explain a specific political phenomenon.

4. See Section IV. See also Appendix 2 for a list of journals. 5. A good source of book reviews is the Social Sciences Citation Index. Remember that in addition to consulting the volume of the year of the book's publication, you should also examine those of the following years for late reviews.

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3. RESEARCH a) Settling on a bibliography b) A fast reading c) An "active" reading of selected texts (see Section III). This third part should take several weeks to complete. You should include in the bibliography only texts relevant to your specific question or problem. If you are unsure of the text's relevance, add a note in your bibliography to explain why you have included it. You can do this with any text since the bibliography is a means to convey any information you find useful. Then, after a fast reading, you may identify which texts will be the most appropriate to read carefully. You must do an "active" reading of those texts. This last component is certainly the longest in the whole research project.

4. STRUCTURE OF THE RESEARCH PAPER a) Careful reading of the notes taken during the "active" reading (see 3.c) b) Identification of the answer to the specific question, i.e., the main point of the text or hypothesis to be verified c) List of causes and the evidence for your argument. This fourth part should take several days to complete. The goal here is to build the structure of your text. At this point, authors often feel that they must go back to the previous part and read more texts (see 3.b and 3.c). I strongly recommend that you do not yet think about the introduction and the conclusion of your paper.

5. DRAFT VERSION If the structure of your paper is well constructed it should take you less than two weeks to write ten to fifteen pages 7

(the usual length of a first-year student's paper). You can write your text directly from ideas (arguments and evidence) already collected. As in the previous section, I still recommend not writing an introduction or conclusion for the paper. 6. CORRECTED VERSIONS You should write your introduction and conclusion only when you have finished your first draft version. Authors who have studied english composition identify two questions to be addressed in introductions.6 First you must provide general information on the actual knowledge in the literature, both empirical and theoretical, about the topic researched. Then you must state your thesis or main point. For conclusions, you may summarize your main arguments. Subsequently, you must answer the following important question: "So What?"7 Finally, you may review the whole paper and make all necessary corrections.

7. COMMENTS BY REVIEWERS AND FINAL VERSION Ask a couple of your collegues in the same discipline to answer the following questions and to make comments on your paper: a) What is the issue researched? b) What is the specific question or problem researched? c) What is the response to the specific question? In other words, what is the main point or thesis of the paper? What does it suggest, or what is the conclusion? Put in broader terms, what is the lesson the

6. Irvin Y. Hashimoto, Barry M. Kroll, John C. Schafer (1982), Strategies for Academic Writing: A Guide for College Students, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 69-79. 7. Hashimoto, Kroll, Schafer (1982), 79-83.

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reader should learn from the paper? d) What arguments did the author use to build her/his main point? e) What evidence did the author use to support each argument? Do not tell your reviewers the intent of your paper, except perhaps the general topic to get them interested in the problem researched. Otherwise you might get biased comments. The reviewers should be able to answer all the above questions easily after reading your paper. Give them at least three or four days to read and understand the paper and to think about their comments.

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111

"ACTIVE" READING

T

he following five-minute exercise will show whether you need to read this section on "active" reading. Take a piece of paper, write down the title of the last book or article you have read and the author's name. Then, put the book or article away and write down, in one paragraph, what the text was about and what lessons or conclusions you retained from it. If you cannot write the paragraph without going back to the book or article, you should read the following section.

BUILDING ON KNOWLEDGE Your writing style and methodological abilities will improve with successive study. You will probably express and explain your ideas more clearly, and your texts will become better structured as you read well-written texts. The goal in this section is not to improve the form of your papers, although that is very important, but to help you improve the content. Your later writing at university should reflect the accumulation of knowledge acquired during your studies. Methodologies, theories, and especially conclusions from previous reading are generally included in research papers. I am certainly not saying that you should copy paragraphs or sentences from previous papers, either your own or other people's. Unattributed and borrowed ideas are not only less likely to be entirely relevant to your topic, but such usage is academically dishonest.8 However, you 8. According to Joseph Gibaldi, who wrote on behalf of the Modem Language Association of America, "[a] writer who fails to give appropriate aknowledgment when repeating another's wording or particularly apt term, paraphrasing another's argument, or presenting another's line of thinking is guilty of plagiarism." Joseph Gibaldi (1995), MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, New York: Modern Language Association of America, 26.

