Advanced Introduction to Theories in the Social Sciences I. Theories in Institutional Change and Stability

Overview

 

Questions of policy and institutional change have long occupied political scientists and sociologists. The purpose of this course is to examine several explanations of change in the social sciences with particular attention to the mechanisms through which policies and institutions evolve over time. Classes are organized into two parts. In the first part, the purpose of the readings is to familiarize students with the three main strands of institutional analysis, namely rational choice institutionalism, historical, and sociological institutionalism. In the second part, we will use scholarship on contemporary puzzles to examine how and the extent to which these alternative theories can be combined to provide thorough accounts of policy and institutional change. In particular, we will focus on how social science scholars can help account for the transformations in capitalist systems, the political and social consequences brough about by the COVID-19 crisis, and the opportunities and challenges of the green transition.

 

Course format

 

The course is articulated into seven seminars according to the timetable provided below. For each of the meeting, students are required to adopt a pro-active stance based on the reading of all the articles in the reading list. In particular, students are invited to discuss and reflect on the core theoretical assumptions that underpin distinct theories of (and approaches to) institutional change as well as on the relative strengths and weaknesses of each theory with respect to their empirical applications.

 

All students in attendance will present and/or discuss one of the readings in the syllabus. At the beginning of the course, the instructor will assign presenters’ and discussants’ role to class participants. Furthermore, all students will participate to one of the research groups that will be organized at the beginning of the course. Research groups will share research ideas during sessions n. 5, 6 and 7. In particular, research groups are expected to produce a power point presentation whose purpose is to set out a ‘potential’ research question and the modalities of its investigation (related to the topics discussed in Session 5,6 and 7 respectively). Presentations should be structure in five parts: (1) question: motivation and relevance; (2) literature; (3) argument and/or expectations; (4) empirics; (5) provisional conclusions.

 

Two research groups will share the research idea in sessions 5, 6 and 7 (i.e., two per sessions). A collective assessment will follow.

 

Further details on class format and expectations will be provided during the first meeting.

Schedule

Session n. 1

Paradigms and the social sciences

(3 November 11 am-1 pm)

In the first session we will focus on the presentation of the course and the functions that theoretical approaches and paradigms perform in social science research.

 

Required readings:

1. Lichbach, Mark Irving (2009), “Thinking and Working in the Midst of Things”, in Mark Irving, and Alan S. Zuckerman, eds. Comparative Politic.: Rationality, Culture and Structure. Second edition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

2. McCauley Adam and Ruggeri, A. (2020), From Questions and Puzzles to Research Project, in Luigi Curini and Franzese, eds. The SAGE Handbook of Research Methods in Political Science and International Relations.

 

Session n. 2

Rational choice institutionalism

(9 November 10am – 1pm)

This session focuses on the first major strand of institutional analysis: rational choice institutionalism. In particular, we will focus on the theoretical assumptions, expectations, contributions, and limitations of the scholarship associated with rational choice institutionalism.

 

Required readings:

1. Douglass North and Barry Weingast, “Constitutions and Commitment: The Evolution of Institutions Governing Public Choice in Seventeenth Century England,” Journal of Economic History (December 1989).

 2. Moe, Terry M. (2005), 'Power and Political Institutions', Perspectives on Politics, 3 (2), 215-33.

 

 Session n. 3

Historical institutionalism

(17 November 10 am – 1pm)

This session focuses on the second major strand of institutional analysis: historical institutionalism. In particular, we will focus on the theoretical assumptions, expectations, contributions, and limitations of the scholarship associated with historical institutionalism.

 

Required reading:

 1. Thelen, Kathleen (2004), How Institutions Evolve. The Political Economy of Skills in Germany, Britain, the United States, and Japan (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press). [Chapters 1, 2 and 6

2. Mahoney, James, and Kathleen Thelen (2010) "A Theory of Gradual Institutional Change." In Explaining Institutional Change. Ambiguity, Agency, and Power, edited by James Mahoney and Kathleen Thelen, 1-37. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

   

Session n.4

From sociological institutionalism to discursive institutionalism

(23 November 10 am – 1pm)

This session focuses on the theoretical assumptions, expectations, contributions, and limitations of the scholarship associated with sociological institutionalism. The session will then focus on the tenets of discursive institutionalism by way of comparison with the strands of institutionalist analysis examined in previous classes.

 

Required reading:

 1. Berman, Sheri (1998), The Social Democratic Moment: Ideas and Politics in the Making of Interwar Europe (Cambridge: Harvard University Press).

[Chapters 1, 2 and 9]

 2. Schmidt, Vivien A. (2002) The Future of European Capitalism. Oxford, Oxford University Press. [Introduction, Chapter 5]

  

Session n. 5

The making of neoliberal globalization

(30 November 10 am -1 pm)

This session focuses on a major change in the global economy with its attendant domestic consequences: the rise of neoliberal globalization.

 

 Required readings:

 1. Helleiner, E. (1994) States and the reemergence of global finance: from Bretton Woods to the 1990s.  Ithaca and London, Cornell University Press. [Chapter 1]

 2. Kentikelenis, A. E. and S. Babb (2019) "The Making of Neoliberal Globalization: Norm Substitution and the Politics of Clandestine Institutional Change." American Journal of Sociology 124(6).

  

Research group #1

 

Session n. 6

The COVID crisis and its consequences

(12 December 10am – 1pm)

 

This session focuses on the impact of the COVID crisis. In particular, we focus on the implications of the recent crisis for democratic politics and globalization.

 

Required readings:

1. Jones, Lee, and Shahar Hameiri (2022) "COVID-19 and the failure of the neoliberal regulatory state." Review of International Political Economy 29 (4), 1027-1052.

 2. Hooijer, Gerda, and Desmond King (2022) "The Racialized Pandemic: Wave One of COVID-19 and the Reproduction of Global North Inequalities." Perspectives on Politics 20 (2), 507-527.

 

Research group #2

  

Sessione n.7

The rise of green

(15 December 10 am – 1pm)

 

This session focuses on one of the most consequential transformations capitalist systems are about to confront: the green transition.

 

Required readings:

 1. Allan, Bentley B., and Jonas O. Meckling (2021) "Creative Learning and Policy Ideas: The Global Rise of Green Growth." Perspectives on Politics 1-19.

 2. Gabor, Daniela (2021) "The Wall Street Consensus." Development and Change 52 (3), 429-459.

 

Research group #3