Networks in Historical Political Economy

Abstract

Abstract This chapter discusses the use of network analysis in the study of historical political economy. Whereas conventional approaches to quantitative research such as regression focus on the relationships between variables, network analysis focuses on the relationships between cases. Drawing on historical records capturing the relationship between places, people, organizations, and even symbols, network analysis has been used to examine the processes surrounding the transition to economic and political modernity. These include the rise of the market economy, the expansion of centralized authority, and the proliferation of mass mobilization through political parties and social movement organizations. Despite the considerable progress on this front, the adoption of network analysis is complicated by methodological hurdles arising from the nonindependence of observations. Causal inference is especially challenging, though recent innovations in inferential network analysis may provide a way forward.