1O

should try to introduce readers to previous works on related aspects of your specific question or problem and show their contribution to your topic. You must build on the knowledge you have already acquired in the discipline, which does not mean merely repeating other authors. Consider, for example, that you are interested in the constitutional debate in Canada (topic). The specific issue of your paper could be the different perspectives within the constitutional debate that define the social actors (e.g., the two founding nations; the provinces; the federal government; interest groups). Thus, you would know from your fast reading of a chapter written by Francois Rocher and Miriam Smith, that there are four perspectives on the social actors in the constitutional debate.9 The perspective most popular in Quebec for historical reasons is the "dualist vision/'10 Leon Dion, one of the better-known political scientists in Quebec, even speaks of a "constitutional duel/'11 The specific question to be researched could then be the evolution of this dualist perspective in the minds of the political elite. You should find in your research that there is a previous study of the Meech Lake Accord and the Charlottetown Accord by Jennifer Smith, which identifies three problems causing the failure of these proposals. These obstacles include the articles relating to the "distinct society" clause, the linguistic aspects of the accords, and the rules of representation in the federal Senate and House of Commons.12 Having examined the three most problematic aspects of the 9. Francois Rocher and Miriam Smith (1995), "Four Dimensions of the Canadian Constitutional Debate," in Francois Rocher, Miriam Smith, Eds., New Trends in Canadian Federalism, Peterborough, ON: Broadview Press, 45-66. 10. Rocher, Smith (1995), 51-56. 11. Leon Dion (1995), Le duel constitutionnel Quebec-Canada, Montreal: Boreal, 378p. 12. Jennifer Smith (1995), "The Unsolvable Constitutional Crisis," in Rocher, Smith (1995), 67-90. 11

accords, you could then ask the specific question: whether the dualist vision of Canadian society had become more or less important in the Charlottetown Accord of 1992 compared to the Meech Lake Accord of 1987. In a subsequent paper, you could explore the question of whether there are also such competing perspectives in other states, or even in other types of social institutions, and compare the results of their evolution to the Canadian dualist vision. Further research could aim to explain the difference or similarity of visions in Belgium. Two points must be made here. First, as shown in the previous example, you can use either directly or indirectly the conclusions or arguments made by other authors. What is important to remember is that you should only quote other authors, giving a full reference, if they have created a precise and interesting sentence that you cannot express in a better fashion.13 It is generally true that the less you quote other people, and the more you explain their findings in your own words, with references to their contribution in footnotes or endnotes, the higher the quality of your paper will be. Also, you have to explain clearly the link between the conclusions of different authors and your own arguments. Do not be afraid to develop your ideas here; this important link is often difficult to find in many students' papers. METHOD FOR AN EFFECTIVE "ACTIVE" READING Good authors always build their texts around a general idea, but readers may sometimes have difficulty identifying the specific question or problem of the paper. This can be a 13. Do not forget that whether you quote one or many sentences, you have to use quotation marks, or inset the text from your own if it is a quote longer than three lines. Otherwise you are guilty of plagiarism, and run the risk of expulsion from the university or academic association. 12

result of the author's lack of writing skills or the reader's lack of background knowledge. Normally, however, this specific question or problem for any text in political science should be easy to find. In other words, every good text has a main point. To build an explanation about a specific question, an author uses various arguments. Each argument is the central point around which part of an article or a chapter of a book, or even part of a chapter, is constructed. The author uses evidence to support each argument. The task for the reader is to find: a) the specific question; b) the arguments used to explain this question; and c) the evidence provided to support these arguments. The reader should be able to use and appreciate the structure of the text. You must keep these questions in mind when taking notes during your reading, or you may not retain the links between the points made by the author. Moreover, if you do not make the effort to understand the structure of the texts you read, but just pick up some ideas from them, you will neither be exercising your time and mind to their full potential, nor using the cumulative process of knowledge to improve your work. Reading five articles very carefully, which could mean a full week of work, is certainly much better than reading fifteen articles that you do not really understand. The more you read, the faster you will be able to do an effective active reading. Improving your reading skills takes years of practice, so do not be discouraged if, say, you read and take notes on only one article a day.

