Historical institutionalism (HI) is a social science method of inquiry that uses institutions as subject of study in order to find, measure and trace patterns and sequences of social, political, economic behavior and change accross time and space. It is, by definition, a comparative approach to the study of all aspects of human organizations and relies heavily on case studies. Borrowing from Charles Tilly, historical institutionalism is a method apt for measuring "big structures, large processes, and [making] huge comparisons". An institution is a group, tenet, maxim, or organization created by a group of humans. ... Behavior (or behaviour in Commonwealth English) refers to the actions or reactions of an object or organism, usually in relation to the environment. ... Look up Change in Wiktionary, the free dictionary Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Change This article is about the meaning of change in terms of flux and variation. ... Alternative meaning: Organisation (band). ... Case studies involve a particular method of research. ... Charles Tilly (born 1929) is a well known sociologist who has written a large number of books on the relationship between politics, economics and society. ...

Historical Institutionalism has generated some of the most important books in the fields of sociology, political science and economics. In fact, some of these studies have inspired policy and its scholars have received numerous awards. Although historical institutionalism proper is fairly new (circa 1979), it identifies with the great traditions in history, philosophy, politics, sociology and economics.

Old and new institutionalism

Institutions have been always central to social science but they have not been addressed with the same emphasis and manner in every epoch. Before and after the turn of the twentieth century, several scholars were writing about institutions, but they had not developed a theory of institions yet. Most of these approaches relied heavily on the study of formal institutions (i.e. the law) (see hermeneutics). Moreover, they were highly normative and, thus, prescriptive (i.e. Weber prescribed the professionalization of bureaucracy in order to have a modern state). In addition, they were all teleological (see teleology) and deterministic. Intitutionalist examples of this sort abound: Marx's arguments relied on "social classes", Weber on "bureaucracy", Durkheim on " the division of labor", Veblen on "consumption". This is often called "old institutionalism". An institution is a group, tenet, maxim, or organization created by a group of humans. ... Terms like SOSE (Studies of Society & the Environment) not only refer to social sciences but also studies of the environment. ... Hermeneutics may be described as the theory of interpretation and understanding of a text through empirical means. ... In philosophy, normative is usually contrasted with descriptive or explanatory when describing types of theories, beliefs, or statements. ... Teleology is the supposition that there is design, purpose, directive principle, or finality in the works and processes of nature, and the philosophical study of that purpose. ... The term deterministic may refer to: the more general notion of determinism from philosophy, see determinism a type of algorithm as discussed in computer science, see deterministic algorithm scientific determinism as used by Karl Popper and Stephen Hawking deterministic system in mathematics deterministic system in philosophy deterministic finite state machine... Marx is a common German surname. ... A social class is, at its most basic, a group of people that have similar social status. ... Weber is a surname of German origin, derived from the noun meaning weaver. The German pronunciation is best represented in English orthography as VAYBr, while in English it is more likely to be pronounced WEBBr or WAYBr. In some cases, following migration to English-speaking countries, it... Bureaucracy , or red tape is a concept in sociology and political science. ... David Émile Durkheim (April 15, 1858 - November 15, 1917) is known as the founder of modern sociology. ... Division of labour is the breakdown of labour into specific, circumscribed tasks for maximum efficiency of output in the context of manufacturing. ... Veblen may refer to Oswald Veblen, the mathematician, Thorstein Veblen, the economist. ... Consumption is the using up of a resource. ...

During the 1950s, Structural-functionalism blurred the study of institutions. They were more concerned about the variability of the modernization process across countries and about prescribing and generalizing at the systemic level rather than acknowleging the different paths that development can take. (i.e. Almod and Verba, The Civic Culture). This article is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ... Modernization is closely aodieasde linked to classical liberalism. ... Development has meaning in several contexts: Science and Engineering Biological development of embryos in the context of developmental biology Child development (physical emphasis) or post-natal human development (pediatrics, etc) Software engineering, the methodology and process of development of computer software Technology development in industry, as in Software development New...

The new institutionalism begins with the works of Samuel Huntington, Political Order in Changing Societies; Barrington Moore's, Social Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy , and more specifically Theda Skocpol’s, States and Social Revolutions: A Comparative Analysis of France, Russia & China. These worth-reading books spawned the new research program. Samuel Phillips Huntington (born April 18, 1927) is a political scientist known for his analysis of the relationship between the military and the civil government, his investigation of coup detats, and his thesis that the central political actors of the 21st century will be civilizations rather than nation-states. ... Barrington Moore Jr. ... Theda Skocpol (born May 4, 1947 in Detroit, Michigan) is a sociologist and political scientist at Harvard University, presently serving as Dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. ...

