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THE LACK OF CUMULATION IN FOREIGN POLICY STUDIES: THE CASE OF BRITAIN AND THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITY *
Author(s) -
FAURBY IB
Publication year - 1976
Publication title -
european journal of political research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.267
H-Index - 95
eISSN - 1475-6765
pISSN - 0304-4130
DOI - 10.1111/j.1475-6765.1976.tb00530.x
Subject(s) - plea , subject (documents) , foreign policy , positive economics , european community , european integration , political science , economics , law and economics , international trade , law , european union , politics , computer science , library science
In this article the lack of cumulation in foreign policy studies is discussed by way of analyzing fourteen books on British policy on Western European integration. A surprising non‐use of prior studies within the same subject area is found, and the possible reasons for this is discussed. Particularly the lack of explicit hypotheses and conclusions and the tendency to compile instead of select variables is noted. It appears that there is a gap between theoretical and empirical studies in international relations which cannot easily be closed. However, the article concludes with a plea for more comparative studies on foreign policy.