The Politics of Path Dependency: Political Conflict in Historical Institutionalism

The conventional critique of institutional theory, and especially historical institutionalism, is that it is incapable of coping with change. We argue for the importance of political conflict as a means of initiating change in an institutionalist framework. In particular, conflict over ideas and the...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Journal of politics 2005-11, Vol.67 (4), p.1275-1300
Main Authors: Peters, B. Guy, Pierre, Jon, King, Desmond S.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Conceptualization
Demand side economics
Economic policy
Institutions
Keynesianism
Macroeconomic policy
Macroeconomics
Path dependence
Political Change
Political dissent
Political science
Political Science (Excluding Peace and Conflict Studies)
Public Policy
Public sector
Statsvetenskap (Exklusive freds- och konfliktforskning)
Theoretical Problems
Theory
Welfare state
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Summary:The conventional critique of institutional theory, and especially historical institutionalism, is that it is incapable of coping with change. We argue for the importance of political conflict as a means of initiating change in an institutionalist framework. In particular, conflict over ideas and the underlying assumptions of policy is important for motivating change. We demonstrate the viability of this argument with examples of institutional change.
ISSN:0022-3816
1468-2508
DOI:10.1111/j.1468-2508.2005.00360.x