The Generalizability of IR Experiments beyond the U.S.

• In Event: Generalizability in Experimental Political Science

Abstract

Scholars have increasingly relied on experiments to identify the micro-foundations of canonical theories of international relations. Though IR theories often make predictions that ought to hold across many countries, experimental evidence in IR relies overwhelmingly on studies fielded in the U.S. We argue that (1) the breadth of experimental evidence in international relations does not match the scope of its underlying theories and (2) the very nature of what constitutes a theory of international relations makes concerns about generalizability far more pressing than is usually acknowledged. We implement a harmonized replication study, focusing on four prominent IR experiments, to be implemented in seven different countries – Brazil, Germany, India, Israel, Japan, Nigeria, and USA. Through this pre-registered meta-study, our main contribution
Is to examine whether IR experiments that test some of the field’s more well-known theories generalize beyond the U.S. In addition, we contribute to the growing experimental literature in IR by laying out a theoretically motivated and transparent case selection procedure and providing a framework to explore potential cross-site variation in effects identified across different contexts.

Authors

• Lotem Bassan-Nygate, Harvard University

• Jonathan Renshon, University of Wisconsin, Madison

• Jessica L. P. Weeks, University of Wisconsin-Madison

• Chagai Weiss, Stanford University