As stated above, before HI arrived, institutions were only treated as the formal rules of behavior (i.e. the law). In contrast, historical institutionalism has loosened the definition of institutions. In this new approach, institutions can take the shape of a formal bureaucratic structure but also an ideology or an informal costume. The significance of this change of approach is that historical institutionalism denies that power and history have only one source as past approaches (i.e. the State) and has given agency to all kinds of social groups and behaviors (i.e. In "Weapons of the Weak" James Scott acknowleges the power of "gossip" in political life.) In empasizing the participation of all kind of groups, not just elites or the state, historical institutionalism offers a dynamic apprach to history.

Moreover, HI avoids prescription. On the contrary, since historical institutionalism is interested in the richness and different paths that a revolution or an economic reform can take given that different groups participate in each case, they are sensitive to the diferences that can occur when following a particular politcal design (i.e. democracy). In that sense, it also avoids the teleological determinism of past approaches. For historical institutionalism, the actors both determined by and are producers of history. It has been suggested that Revolutionary be merged into this article or section. ...

The treatment of history

The concept that history moves forward and that there is a progression in time that leads from point A to point B, can be traced back to Hegel and Marx. However, historical institutionalists have revolutionized the way in which history is analyzed. They do not believe in the linearity of history as Hegel, Marx and others did. Instead, they choose to specify the conditions in which a particular trajectory in time was followed and not others. Thus, specifying the paths not taken is as important as specifying the actual trajectory of history. Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (August 27, 1770 - November 14, 1831) was a German philosopher born in Stuttgart, Württemberg, in present-day southwest Germany. ... Marx is a common German surname. ...

As opposed to the old institutionalists, they accept the fact that history will not necessarily lead to a "happy" outcome (i.e. "communism or democracy as the end of history)". Communism refers to a conjectured future classless, stateless social organization based upon common ownership of the means of production, and can be classified as a branch of the broader socialist movement. ...

The most basic concept with which historical institutionalist work is with the concept of path dependence. Theda Scokpol and Paul Pierson write that path dependence does not have yet a clear definition, but can express the idea that “outcomes at a ‘critical juncture’ trigger feedback mechanisms [negative or positive] that reinforce the recurrence of a particular pattern into the future.” In their view, the significance of path dependence is that: Path-dependence exists when the outcome of a process depends on its past history, on the entire sequence of decisions made by agents and resulting outcomes, and not just on contemporary conditions. ...

"once actors have ventured far down a particular path, they are likely to find it very difficult to reverse course…The “path not taken” or the political alternatives that were once quite plausible may become irretrievably lost. ‘Path dependence analysis’ highlights the role of what Arthur Stinchcombe has termed ‘historical causation’ in which dynamics triggered by an event or process at one point in time reproduce themselves, even in the absence of the recurrence of the original event or process". (Skocpol and Pierson, 2002: 665-6)

Some problems

Historical institutionalism is not a unified intellectual enterprise (see also new institutionalism). Some scholars are oriented towards treating history as the outcome of rational and purposeful behavior based on the idea of equilibrium (see rational choice). They rely heavily on quantitative approaches. Others, more qualitative oriented scholars, reject the idea of rationality and instead emphisize the idea that randomness and accidents matter in political and social outcomes. (see Steinmo 2001). There are unsolvable epistemological differences between both approaches (see Bates et.al., 1998). However given the historicity of both approaches, and given their focus on institutions, both can fall under "historical institutionalism" . New institutionalism is a social theory that focuses on developing a sociological view of institutions, the way they interact and the effects of institutions on society. ... Rational choice theory is a way of looking at deliberations between a number of potential courses of action, in which rationality of one form or another is used either to decide which course of action would be the best to take, or to predict which course of action actually will... This article or section should include material from Episteme Epistemology (from the Greek words episteme=science and logos=word/speech) is the branch of philosophy that deals with the nature, origin and scope of knowledge. ...

• It could be said that path dependence claims causality because every juncture must be considered causal to further developments. (i.e. Z couldn’t occur without W, X and Y) In that sense, it is more deterministic than statistical analysis because at the latter acknowledge only probabilistic relations among variables. “Correlation is not causation”.

• Path dependence, in the economic sense, is also subjective because it involves the judgment of the researcher in determining which historical conjuncutres had an effect on the outcome why others don’t (selecting on the dependent variable). The subjectivity becomes accentuated because one can claim that the smallest historical even can shape the larger outcomes. (E.g. A man got drunk, the next morning he was involved in manufacturing 20 rifles that were sent to the same regiment and the rifles didn’t aim right and the battle was lost and then the war). Where should we trace the causal thread? How much history is needed?

