Towards a Grounded Theory of Democracy

A trial using political speeches from different times, places, and contexts.

Abstract

If we want to develop a comparative democratic theory, we need a methodology that is open for, unusual data, suspends previous knowledge and develops concepts inductively. We argue that Grounded Theory as a general methodology can be used to systematically develop a comparative democratic theory strictly rooted in empirical data. In this article we first present and discuss concepts of Grounded Theory and then use seventeen exemplary speeches of politicians from three centuries and five continents to illustrate how such theory development including unusual sources proceeds. Finally, we discuss the results by focusing on promises and perils of applying grounded theory as a strategy for developing a comparative democratic theory.