Mentor Post #2

I met with Professor Levan on Tuesday February 20th between 4:00 and 4:30. In our meeting, we discussed the last gasp of my inclination to pursue a discourse analysis approach and my ultimate decision to continue forward with a small-n neopositivist approach. We then discussed an event on democratic decline in Hungary held at the National Endowment of Democracy that I recently attended on his suggestion. The speaker presenting his research at that event was primarily focused on explaining the support for Viktor Orban and his illiberalism as a function of economic factors rather than other factors such as geopolitics or social capital. Professor Levan and I discussed the relative merits of this approach.

Our discussion also touched on the specific next steps for my project. These next steps primarily revolve around methodology and sources as a methodological section draft is due in the near future and it is always important to be expanding and improving upon the sources one is reading. With regards to methodology, we discussed the relative merits of single-case process tracing and a more comparative approach. We also discussed my inclination to utilize process tracing with a single primary case with other cases being used to inform my thinking without rising to the level of coequal case. With regards to the latter, he recommended that I meet with a research librarian to help improve my sources.

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