Research Activities
Research Projects 2026
A Study of Comparative Political Sociology for Empirical Research
Outline
Comparative politics is considered "the study that aims to research domestic political phenomena occurring around the world and to derive universal theories from them" (Kubo, Suechika, Takahashi, *The Way of Thinking in Comparative Politics*, Yuhikaku Studia, 2016, p. 2), and its subjects are actors in domestic politics, specifically politicians, bureaucrats, the military, society, and individuals. However, in developing and emerging countries, particularly authoritarian states, which are the research target regions of IDE-JETRO, access to actors with high social status, such as politicians, bureaucrats, and the military, is often restricted, and in recent years, this trend has been growing stronger. In such countries, observing the influence of political phenomena from actors like society and individuals provides an important point for empirical research. Methods and perspectives for analyzing society and individuals have been developed in the field of sociology. However, until now, comparative politics has not sufficiently incorporated the methods and perspectives of sociology into the analysis of society and individuals. Taking these points into account, this research project aims to learn insights from sociology for the analysis of society and individuals, to work on improving the fundamental skills of participants who specialize mainly in comparative politics, and to apply them to each participant's individual case studies.
Period
April 2026 - March 2027
Members
| Role | Member |
|---|---|
| [ Organizer ] | Imai, Kohei |
| [ Co-researcher ] | Uetani, Naokatsu |
| [ Co-researcher ] | Matsubara, Yuka |
| [ Co-researcher ] | Matsushita, Satoshi |
| [ Co-researcher ] | Naito, Hiroko |
| [ Co-researcher ] | Nakamura, Masashi |
*Affiliations are as of April 2026.
Expected Outcome
- Theoretical Research Report