We have good reasons to think that comparative regional analysis can deliver an explanatory value-added product just as much as alternative “levels of analysis” can.  Ultimately, we might desire to integrate separate levels of analysis, rather than segregating them.  But in the short term, we need to encourage comparative regional analysis because it is the least developed perspective.  Why that might be the case can be debated, but it stems in part from our disciplinary tendencies for some analysts to specialize in regional behavior largely in a descriptive vein while others prefer to focus on explaining universal behavior.  Comparative regional behavior tends to be squeezed out by regional scholars who suspect generalization about behavior and universal scholars who suspect particular contexts such as regions.  Comparative regional analysis requires analysts who are willing to explore generalization but acknowledge regional contexts more explicitly than is customary.  At the same time, more general substitutes for those regional labels must be introduced if explanatory headway is to be achieved.       weiterlesen