War and Peace - Case studies

Indeks : p.340-346 ; This edited volume focuses on a common form of causal explanation of historical events, the use of "necessary condition counterfactuals "which is neglected in the growing literature on the methodology of qualitative analysis and case studies. The volume analyzes the causal logics of necessary and sufficient conditions, demonstrates the variety of different ways in which necessary condition counterfactuals are used to explain the causes of individual events, and identifies errors commonly made in applying this form of causal logic to individual events. It includes discussions of causal chains, contingency, critical junctures and "powder keq" explanations, and the role of necessary conditions in each. It is unlikely in the extreme that these external challenges will weaken in the near future. The insights this book offers will thus be of relevance to a widening circle of policy-makers, as well as to those who study their actions or who seek to hold them to account.