Dr. lan Garner ian.garner@queensu.

ca Writing Literature Reviews in Politics Why

I Gave Cats
a Second Chanc Let us acknowledge that Queen's is situated on traditional Anishina
abe and Haudenosaunee territory. We are grateful to be able to be live, learn and pl
ay on these lands. STUDENT AFFAIRS Queen's STUDENT ACADEMIC SUCCESS SERVIC
ES UNIVERSITYWhat is the "Literature Review"? Why bother? Am
I expected to read all the literature? How can I find material? How do
I sort and organize what I have? How do I describe what
I've found? What do the different sections of a lit review look like?So what's
a lit review?The lit review...
...helps you understand and contribute to the scholarly conversation on your topic.T
he lit review... ...is a synthesis and evaluation of scholars' work on a particular topic.
...does not have to contain everything written about a topic!
...aims to guide the researcher in making wise choices about how to tackle
a research question (methods, theories, approaches).
...helps the researcher consider appropriate ways to apply existing theories, avoid re
peating studies that have already been completed, and shows that they understand
how to contribute to the scholarly conversation around their subfield.
...shows the reader the researcher will do all of the above.Typical feedback on lit revi
ews • A. "Little more than
a list of previous research papers in the field. It doesn't give me
a sense of what has been more significant and less significant. It is hard to know wh
ere you stand". • B. "Although I know what your research hypothesis is,
I don't see it informing your review of the previous literature. We need to see the rel
evant themes and issues more clearly". • C.
"You haven't shown clearly enough what literature is relevant, and how, to your parti
cular research topic.... You need to prune, and to increase the space devoted to your
own understanding of the issues, discussed in relation to what you are setting out to
show"A.

"Little more than a list of previous research papers in the field. It doesn't give me
a sense of what has been more significant and less significant. It is hard to know wh
ere you stand". • B. "Although I know what your research hypothesis is,
I don't see it informing your review of the previous literature. We need to see the rel
evant themes and issues more clearly". ● • C.
"You haven't shown clearly enough what literature is relevant, and how, to your parti
cular research topic.... You need to prune, and to increase the space devoted to your
own understanding of the issues, discussed in relation to what you are setting out to
show"It's not an annotated bibliography, which: Provides an overview of available s
ources. Describes contents: what's the general argument, how does it relate to other
works, is there anything unusual or particularly useful? Is presented as
a list. Ordered in broad, non-analytical categories, e.g. "Introduction," "Overviews,"
"Primary Sources," etc. Doesn't tell you about the author's research or justify why the
y're working on a project.Guilhon-
Albuquerque, José Augusto, ed. Sessenta anos de política externa brasileira, 1930-
1990. 4 vols. São Paulo, Brazil: Cultura Editores Associados, 1996. Save Citation
>> Export Citation > Share Citation >> This four-
volume collection brings together some fifty scholars and practitioners to take stock
of sixty years of Brazilian foreign policy. The resulting books are as useful to studen
ts as accessible to laypeople. DOI: 10.1093/OBO/9780199743292-
0288Don't confuse an annotated bibliography and
a literature review! The annotated bibliography is general, descriptive and summati
ve. The literature review is precise and argument-
driven.Identities and cleavages play
a crucial role in shaping political behaviour, influencing how individuals perceive th
emselves, relate to others, and engage in the political process. These identities can e
ncompass a wide range of factors discussed in the readings and in the class content.

In lesson 2, 3, and
4, the readings and class content have gone in depth about the main social and polit
ical cleavages in Canada and how they affect political behaviour, so you now have
a theoretical basis for understanding what are the main mechanisms of socialization
in Canada. Step 1: Review the literature
- According to theories discussed in the readings and in class, what are the possible
causal factors that impact political behaviour and ideology? In other words, what is t
he theoretical argument that links the independent variables to the dependent varia
bles? What are some alternative plausible factors that might impact political behavi
our and ideology? Step 2: Test the theory
- Demonstrate how your identities inform your own politics, including
- but not limited to
- your party identification, the strength of your party identification, ideology, and yo
ur stances on various policy issues
(economic policy, social policy, foreign policy, etc.). Remember, in this course we tak
e an expansive view of political engagement, so you can discuss various forms of co
mmunity engagement, volunteering, basically any form of political participation. Th
e goal here is to analyze your experience by drawing on the existing research. Step
1 directly informs how you will research and write about Step 2
& you can't know how you'll complete Step 2 or what you'll find unless you do Step
1 first!How do we write a lit review?Review the literature • Take copious notes
→ use mind maps, charts, diagrams vs. long-form notes.
• Focus on discussing and arguing vs. listing facts & data → argumentation
> summary. • Summarize each study's main claim/relevant arguments in 1-
3 sentences about aim, thesis, conclusion, and relationship to your purposes.
• Be selective!Simple technique: create
a summary sheet for each major reading and take notes on 3-4 of these points.

