From wp-skills
Tests whether a project fits World Politics (comparative politics/IR) and helps decide between a research article or review article format.
How this skill is triggered — by the user, by Claude, or both
Slash command
/wp-skills:wp-topic-selectionThe summary Claude sees in its skill listing — used to decide when to auto-load this skill
World Politics is a **leading specialist** in comparative politics and international relations. The bar
World Politics is a leading specialist in comparative politics and international relations. The bar is not "new to my country case" and not "of general interest to all of political science" — it is a substantive political question that travels across cases or systems and advances theoretical debate. Use this skill to pressure-test fit before you invest.
A strong research article usually clears all four:
wp-theory-building).| If your question is… | World Politics fit |
|---|---|
| comparative + cross-case (regimes, conflict, development) | strong — core scope |
| IR with comparative leverage | strong — core scope |
| general-interest, any subfield | likely APSR / AJPS / JOP, not the specialist World Politics |
| single-country description, no travel | reframe for generality or target an area journal |
| pure IR theory with no empirics | reframe; World Politics wants original empirical research |
The earliest screen is fit, so the objections that kill a project here are about scope and travel — each with a reframe.
| Objection at fit stage | The reframe this skill drives |
|---|---|
| "Too case-specific / just one country" | Make the lone case a case of a general mechanism, or add a comparison |
| "Reads as a methods demonstration" | Anchor it to a comparative or IR substantive payoff, not technique |
| "This is policy / current affairs" | Recast as theory-driven empirical analysis, or target a policy outlet |
| "Of general interest, not specialist" | Decide honestly between World Politics and a generalist venue (APSR/AJPS/JOP) |
Calibration anchor: World Politics is a comparative-politics-and-IR specialist that prizes big theoretical questions and research design over narrow empirics, and it also runs analytical review essays. It is not a discipline-wide generalist and not IR-only — so a question with cross-case leverage on regimes, conflict, development, or institutions fits where a single-subfield novelty does not.
A scholar has rich data on one country's land-reform program. Two framings:
Off-fit: "first quantitative study of country X's 1990s land reform" (single-case, doesn't travel)
On-fit: "when does land reform defuse vs ignite rural conflict?" — country X as one case in a
paired comparison, mechanism = redistribution-vs-expropriation credibility, testable
across other reforming states
Type: research article (a review article would instead synthesize related books + set an agenda)
The on-fit framing poses a substantive question that travels and carries theoretical payoff. (Scope norms can change; confirm against the current scope statement.)
【Question】one sentence
【Domain】comparative politics / IR / both
【Travels across cases?】how the argument generalizes [Y/N]
【Type】research article / review article
【In scope?】not opinion/policy/theory-only/historical/journalistic [Y/N]
【Fit verdict】strong / needs reframing / off-fit (why)
【Next】wp-literature-positioning
../../resources/external_tools.md — comparative + IR data sources../../resources/official-source-map.md — World Politics scope and article typesnpx claudepluginhub brycewang-stanford/awesome-journal-skills --plugin wp-skillsHelps determine whether a political-science project fits The Journal of Politics (JOP) and which article category to target, based on JOP's page budget and fit criteria.
Evaluates whether a political-science project fits the British Journal of Political Science (BJPS) and selects among its three formats: Research Article, Letter, or Comment.
Pressure-tests whether an international-relations project fits International Organization (IO) journal standards and selects the right article type.