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IV

THE BIBLIOGRAPHY

W

hen doing a research paper; you should build three different types of bibliography. The preliminary bibliography (usually a very short one) includes five to eight articles and/or books on a general topic. When you have chosen a specific question, you should draft a working bibliography with at least ten texts. This one will be modified many times. You should add new titles that could be useful and delete any titles not needed. This bibliography is a means to convey the scope of your research, and you can modify and use it as you proceed. However, it is useful to follow one specific method for listing sources. Respecting certain bibliographical norms makes the final version of your paper easier, since the working bibliography can be used as a draft for your final bibliography. This final bibliography must be placed at the end of your research paper, and will include only the texts you used to build your arguments or as sources of evidence. In addition to the reference system for the books in the library, many electronic databases can be consulted, particularly to find articles. One of the best databases in political science is the Public Affairs Information Service (PAIS), which is available on CD-ROM. Other reference guides are in book form. You can ask a librarian about existing electronic databases or about reference guides in printed form. The form of the final bibliography, which will be included at the end of your paper, is very important. Unlike the text of your paper, this bibliography must be singlespaced, with a space between references. I suggest the following method:14

14. I encourage you to consult your professor to make sure that she/he accepts the method proposed here. 14

BOOKS Last name, First name (year of publication), Title: Subtitle, Place where the book was published, including state or province abbreviation if the publisher's location is obscure or confusing: Name of publisher, Number of pages. Example: Potter, William C. (1993), Nuclear Profilesof the Soviet Successor States, Monterey, CA: Monterey Institute of International Studies, 204p. ARTICLES Last name, First name (year of publication), "Title," Name of the Journal Volume (Number of the issue), pages of the article. Example: Jacobsen, C.G. (1995), "Yugoslavia's Successor Wars Reconsidered," European Security, 4(4), 655-75. TEXTS WRITTEN BY TWO OR THREE AUTHORS

Last name of the first author, First name of the first author, First name and Last name of the second author, First name and Last name of the third author ... Example: Martel, Andre, Albert Legault (1994), "Les controles americains sur les exportations strategiques: historique et evolution," Etudes international, 25(4), 693-727.

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COLLECTIONS WRITTEN UNDER THE DIRECTION OF ONE OR MORE EDITORS Write the name of the editor(s) of the book and Ed. after her/his name or Eds. after their names. Examples: Swimmer, Gene, Ed. (1997), How Ottawa Spends 1997-98. Seeing Red: A Liberal Report Card, Ottawa: Carleton University Press, 344p. Podgorecki, Adam, Jon Alexander, Rob Shields, Eds. (1996), Social Engineering, Ottawa: Carleton University Press, 360p.

CHAPTERS IN AN EDITED WORK Last name, First name (year), "Title of the Chapter," in First name and Last name, Ed., Title: Subtitle, Place where the book was published: Name of publisher, pages of the chapter. Example: Chandler, Andrea (1995), "Democracy and the Problem of Government in Russia," in Maxwell A. Cameron and Maureen Appel Molot, Eds., Canada Among Nations 1995: Democracy and Foreign Policy, Ottawa: Carleton University Press, 235-56.

TEXT WRITTEN OR EDITED BY FOUR OR MORE PERSONS Write the name of the first two authors or editors, and add et al. Example: Sigler, John (1988), "The Concept of Neutrality in International Relations Theory/' in Claude Bergeron, CharlesPhilippe David et al, Eds., Les choix geopolitiques du Canada: I'enjeu de la neutralite, Montreal: Meridien, 23-43. 16

THESES Last name, First name (year), Title: Subtitle, Doctoral (or Master's) Thesis, Name of the University, number of pages. Example: Azzie, Philippe (1995), Rhetoric, Politics and Epistemology: A Comparison of Classical and Contemporary Views on Rhetoric, Doctoral Thesis, Carleton University, 276p. PAPERS PRESENTED AT CONFERENCES Last name, First name (date of the presentation), "Title: Subtitle," to whom the paper was presented, where the paper was presented, number of pages. Example: Rocher, Francois, Christian Rouillard (9 June 1997), "Decentralisation, subsidiarite et neo-liberalisme au Canada: lorsque 1'arbre cache la foret," Paper presented at the 69th Annual Meeting of the Canadian Association of Political Science, St. John's, NF, 35p.