assumptions provenance • evidence ● • methodology

● persuasiveness limitations scope● ● ● assumptions - published
5 yrs ago, assumes Brazil's foreign policy destined to be more insular vs Article
A which is more recent & suggests the opposite
● provenance evidence methodology
- adopts realist approach to interpreting decision-making (as in articles C &
D) persuasiveness
- im not persuaded. Seems to be outdated after recent election. But why would scho
lar make these claims?? • limitations scope
- only looks at foreign policy institutions, but
I need more material on other areasAre you ready to write? What are the major theo
ries/approaches in your field of research? How do the various studies relate to each
other? What precise contribution do they make to the field? What are their limitatio
ns? Where is more work needed? How does the answers fit into what you propose t
o do? Are they influencing or changing your plans?Plan your writing How are you g
oing to order your discussion? Chronological? Thematic? By methodology? What are
the section headings you need? Ask your professor for models in your field. ●14 16
0 Theme 22 8 66 86 20 21 22 26 27 28 29 26
27 Chronology Impose order The keywords for this stage are integrate, synthesize, c
ritique. Group individual studies into larger schools of thought, or themes. Are there
trends in the research? WEST NORTH CENTRAL SOUTH EAST Region Method/Theor
yThe Introduction provides: an overview of the problem or research question,
a short outline of published literature about the topic,
a sense of your research's direction
(or where research might hypothetically go). Try writing
a mini thesis statement to guide you: what is the main argument or claim you'll mak
e about the state of the literature based on what you've read? How is that guiding y
our proposal(s) for future research projects?In

the past, much has been written about Brazilian climate diplomacy. Scholarly studies
and close readings have been conducted to identify when and how the issue of the
"global commons" came to prominence in the 2000s. This research is reviewed belo
w.
I Are you summarizing the research? Is there any hint at grouping or interpretation
here? How is this informing your project?Much has been written about Brazilian cli
mate diplomacy. Scholarly studies and close readings have been conducted to identi
fy when and how the issue of the
"global commons" came to prominence in the 2000s. Recent studies in big data anal
ysis have challenged conventional realist approaches to suggest that Brazil has beco
me a "rogue" climate power. Nonetheless, micro-
level approaches, such as the one to be adopted in this paper, may yet disrupt this fi
nding.The Body provides: detailed analysis of relevant studies, grouped into categor
ies, • clear articulation of relevant strengths or weaknesses (but not too picky!),
• connections between works and categories of works.
• Focus on discursive and analytical writing: why and how, not just what.
• When editing, ask: • Have
I commented on/discussed sources, or just listed them? Can I come back to my main
"argument" in the introduction/conclusion to each section?Brazil's foreign agenda h
as changed over time, although crucial goals such as stability in the region and instit
utionalized multilateralism in the world have remained constant. Hochstetler and Vi
ola
(2012) deal with the country's approach to environmental management and climate
change. They argue Brazil adopted
a realist approach, using this dimension to stifle its rivals. Smith and Tuffi Saliba
(2015) show that Brazil does not follow a
"global commons" logic for large emitters, whose actions can affect climate outcom
es alone or in small groupings. The authors show how Brazil's support for new climat
e commitments after 2007 was based on principled and interest-
driven motives of key interest groups.

Franchini (2018) argues that Brazil has become

a rogue environmental power. The reversal of Amazon deforestation in recent years
makes this issue one of both academic and strategic relevance. Sotero and Armijo
(2007) believed that Brazil's democratic stability means it may become an environme
ntal power in a world increasingly preoccupied with climate change. - Can we re-
order to sort this list out? Can we add analytical verbs
- illustrate, reveal, demonstrate, expose, highlight? Or discourse markers
- therefore, in contrast with, as a result, unlike, etc.?In the early 2000s, academics
(e.g. Sotero and Armijo
2007) argued that Brazil's democratic stability suggested it would become an enviro
nmental power in
a world increasingly preoccupied with climate change. Brazil's size and resources im
plied that it would take the lead in developing institutions dedicated to global envir
onmental policy. However, Smith and Tuffi Saliba
(2015) studied government documents to argue that even in the 2000s, policy was d
ominated by domestic interest groups. As
a result of the turn to instability in the mid 2010s, some scholars note that the trend
towards small interest groups has accelerated. Franchini
(2018) argues that Brazil has consequently become
a rogue environmental power. Franchini interprets this move in terms drawn from th
e study of realism. Salazar
(2021), however, uses big data analyses of social media networks to show that today
Brazilian political fragmentation is taking place on the micro level...in my analysis,
I explore three social media groups to challenge Salazar's findings... When you're do
ne, highlight passages where you use analytical
& discourse terms and/or come back to your main "argument"
- find areas of text where they are lacking.The Conclusion
(the most important part of the review) should answer most or all of the following q
uestions: What are the major trends, gaps or issues you've noticed? Which are the m
ost appropriate theoretical approaches for your Step 2 and why?

Will your approach suffer from any limitations? What can it not address?Book
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one writing, learning strategies or EAL appointment on our website: http://sass.quee
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