From comparative-political-studies-skills
Positions a CPS manuscript against the comparative-politics literature and rival explanations. Use when writing the literature review or introduction gap paragraph.
How this skill is triggered — by the user, by Claude, or both
Slash command
/comparative-political-studies-skills:cps-literature-positioningThe summary Claude sees in its skill listing — used to decide when to auto-load this skill
A CPS paper earns space by moving a **comparative-politics debate**, not by citing everything. Position
A CPS paper earns space by moving a comparative-politics debate, not by citing everything. Position the paper so a comparativist immediately sees the gap, the rival accounts, and what your paper adds. CPS spans several literatures (regimes, institutions, behavior, ethnic politics & conflict, comparative political economy, parties & elections) — engage the right one(s) deeply rather than all shallowly.
cps-research-design) and the theory's contrast class (cps-theory-building).| Subfield | Engage | Common miss |
|---|---|---|
| Democratization & regimes | modernization, elite-bargain, institutionalist accounts | ignoring measurement debates (V-Dem vs. Polity) |
| Comparative political economy | VoC, redistribution, welfare-state, growth-coalition work | treating economics literature as the only frame |
| Ethnic politics & conflict | constructivist vs. primordialist, mobilization, salience | conflating ethnicity with region without theory |
| Parties & elections / behavior | cleavage theory, electoral systems, turnout, vote choice | US-centric framing of a cross-national claim |
Create a short map before writing the literature review:
| Element | What to specify | Why CPS reviewers care |
|---|---|---|
| Units | countries, subnational units, parties, voters, organizations, events | Defines the comparison and the level of inference |
| Time | period, reform window, election cycle, conflict phase, regime episode | Separates change over time from cross-case difference |
| Region/case logic | why these cases, and what they represent theoretically | Prevents "case convenience" from masquerading as leverage |
| Rival accounts | institutional, structural, cultural, strategic, or historical alternatives | Shows what the paper will adjudicate rather than merely add |
| Portability | where the mechanism should travel, and where it should fail | Turns a regional study into a comparative contribution |
Use the map to prune citations. Keep works that define the debate, create the rival, or anchor portability across regions; move background-only citations to footnotes or cut them.
cps-research-design)【Debate】the one comparative-politics conversation
【Standing answer + limit】what the field believes / where it breaks
【Gap】stated as a falsifiable claim
【Strongest rival】the explanation the design must rule out
【Comparative debate map】units / time / case logic / rival / portability
【Cross-regional anchors】2–3 works beyond your own region
【Next】cps-theory-building
../../resources/exemplars/library.md — how verified CPS papers locate themselves in a debate../../resources/external_tools.md — comparative datasets that define many CP debatesnpx claudepluginhub brycewang-stanford/awesome-journal-skills --plugin comparative-political-studies-skillsPositions a World Politics manuscript within comparative-politics or IR debates so the contribution reads as cross-case rather than single-country. Useful when drafting the introduction, addressing reviewer feedback, or building a review article.
Tests whether a research question fits Comparative Political Studies (CPS) by assessing comparative leverage, portability, and disciplinary stake.
Positions an APSR manuscript against the literature to avoid desk rejection for failing to engage relevant work. Helps frame the contribution for a discipline-wide audience.