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Abstract
Political scientists increasingly work with data that capture relationships among countries across time, yet these patterns can be difficult to explore and communicate
through static figures and tables. This article presents a practical workflow for building portable interactive atlases that allow researchers to examine longitudinal networks
through a single HTML file. Combining maps, temporal navigation, inspectable observations, and data and image exports, the approach makes visualization choices
and underlying evidence accessible to readers without requiring specialized software or website maintenance. An application to international trade around economic
sanctions illustrates how researchers can examine shifts in trading partners, compare relationships over time, and assess patterns consistent with potential sanctions
busting. The discussion emphasizes transparent measurement choices and distinguishes descriptive trade changes from evidence of intentional circumvention. By
connecting an adaptable workflow to concrete analytical tasks, the article offers political scientists a practical approach to exploring and sharing relational data.
Supplementary materials
Title
HTML Interactive Atlas
Description
This .html file does not require special software to use (although you do need javascript enabled on your browser). This standalone file should function and operate in any web browser on a computer, tablet, or mobile device.
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Title
A City of Relationships: An Interactive Visualization of Marriage and Business Ties in Renaissance Florence
Description
This interactive visualization explores marriage alliances and business relationships among 16 Renaissance Florentine families. It draws on the research of John F. Padgett and Christopher K. Ansell, “Robust Action and the Rise of the Medici, 1400–1434,” American Journal of Sociology 98(6), 1259–1319 (1993), https://doi.org/10.1086/230190, using the teaching dataset distributed by CoMuNe Lab and Manlio De Domenico.
The activity uses a data set that is common in social network analysis. It invites users to select families, compare marriage and business ties, and explore how overlapping relationships shape network structure. Its purpose is to demonstrate how interactive visualizations can support exploratory analysis and generate research questions. The illustrated Florence backdrop provides context while family positions represent network layout rather than historical residences. This small teaching network does not reproduce the complete dataset analyzed in the original article as is meant to show how such tools can be made portable.
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