Journal Article

Political Science & Politics;

Researching the Politics of Illegal Activities

Published on 1 January 2021

Researching illegal activities, while an object of increasing interest, generates a range of methodological challenges for political scientists.

Rather than an exhaustive discussion, this article provides a simple framework that structures these challenges. It highlights that illegality itself is an insufficient guide to method development and needs to be supplemented by an analysis of three further dimensions: enforcement, normalisation and ethics. The article notes that beyond providing insights into the feasibility and challenges of different methodologies, examining these dimensions also directly point researchers to key political science questions about illegal activities themselves.

Cite this publication

Gallien, M. (2021) 'Researching the Politics of Illegal Activities', Political Science & Politics [Preprint]

Authors

Max Gallien

Research Fellow

Publication details

authors
Gallien, Max
journal
Political Science & Politics
doi
10.19088/IDS.2021.026
language
English

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