17

TEXTS CONSULTED ON THE INTERNET (WORLD WIDE WEB) Last name, First name (date of publication or last revision, if available), "Title: Subtitle," electronic address of the documentx15 Example: Greig, Alison Joanne (October 1996), "The Role of the Security Council: An Opportunity for Reform," .

15. For more information, you may consult the following documents: Maurice Grouse (28 January 1997), "Citing Electronic Information in History Papers/7 ; Sue A. Dodd (May 1990), "Bibliographic References for Computer Files in the Social Sciences: A Discussion Paper/' ; Andrew Harnack and Gene Kleppinger (25 November 1996), "Beyond the MLA Handbook: Documenting Electronic Sources on the Internet/7 ; Xia Lia and Nancy Crane (24 February 1997), "Bibliographic Formats for Citing Electronic Information, "; Melvin E. Page (20 February 1996), "A Brief Citation Guide for Internet Sources in History and the Humanities," ; Janice R. Walker (August 1996), "MLA-Style Citations of Electronic Sources," . 18

OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS Name of the institution (year), Title: Subtitle, Place where the document was published: Name of publisher, Number of pages. Example: Department of National Defence (1994), 1994 Defence White Paper, Ottawa: Minister of Supply and Services, 50p.

WORKS IN FRENCH For titles in French, you capitalize only the first letter of the first word and the first letter of proper nouns. Example: David, Charles-Philippe and Stephane Roussel (1996), Environnement strategique et modeles de defense: une perspective quebecoise, Montreal: Meridien, 286p.

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V

FOOTNOTES/EIMDNOTES

M

any authors do not use footnotes or endnotes, but put their references in brackets, and insert these brackets within the text. The information bracketed is the name of the author, the year the cited text was published, and page numbers, if the author is referring to specific pages. With this method, complete information about sources will be found in the bibliography. Sample text: Prior to the First World War, Canadian political leaders were reluctant to act on the idea of an international collective security system. Since then, however, not only have they adopted it, but they have promoted it as an important means to increase Canada's security (von Riekhoff, 1995; Department of National Defence, 1994, 27-39). In September 1995, for example, the Canadian government proposed that the United Nations improve its rapid reaction capability (Government of Canada, 1995). However, some authors have criticized this idea, arguing that, "a United Nations rapid reaction capability simply provides another means for states, specifically the great powers, to exploit and advance their national interest," since commitments will be made by the Security Council (Fergusson, Levesque, 1997). On the other hand, Canadian political leaders have promoted the idea of collective defense, as shown by their important role in the creation of NATO (Eayrs, 1980). However, both collective security and collective defence are multilateral efforts to maintain peace (von Riekhoff, 1995, 228). As Tom Keating argues, it is the disillusion about the UN collective security system that brought the Canadian government to support actively the creation of a more limited multilateral defence system, i.e., NATO (Keating, 1993, 74-95).

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While this method reduces the length of the paper, it has the disadvantage of breaking the text itself. Bracketed references may be distracting for readers. By contrast, the footnote or endnote methods allow readers to consult only the references they are interested in. Moreover, they allow the author to add complementary comments or to point to further readings, information that may not be appropriate in the text itself. Sample text: Prior to the First World War, Canadian political leaders were reluctant to act on the idea of an international collective security system. Since then, however, not only have they adopted it, but they have promoted it as an important means to increase Canada's security.1 In September 1995, for example, the Canadian government proposed that the United Nations improve its rapid reaction capability.2 However, some authors have criticized this idea, arguing that, "a United Nations rapid reaction capability simply provides another means for states, specifically the great powers, to exploit and advance their national interest," since commitments will be made by the Security Council.3 On the other hand, Canadian political leaders have promoted the idea of collective defense, as shown by their important role in the creation of NATO.4 However, both collective security and collective defence are multilateral efforts to maintain peace.5 As Tom Keating argues, it is the disillusion about the UN collective security system that brought the Canadian government to support actively the creation of a more limited multilateral defence system, i.e., NATO.6 1. Harald von Riekhoff (1995), "Canada and Collective Security," in David B. Dewitt, David Leyton-Brown, Eds., Canada's International Security Policy, Scarborough, ON:

