James Mahoney is a comparative-historical researcher with interests in political development, Latin America, and methodology. His most recent books are Advances in Comparative-Historical Analysis (2015; coedited with Kathleen Thelen); A Tale of Two Cultures: Qualitative and Quantitative Research in the Social Sciences (with Gary Goertz; 2012); Colonialism and Postcolonial Development: Spanish America in Comparative Perspective (2010); and Explaining Institutional Change: Ambiguity, Agency, and Power (2010; coedited with Kathleen Thelen).
Mahoney has received several awards for his work on methodology from the American Sociological Association (ASA) and American Political Science Association (APSA). His book on Colonialism and Postcolonial Development received six major awards from sections in ASA and APSA.
Mahoney has been President of the Qualitative and Multi-Method Research Section and the Politics and History Section, APSA, and Chair of the Comparative and Historical Sociology Section and the Development Section of the ASA. He has been Associate Chair of Political Science and Chair of Sociology at Northwestern.