Generalizing a concept requires stripping away attributes until it travels across cases

Evidence

ThemethodologicalproblemthatmotivatedSartoriwasoneofcomparative politics. If we have a fine-grained, multidimensional concept that applies well to one or two cases, then it might not “travel” well when applied to other cultures, countries, or time periods. Sartori suggests that in order to make the concept more general—i.e., applicable to more observations—one can “stretch” the concept by reducing its attributes (i.e., number of dimensions). — Gary Goertz, Social Science Concepts, 482

Categorization

• SEED: Essay angle: ‘the cost of travel’ — how comparative politics buys cross-case generality by sacrificing the fine-grained dimensions that made a concept explanatory in the first place.