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Prentice Hall, 227-50; Department of National Defence (1994), 1994 Defence White Paper, Ottawa: Minister of Supply and Services, 27-39. 2. Government of Canada (1995), Towards a Rapid Reaction Capability for the United Nations, 78p.* 3. James Fergusson, Barbara Levesque (1997), "The Best Laid Plans: Canada's Proposal for a United Nations Rapid Reaction Capability," International Journal, 52(1), 118-41. 4. James Eayrs (1980), In Defence of Canada: Growing Up Allied, Toronto, Buffalo, London: University of Toronto Press, 431p. See also: Paul Buteux (1995), "NATO and the Evolution of Canadian Defence and Foreign Policy," in Dewitt, Leyton-Brown (1995), 153-70; Paul Letourneau (1992), "Les motivations originates du Canada lors de la creation de I'OTAN (1948-1950)," in Paul Letourneau, Ed., Le Canada et /'OTAN apres 40 ans: 1949-1989, Quebec: Centre quebecois de relations Internationales, 49-66. 5. Riekhoff (1995), 228. 6. Tom Keating (1993), Canada and World Order: The Multilateralist Tradition in Canadian Foreign Policy, Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 74-95.

*

Occasionally you will find that there is no publisher's name listed for private or government publications. If there is no foundation named, then leave a blank. 22

CONVENTIONS FOR FOOTNOTES AND ENDNOTES If you have already referred to a text in a previous footnote, write the author's last name and the year of the publication in parentheses. If you are referring to specific pages in the text, add the page numbers. Example: 1. Jon H. Pammett (1997), "Environmental Concern, Religious Belief and Faith in Science: Complementary or Antagonistic Values?/' in Alan Frizzell, Jon H. Pammett, Eds., Shades of Green: Environmental Attitudes in Canada and Around the World, Ottawa: Carleton University Press, 129-46. 2. Glen Williams (1994), Not for Export: The International Competitiveness of Canadian Manufacturing, Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 215p. 3. Pammett (1997). 4. Williams (1994). 5. Pammett (1997), 141-45. 6. S.L. Sutherland (1991), "The Al-Mashat Affair: Administrative Responsibility in Parliamentary Institutions," Canadian Public Administration, 34(4), 580-81. 7. Sutherland (1991), 580-81. 8. Laura Macdonald (1995), "Canada and the 'New World Order'," in Michael S. Whittington, Glen Williams, Eds., Canadian Politics in the 1990s, Toronto: Nelson, 40-54. 9. Macdonald (1995), 46-50.

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10. Macdonald (1995). In this example, the first four footnotes refer to Pammett's and Williams' entire text. The fifth, sixth and seventh footnotes refer to specific pages of Pammett's and Sutherland's texts. The eighth and tenth footnotes refer to Macdonald's whole text, while the ninth refers to specific pages.

MULTIPLE PUBLICATIONS IN A GIVEN YEAR When authors have more than one publication in a given year, you write a letter beside the year of publication. Example: 1. Radha Jhappan (1995a), "The Charter and the Courts," in Michael S. Whittington, Glen Williams, Eds., Canadian Politics in the 1990s, Toronto: Nelson, 335-59. 2. Radha Jhappan (1995b), "The Federal-Provincial Powergrid and Aboriginal Self-Government," in Francois Rocher, Miriam Smith, Eds., New Trends in Canadian Federalism, Peterborough, ON: Broadview Press, 155-84. 3. Jhappan (1995a). The third footnote refers to "The Charter and the Courts."

