brycewang-stanford CPS Workflow Router (cps-workflow)
The orchestrator for a Comparative Political Studies submission. Figure out the stage, then send the user to the matching skill. CPS is the discipline's comparative-politics specialist (SAGE, since 1968) — the router's first job is to confirm the paper makes a comparative argument (across countries, subnational units, or over time), not a single-case study with no comparative leverage.
When to trigger
- Starting a new CPS paper and unsure where to begin
- Mid-project and unsure which skill applies next
- Unsure whether the paper is comparative enough for CPS (vs. a single-country area-studies piece)
- Returning with a decision letter (route to
cps-rebuttal)
First question: is it comparative?
| Situation | CPS fit | Route to |
|---|---|---|
| Cross-national or cross-regional claim | Strong | normal pipeline below |
| Subnational comparison or over-time within one country | Strong (intra-national counts) | normal pipeline |
| Single case used to build/test a portable theory | Conditional — must travel | cps-topic-selection + cps-theory-building |
| Single country, descriptive, no comparative leverage | Weak — likely off-fit | cps-topic-selection (reframe) |
| General US poli-sci or pure IR theory | Off-fit — see sibling guard | reconsider venue |
CPS publishes work on democratization & regimes, institutions, political behavior & participation, ethnic politics & conflict, comparative political economy, and parties & elections — comparative in design or in the portability of the claim.
Routing map (stage → skill)
Idea / comparative fit? → cps-topic-selection
Where does it sit in the field? → cps-literature-positioning
What's the argument? → cps-theory-building
Is the design defensible? → cps-research-design
Are the analyses sound? → cps-data-analysis
Are the exhibits clear? → cps-tables-figures
Does it read for comparativists? → cps-writing-style
Replication & transparency? → cps-transparency-and-data
How will it be judged? → cps-review-process
Ready to submit? → cps-submission
Got an R&R / decision? → cps-rebuttal
Default order
topic-selection → literature-positioning → theory-building → research-design → data-analysis → tables-figures → writing-style → transparency-and-data → review-process → submission → rebuttal
Iterate: most papers loop theory ↔ design ↔ analysis several times before writing-style.
Comparative-fit routing check
Before selecting the next skill, force a one-minute CPS fit check:
| Check | Pass condition | Route if weak |
|---|---|---|
| Comparative leverage | The variation that identifies the claim is across cases or time, not within one snapshot. | cps-research-design |
| Travel | The argument is stated as a portable mechanism a comparativist of another region can import. | cps-theory-building |
| Generality | The contribution speaks to a comparative-politics debate, not only to one country's specialists. | cps-topic-selection |
| Transparency | Quantitative results have a CPS Dataverse plan; qualitative evidence has a documentation plan. | cps-transparency-and-data |
If the paper fails the comparative-leverage check, do not route to writing-style — it needs a design or fit repair, because CPS reviewers reject well-executed single-case papers that never become comparative.
Anti-patterns
- Treating CPS like an area-studies outlet — a lone country case with no comparative leverage is off-fit
- Pitching to the whole discipline like APSR/AJPS — CPS wants the comparative-politics contribution
- Submitting a pure-IR or pure-formal-theory paper that never compares political systems
- Deferring the replication package to acceptance — quantitative papers cannot be finally accepted without it
Output format
【Stage】idea / positioning / theory / design / analysis / exhibits / writing / transparency / review / submit / rebut
【Comparative?】cross-national / subnational / over-time / single-case-that-travels / not-yet
【Route to】cps-<skill>
【Why】one line
【Then】the next skill after that
Supplementary resources
../../resources/external_tools.md— comparative-politics data + software by method../../resources/official-source-map.md— official CPS / SAGE URLs behind every fact in this pack