Robert Bates (political scientist)

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Robert Hinrichs Bates (born 1942) is an American political scientist specializing in comparative politics. He is Eaton Professor of the Science of Government in the Departments of Government and African and African American Studies at Harvard University.^[1] From 2000–2012, he served as Professeur associé, School of Economics, University of Toulouse.

An Africanist by training, Bates's research has been influential in comparative politics and the political economy of economic development.^[2] Bates has been a leading proponent of the use of rational choice theory and deductive methods in political science.^[2]