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FIRST FOOTNOTE(S) NOT REFERRING TO A COMPLETE TEXT If the first footnote referring to a text cited specific pages, the page length of a book or the page numbers of an article or chapter in a collective work should be mentioned in a subsequent footnote, if the whole text is referred to. Example: 1. Bennett, Scott (1996), Public Affairs Research Methods: Quantitative Introduction, Lewiston, NY: Edwin Mellen Press, 24-28. 2. Simon Dalby (1997), "Contesting an Essential Concept: Reading the Dilemmas in Contemporary Security Discourse," in Keith Krause, Michael C. Williams, Eds., Critical Security Studies, Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 6-9. 4. Dalby (1997), 3-31. 5. Bennett (1996), 375p. 5. Dalby (1997). 6. Bennett (1996). The first two footnotes refer to specific pages of Bennett's and Dalby's texts, while the last four refer to Dalby's whole chapter and Bennett's whole book.

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VI

BOOK REVIEWS

A

s I have already mentioned in Section I, there are two categories of analytical text. The first category includes analysis of particular political questions (research papers, dissertations, essays). The second type includes analysis of previous research on specific questions (book reviews,16 analytical bibliographies). Why do political scientists write and/or read book reviews? Because academics do not have enough time to read all the texts published in their disciplines, let alone sub-disciplines. Therefore, book reviews are very useful for providing ideas and assessments of new topics discussed or the new approaches used by scholars. The book review is an indispensable tool for following the development of the literature in a specific discipline. You should remember that a book review is more than a summary. Various information can be found in a good book review:

1. IDENTIFICATION OF THE BOOK You should use the same method as for a bibliography (see Section IV).

2. ACADEMIC CHARACTERISTICS The following questions should normally be addressed: a) What is the topic, the specific issue and the specific question or problem being addressed? What are the stated aims, and the limits of the book? 16. For examples of book reviews, students should consult Mershon International Studies Review. This journal is a supplement to International Studies Quarterly, but will become independent in 1999 when a new editorial team replaces the Mershon Center. The name of the journal is thus likely to change. 26

b) What theoretical approach is used? c) What is the thematic structure of the book? What are the parts or chapters about? What are the links between these parts or chapters? What are the arguments and what is the evidence supporting them? d) What are the assumptions or the biases of the author? e) What kinds of sources (primary, secondary) does the author use? f) What are the author's general conclusions?

3. RELEVANT SOCIAL CONTEXT You may answer questions such as the following: a) What is the intellectual background of the author? b) Who is the book's principal audience? Note that this third section is less important than the others. You may address one or both of the above questions if you think that doing so would help readers to understand the relevance of the book for their research.

4. SITUATION OF THE BOOK IN THE CONTEXT OF EXISTING LITERATURE This may or may not be required depending on the journal or the professor for whom you are writing your book review. However, even when not compulsory, an attempt to situate the book in the appropriate literature will be appreciated by readers. The best book reviews always address the question of the book's contribution to the already existing literature. The book can then be evaluated according to its empirical and/or theoretical contribution. For example, assuming that liberalist economic policies were fundamental to the economic development of Western states, many authors argue that today's underdeveloped countries would benefit if they adopted a similar modernization process. However, many researchers criti27

cize this view, using the dependency theory to show that the "success" of Western modernization is based, in part, on the exploitation of the so-called Third World countries. In Gender and Development, Catherine Scott argues that the liberal modernization theory emphasizes the split between the private and public spheres, thus leaving the household outside of the agenda of the state. Scott also shows that by being preoccupied by class struggle, the dependency theory does not address the question of gendered exploitation.17 A review of Gender and Development would be of a much higher quality if it explained not only the gender bias of each theory, but also emphasized that these theories are usually perceived in the literature as opposite approaches. Thus, a book review could turn the attention of readers to the new conclusion that this book brings to the modernization/dependency debate that both theories are not opposing on many issues, but actually share similar assumptions.18

5. PERSONAL CRITIQUE a) Is there a problem or omission in the author's method? b) Is the evidence brought forward convincing? Why or why not? c) Is this book important? Does it introduce an interesting perspective or draw important conclusions about the topic?

