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apsr-theory-building

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Use when building the theoretical argument of an American Political Science Review (APSR) manuscript into a discipline-level contribution — whether the work is formal/game-theoretic, empirical with explicit mechanisms, interpretive, or normative. APSR rewards a clear, portable argument over a bare finding. Structures the argument; it does not run analyses.

When to use

• building theoretical argument
• formal/game-theoretic work
• empirical with explicit mechanisms
• interpretive work
• normative work
• stating mechanisms, assumptions, and scope conditions
• deciding what to model in formal modeling
• decoding 'atheoretical' referee reports

When not to use

• running analyses

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