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The Interview Method in Comparative Politics: The Process of Interviewing Far-Right Actors

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 December 2021

Antonis A. Ellinas Open the ORCID record for Antonis A. Ellinas [Opens in a new window]
Antonis A. Ellinas*
Affiliation:
Department of Political and Social Sciences, University of Cyprus, Nicosia, Cyprus
*
*Corresponding author. Email: aellinas@ucy.ac.cy
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Abstract

Interviews have been the basis for some of the greatest insights in many disciplines but have largely been on the backstage of comparative political inquiry. I first rely on bibliometric data to show the limited use of interviews in research published by major journals in the past 30 years. I then focus on how interviews are used to study a hard-to-reach population: far-right actors. Using the extant literature and reflecting on my field experience with far-right leaders and functionaries, I examine in detail how interviews help investigate this phenomenon; I analyse challenges related to interview access, rapport, analysis and ethics and offer remedies. I argue that comparativists using interviews need to address these challenges by explicating and reflecting on the process through which they collect interview data rather than solely focusing on the data itself.

Keywords

interview methodfar rightcomparative politicsinterview process

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Type
Article
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Government and Opposition , Volume 58 , Issue 4 , October 2023 , pp. 661 - 681
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Government and Opposition Limited

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