17. Catherine V. Scott (1995), Gender and Development: Rethinking Modernization and Dependency Theory, Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner, 151p. 18. For a short but very interesting book review on Catherine Scott's Gender and Development, see Kyung-Ae Park (1996) in Canadian Journal of Political Science, 24(4), 808-09. 28

FINAL THOUGHTS

I

t will become clear as you work on your first papers that writing in political science involves not only research on specific issues having political implications, but also project organization and the exercise of recognized conventions for the discipline. You do not have to "reconstruct" political science every time you start a new research project. However, and this is extremely important, you have to be as specific as possible in your footnotes or endnotes when discussing ideas developed previously by someone else. If you cite or paraphrase anyone else's published idea or data, you must indicate specific page(s) where this idea is found. You should cite the whole book, instead of specific pages, only when you are referring to the main point of the entire book. The most successful students have two points in common: first, they understand and have abilities in using existing methodological tools, and second, they start working as early as possible. Three months can be a surprisingly short period of time for doing university level research papers. Most of all, remember that there is nothing better than practice to improve your skills.

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APPENDIX 1 PLAN FOR A RESEARCH PAPER Due Dates Done (V) 1. PREPARATION a) Topic (general) b) Specific issue c) Short bibliography

2. EXPLORATION a) Fast reading (summary, content, introduction, conclusion, book reviews) b) Specific question or problem

3. RESEARCH a) Bibliography b) Fast reading c) "Active" reading of selected texts

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4. STRUCTURE OF THE RESEARCH PAPER a) Careful reading of the notes taken during the "active" reading (see 3.c) b) Identification of the hypothesis or the theory c) List of the arguments and of the evidence for each of them

5. DRAFT VERSION

6. CORRECTED VERSIONS

7. COMMENTS BY REVIEWERS AND FINAL VERSION

Andre Martel (1997), A Student's Guide for Writing in Political Science, Ottawa: Carleton University Press. 31

APPENDIX 2 SUGGESTED JOURNALS' GENERAL SOURCES American Journal of Political Science American Political Science Review American Politics Quarterly Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science Australian Journal of Political Science British Journal of Political Science Canadian Journal of Political Science Canadian Political Science Review Canadian Review of Sociology and Anthropology Daedalus Discourse and Society Economics and Philosophy European Journal of Political Research International Political Science Review Irish Political Studies Journal of Politics Policy Sciences Policy Studies Journal Political Behaviour Political Geography Quarterly Political Science Quarterly Politics Politique et societes Polity Revue franchise de science politique I tried to choose the best category for each journal and not to duplicate entries. For example, the journal European Security appears under the category "International Security" but not under "Regional Studies," even though it focusses on the European region. For a complete record of periodical publishing, you may consult Ulrich's. 32

Scandinavian Political Studies Western Political Quarterly AREA STUDIES Africa Quarterly African Affairs African Studies Review American Review of Canadian Studies Asia Quarterly Asian Affairs Asian Survey Atlantic Community Quarterly Australian Studies British Journal of Canadian Studies Bulletin of Latin American Research Canadian Journal of African Studies China Quarterly Contemporary China East European Politics and Societies East European Quarterly Europe-Asia Studies German Politics International Journal of Canadian Studies Israel Affairs Journal of African Studies Journal of Algerian Studies Journal of Asian Studies Journal of Canadian Studies Journal of European Integration Journal of Interamerican Studies Journal of Inter-American Studies and World Affairs Journal of Latin American Studies Journal of Modern African Studies Journal of North African Studies Journal of Palestine Studies Journal of Post-Soviet Democratization 33

Journal of Southern African Studies Latin American Research Review Mediterranean Politics Middle East Journal Middle East Review Middle Eastern Studies Modern China Morocco Politique africaine Post-Soviet Affairs Quebec Studies Review of African Political Economy Russian Review Slavic Review Slavonic and East European Review South European Society and Politics South Slav Journal West European Politics GENDER STUDIES Atlantis Canadian Journal of Women and the Law Canadian Woman Studies Feminist Economics Feminist Review Feminist Studies Gender and History Gender and Society Harvard Women's Law Journal Herizons Hypatia Journal of Women's History Resources for Feminist Research Signs Women and Environments Women and Politics 34

