Writing in political theory
The process of creating a political theory paper can vary from the process of writing a research paper. In general, as a political theorist you may use this guide very differently from the way your more empirically-minded colleagues will use it. As suggested on the homepage, the steps in your research and writing process will be a little different. Some of the sections that may be useful include:
- Approaches to Political Theory
- Causality
- Concepts and Measurements
- Writing (and all of its sub-pages)
While writing is often an iterative process that does not always follow a linear pattern, the basic steps that are involved include the following:
- Select and begin researching a topic.
- Formulate a question
- Formulate a compelling argument
- Write your first draft
- Seek feedback on that draft
- Revise
- Submit
Regardless of what you plan to do it is always important to be in touch with your primary advisor and/or course instructor. They may have advice or instructions that vary from those presented here. This website is meant to be used as a general guide, to supplement — not replace — what they provide.
A Political Science Guide 