"Institutionalism" is the buzzword of the 1980s and 1990s in the
social sciences. What is new in the contemporary analysis of
institutions and what does it offer to the study of social order?
In this book a distinguished group of social scientists drawn from
political science, economics, and sociology, explore this question
and show us how different theoretical approaches to institutional
analysis can be joined to build a more thorough understanding of
institutions.
The modern analysis of institutions has taken two separate paths.
Rational choice theories identified institutions as a strategic
response to collective action problems and as instruments for the
promotion of cooperation. Contrary to these theories, such
cooperation is fundamental to social order and a prerequisite for
economic growth and development. An alternate form of
institutionalism, drawn from sociological and historical analysis,
de-emphasized the role of choice, strategy, and design in the
construction of many of the major institutions in social life. This
form of institutional analysis pointed to the role of prior
choices, common norms, and culture in making certain options and
choices unthinkable or impossible. Institutions, according to this
view, may represent a certain kind of social order, but they do not
always promote cooperation and economic growth. The more recent
theories in the "new institutionalism" bring these seemingly
irreconcilable perspectives closer together. New institutionalists
argue that institutions must be grounded in the social fabric, and
thus rational choice must be combined with historical and cultural
variables. The papers collected in this volume address the merging
of rationalchoice and historical-sociological institutionalism in
the "new institutionalism."
The contributors are Randall L. Calvert, Christopher Clague,
Kathleen Cook, Peter Hall, Virginia Haufler, James Johnson, Gary
Miller, Karol Soltan, Rosemary C. R. Taylor, Eric M. Uslaner, and
Barry Weingast.
Karol Soltan is Associate Professor of Political Science,
University of Maryland. Eric M. Uslaner is Professor of Political
Science, University of Maryland. Virginia Haufler is Assistant
Professor of Political Science, University of Maryland.
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