Women's History Review Women's Studies International Forum INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS Adelphi Paper Alternatives Aussenpolitik Australian Journal of International Affairs Behind the Headlines Brown Journal of World Affairs Canadian Foreign Policy Canadian Journal of Development Studies Current History Ethics and International Affairs Etudes internationales European Journal of International Relations Foreign Affairs Foreign Policy Geopolitics and International Boundaries Global Affairs Global Governance Global Society International Affairs International Interactions International Journal International Journal of Human Rights International Negotiation Review International Organization International Studies Notes International Studies Quarterly Jerusalem Journal of International Relations Journal of Developing Areas Journal of Development Studies Journal of International Affairs Mershon International Studies Review Millennium 35

Orbis Pacific Affairs Politique etrangere Politique Internationale Relations internationales et strategiques Review of International Studies Third World Quarterly Washington Quarterly World Politics

INTERNATIONAL SECURITY Armed Forces and Society Arms Control Today Bulletin of Peace Proposals Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists Coexistence Comparative Strategy Contemporary Security Policy Cooperation and Conflict Defense nationale Disarmament European Security Intelligence and National Security International Defense Review International Peacekeeping International Security Jane's Intelligence Review Journal of Conflict Resolution Journal of Peace Research Journal of Slavic Military Studies Journal of Strategic Studies Low Intensity Conflict and Law Maintien de la paix Nonproliferation Review Peace and Change Peacekeeping and International Relations 36

Science and Global Security Security Dialogue Security Studies Small Wars and Insurgencies Strategic Review Survival Terrorism and Political Violence Transnational Organized Crime War and Society

POLITICAL ECONOMY British Journal of Industrial Relations Cambridge Journal of Economics Capital and Class Competition and Change Constitutional Political Economy Economic Analysis and Workers' Management Economic and Industrial Democracy Economy and Society Industrial and Labor Relations Review Industrial Relations Journal of Labor Research Journal of Public Economics Labour Marxism Today New Left Review New Political Economy Public Choice Relations industrielles Sociologie du travail Studies in Political Economy Work, Employment and Society

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POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS AND COMPARATIVE POLITICS Comparative Political Studies Comparative Politics Comparative Studies in Society and History Democratization Electoral Studies Georgia Journal of International and Comparative Law Government and Opposition Government Information Quarterly International Journal of Comparative Sociology Journal of Common Market Studies Journal of Commonwealth and Comparative Politics Journal of Communist Studies and Transition Politics Journal of Democracy Journal of Legislative Studies Local Government Studies Party Politics Public Opinion Quarterly Regional and Federal Studies Revue Internationale de politique comparee Studies in Comparative International Development PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION Administration Administration and Society Administrative Science Quarterly American Journal of Public Administration Australian Journal of Public Administration California Management Review Canadian Journal of Economics Canadian Public Administration Canadian Public Policy Canadian Tax Journal Governance 38

Harvard Business Review Human Resource Management International Journal of Conflict Management International Journal of Management and Organizations International Review of Administrative Sciences Journal of Comparative Administration Journal of General Management Journal of Management Studies Manager's Magazine Optimum Organization Science Organization Studies Policy and Politics Policy Options Politiques et management public Public Administration Public Administration and Development Public Administration Review Public Policy Analysis Revue administrative Revue franchise d'administration publique Revue internationale des sciences administratives Sloan Management Review POLITICAL THEORY AND POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY Canadian Journal of Social and Political Theory Critical Sociology Ethics History and Theory History of Political Thought Interpretation Journal of Political Ideologies Journal of the History of Ideas Journal of Theoretical Politics Philosophy and Public Affairs

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Philosophy of the Social Sciences Political Theory Politics and Society Rationality and Society Review of Metaphysics Review of Politics Social Research Theory and Society Theory, Culture and Society

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