• HI, on the qualitative side, implies a lot of research and the results may not be satisfactory. It is not clear that focusing on multiple equilibrium one can have a more clear picture in explaining the world. In that sense, it sacrifices elegance for richness. Richness in turn can also lead to impressionist assumptions (e.g. Skowroneck in comparing different presidencies across time considering only some structural similarities and not others)

Major figures and great books with an institutionalist approach (alphabetical)

• Perry Anderson- Lineages of the Absolutist State

• Robert Bates- States and Markets in Tropical Africa

• Reinhard Bendix- Nation Building and Citizenship: Studies of our Changing Social Order

• Suzanne Berger- Peasants Against Politics

• Peter B Evans- Embedded Autonomy

• Alexander Gerschenkron- Economic Backwardness in Historical Perspective

• Samuel Huntington- Political Order in Changing Societies

• Chalmers Johnson- Peasant Nationalism and Communist Power

• Kenneth Jowitt- New World (Dis)order

• Peter Katzenstein- Norms and National Security

• Robert Keohane- Power and Interdependence

• Atul Kohli- The State and Development in the Third World

• Stephen Krasner- Sovereignty: Organized Hypocrisy

• Margaret Levi- Consent, Dissent and Patriotism

• Arend Lijphart- Democracy in Plural Societies

• Juan Linz- Totalitarian and Authoritarian Regimes

• Gregory Luebbert- Liberalism Fascism and Social Democracy

• Ian Lustick- Unsettled States, Disputed Lands

• Joel Migdal- Strong Societies and Weak State

• Barrington Moore- Social Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy

• Douglass North- Institutions, Institutional Change and Economic Performance

• Guillermo O'Donnell- Modernization and Bureaucratic-Authoritarianism

• Paul Pierson- Politics in Time

• Karl Polanyi- The Great Transformation

• Robert Putnam- Making Democracy Work

• Dietrich Rueschemeyer- Capitalist Development and Democracy

• James C. Scott- Seeing like a State

• Theda Skocpol- States and Social Revolution

• Sthepen Skowronek- The Politics Presidents Make

• Rogers Smith- Civic Ideals

• Katherine Thelen- How Institutions Evolve?

• Charles Tilly- Coercion, Capital, and European States, AD 990-1992

• Stephen Van Evera- Causes of War

Perry Anderson (born 1938) is a leading Marxist intellectual. ... Robert Bates is currently the Eaton Professor of the Science of Government at Harvard University. ... ASA Presidential Photo Reinhard Bendix (February 25, 1916-February 28, 1991) was an accomplished sociologist born in Berlin, Germany. ... For the English poker player, see Peter Evans. ... Alexander Gerschenkron was a Harvard economic historian trained in the Austrian School of economics. ... Samuel Phillips Huntington (born April 18, 1927) is a political scientist known for his analysis of the relationship between the military and the civil government, his investigation of coup detats, and his thesis that the central political actors of the 21st century will be civilizations rather than nation-states. ... Chalmers Johnson is a professor emeritus of the University of California, San Diego. ... Robert Keohane is a famous international relations theorist and researcher. ... Stephen Krasner is currently the Director of Policy Planning at the United States Department of State. ... Arend DEngremont Lijphart (b. ... Juan J. Linz is the Sterling Professor of Political Science at Yale University, best known for his theories on Totalitarian and Authoritarian systems of government. ... This article is being considered for deletion in accordance with Wikipedias deletion policy. ... Barrington Moore Jr. ... Douglass Cecil North (born November 5, 1920) is co-recipient of the 1993 Bank of Sweden Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel. ... Karl Paul Polanyi (Vienna October 21, 1886 - Pickering, Ontario April 23, 1964) was a Hungarian intellectual known for his opposition to traditional economic thought and his influential book The Great Transformation. ... Robert David Putnam (born January 9, 1941 in Rochester, New York) is a political scientist and professor at Harvard Universitys Kennedy School of Government, well-known for his writings on civic engagement, civil society, and social capital, a concept of which he is probably the leading exponent. ... James C. Scott is Sterling Professor of Political Science at Yale University. ... Theda Skocpol (born May 4, 1947 in Detroit, Michigan) is a sociologist and political scientist at Harvard University, presently serving as Dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. ... Charles Tilly (born 1929) is a well known sociologist who has written a large number of books on the relationship between politics, economics and society. ... Stephen Van Evera is a prominent scholar of International Relations. ...

References

• Theda Skocpol, "Why I am a Historical-Institutionalist," Polity 28 (Fall 1995): 103-6

• Theda Skocpol and Paul Pearson, “Historical Institutionalism in Contemporary Political Science”, pp. 693-721 in Political Science: State of the Discipline, edited by Ira Katznelson and Helen V. Milner. New York: W.W. Norton, 2002.

• S. Steinmo, K. Thelen,and F. Longstreth, eds., Structuring Politics: Historical Institutionalism in Comparative Analysis, (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1992)

• Adam Przeworski, “Institutions Matter?” Government and Opposition 39, 4 (September 2004): 527-4

• Bates, Robert et al. Analytic Narratives, Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

• Sven Steinmo, "The New Institutionalism" in Barry Clark and Joe Foweraker, eds., The Encyclopedia of Democratic Thought, London: Routlege, (July, 2001)