Minimal conceptualizations are incompatible with ideal types and should be rejected

Evidence

Another important corollary deals with “minimal conceptualizations.” In the democracy literature, there is a tradition of talking about “minimal” conceptualizations of democracy. Typically this is traced back to Schumpeter’s analysis in 1950. This informs the Democracy–Dictatorship group’s view of democracy (e.g., Przeworski et al. 2000; Cheibub et al. 2010). Virtually by definition, a minimal conceptualization is not an ideal type. Minimal conceptualizations are not a good idea. — Gary Goertz, Social Science Concepts and Measurement, 428

Categorization

• XREF: Names the Schumpeter-to-Przeworski minimalist tradition, useful for tracing where ‘democracy as contested elections’ comes from.