lecture 7 - institutionalism Flashcards
epistemology, ontology and methodology for institutionalism
doesn’t really work for institutionalism
institutionalism is something like a method, it is a substantive orientation towards the importance of institutions
core idea
institutions are important
for what? differs per strand of institutionalism
- to explain political behaviour (e.g.)
traditional institutionalism
- 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
end of law focus political science
behaviouralist revolution (late 1960s?)
proto-theoretical outlook old institutionalism
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
criticisms old institutionalism
- 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
mainstream political science timeline
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
new institutionalism
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
new institutionalism: what is an institution
- 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
institutions as rules, not organizations
- 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)
institutions as informal as well as formal
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
institutions as dynamic as well as stabilizing
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
normative about institutions???
NOOOOO never normative about institutions, they don’t think its good that institutions….
they observe that they….
institutions as embodying values and power
- 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
institutions as contextually embedded
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?)
historical institutionalism
how an institution has changed is important to understand how an institution will change
past dependent type of answer to change
Hall & Taylor
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
normative institutionalism
- 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
rational choice
logic of consequence + incentive-based behaviour
more likely to emphasize formal rules to describe how institutions shape behaviour (consequences + rewards of (not) following rules)
logic of consequence
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
logic of appropriateness
theoretical assumptions about individuals not pre-set
- what is my position/role within this institution
- what would constitute appropriate behavioural options given my position/role in this situation
- 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
summary new institutionalism
ontology = mixed
epistemology = mixed
methodology = mixed
not really/entirely empirical
rational choice institutionalism: foundationalist, positivist, quantitative
normative institutionalism: more fluid, including anti-foundation
