Word: rationale
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"Some rational choice scholars do well according to this latter criterion and some do not; those who do not use rational choice distribute themselves in a similar fashion," Shepsle writes.
Over the past few years, tenured appointments have included Professors of Government Jeffrey Frieden and Lisa L. Martin, both of whom study international political economy wiht an emphasis on rational choice models.
One appointment that rational choice proponents point to as evidence of the continued pluralism of the department is that of Chinese scholar Elizabeth Perry.
"Rational choice is excellent at solving deductive puzzles. But rational choice has a lot of trouble explaining mass mobilization," says Varshney, who wrote his early book with a rational choice focus and a more recent work which seeks to generalize from largely empirical data about India.
In an article on this debate in the American Political Science Association Comparative Politics' summer newsletter, Varshney acknowledges the contributions of rational choice to the study of economics and institutions in comparative politics but very pointedly states the limits of rational choice explanations.