lecture 7 - institutionalism Flashcards

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1
Q

epistemology, ontology and methodology for institutionalism

A

doesn’t really work for institutionalism

institutionalism is something like a method, it is a substantive orientation towards the importance of institutions

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2
Q

core idea

A

institutions are important
for what? differs per strand of institutionalism

  • to explain political behaviour (e.g.)
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3
Q

traditional institutionalism

A
  • description of constitutions, legal systems and government structures + comparison over time and across countries
  • origins in law (legal approach (only look at black letter law), not really social science)
  • arena view of politics

institutions defined as: formal political arrangements, i.e. government organizations, constitutions, legal systems…..

not concerned with defining their ontology, epistemology, methodology
- in practice: mostly empirical

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4
Q

end of law focus political science

A

behaviouralist revolution (late 1960s?)

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5
Q

proto-theoretical outlook old institutionalism

A

normative, historicist, holistic, structuralist, legalist, functionalist

this was just what was being done, it is not a prescription of how to do old institutionalism, there is no guideline

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6
Q

criticisms old institutionalism

A
  • too much emphasis on formal rules, procedures and organizations (no focus on behaviour)
  • too much focus on government (no focus on governance process)
  • too static (what about change)
  • too descriptive (what about explanation?)
  • lacking methodological rigor
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7
Q

mainstream political science timeline

A

old institutionalism

behaviouralism (1950s, 1960s)
rational choice (1970s, 1980s)

neo-institutionalism (1980s)
- idea that focus on individual behaviour has gone to far, that institutions do matter, that it matters in how people behave

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8
Q

new institutionalism

A

asks how:
- institutions shape political behaviour
- institutions are shaped by human actions

looks at interaction between institutions (structure) and individuals (agents)

but also inter- and intra-institutional interactions

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9
Q

new institutionalism: what is an institution

A
  • rules of the game
  • formal and informal

criticism: if institution means everything, then it means nothing…. (everything politics: nothing distinctively political)
- how will i recognize an institution when i see one

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10
Q

institutions as rules, not organizations

A
  • a set of ‘rules’ that guide and constrain the behavior of individual actors
  • institutions provide the rules of the game, while organizations, like individuals, are players within that game
  • stable, valued and recurring patterns of behavior (Huntington)

if a rule isn’t obeyed by anyone anymore, it is no longer seen as part of the institution (not normative)

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11
Q

institutions as informal as well as formal

A

informal rules can reinforce, compliment, co-exist, compete with, substitute, and/or override formal rules

what are informal rules?
- unwritten, tacit rules that define roles and behaviour
- collectively shared and accepted, often taken for granted
- norms, culture, history (socially derived)

e.g. etiquette

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12
Q

institutions as dynamic as well as stabilizing

A

institutions are generally stable (by definition): they set expectations for behaviour

not all follow the rules -> stability can’t be taken for granted
- rules can be seen as being made to be broken: to show what is and isn’t following the rules

incremental, gradual process of adaptation or revolution

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13
Q

normative about institutions???

A

NOOOOO never normative about institutions, they don’t think its good that institutions….
they observe that they….

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14
Q

institutions as embodying values and power

A
  • seemingly neutral procedures and arrangements embody particular values, interests and identities
  • institutions must reflect some relatively common set of values if incentives are to function equally for all participants
  • inclusion or exclusion of different actors and selection of instruments is not value neutral but embedded in and sustains political values
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15
Q

institutions as contextually embedded

A

institutions are considered autonomous, but they aren’t independent entities, existing outside of space and time

three dimensional contextual nesting:
- time
- hierarchy
- spatiality (political and non-political)

vertical: rules from above shape rules/behaviour below in the hierarchy
horizontal: (institutions next to each other? in space?)

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16
Q

historical institutionalism

A

how an institution has changed is important to understand how an institution will change

past dependent type of answer to change

17
Q

Hall & Taylor

A

identify 3 forms of new institutionalism

  • rational choice institutionalism: incentive based (logic of consequence)
  • normative institutionalism: norm-based (logic of appropriateness)
  • historical institutionalism: both (as most strands): asks why institutions persist/change

main two are rational choice and normative

18
Q

normative institutionalism

A
  • interpretive approach
  • value based, looks at religion, ideology
  • look at how people construct institutions + how institutions construct social behaviour

logic of appropriateness + norm-based behaviour

more likely to emphasize informal rules (rules as constructed and more difuse)

can be both explanatory and interpretivist

19
Q

rational choice

A

logic of consequence + incentive-based behaviour

more likely to emphasize formal rules to describe how institutions shape behaviour (consequences + rewards of (not) following rules)

20
Q

logic of consequence

A

assumptions: all individuals are rational + all individuals are self-interested

steps of action:
1. what are my preferences/options (given institutional context)
2. what are the benefits and consequences of these options (given institutional settings)
3. select option which best meets preferences in this situation

positivist approach

*this is not how everyone always acts, it is what will best explain patterns of behaviour at the macrolevel

21
Q

logic of appropriateness

A

theoretical assumptions about individuals not pre-set

  1. what is my position/role within this institution
  2. what would constitute appropriate behavioural options given my position/role in this situation
  3. which behavioural option which best meets my position/role within this institution

looks at appropriate behaviour in a certain role, in a set of rules of an institution

22
Q

summary new institutionalism

A

ontology = mixed
epistemology = mixed
methodology = mixed

not really/entirely empirical

rational choice institutionalism: foundationalist, positivist, quantitative

normative institutionalism: more fluid, including anti-foundation