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Political Economy

Taba Tudorel

SummaryHistorical institutionalism

Cappocia, G. and Ziblatt, The historical turn in Democratization Studies: A New

Research Agenda for Europe and Beyond,(2010)

Why comparative social scientist removed their attention from Europe?- Europe has been presumed to be unproblematic.- Europe did not present interest because of the strong background and the lack of new

insights.

In sum, because of the richness of the empirical material and importance of the topic, historysits again at center stage of the comparative study of democratization, and the question of how

democracy was stabilized in Europe has captured the imagination of a diverse group ofscholars, appearing once again to offer possible insights for democratization more broadly.

Because the rich empirical material and their quality European scholars came back to offermore insights over the subject.- Revisit the turbulent history of democratization in Europe- What prompted the initial move toward suffrage expansion beginning in 19th-century

Europe

- Methodological debates have emerged- The process of democratization in Europe is redefined

The use of history in democratization

Core theoretical and methodological dispositions:- Explain sweeping national trajectories of regime development- Downplay international factors and instead highlight the impact of domestic variables on

democracy- Class variables as determinants of regime change

Historical turn analysts should systematically analyze the historical episodes in whichdemocratic institutions were created or substantially reshaped.

The Three Pitfalls of Studying Democratization without History

1.Historical causality- analysts self-consciously address 3 common methodological challengesor pitfalls that plague ahistorical accounts of democratization.

Leads to empirical anomalies Ambiguities in important causal claims2. Methodological pitfalls:- Ignorance of- .causal heterogeneity- Not account for the possible reciprocal causality between the variables

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Political Economy

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- Misinterpretation of path dependent effects on the development of democratic institutions- Causality require the assumption of unit of homogeneityIntroduction to universal male suffrage in Europe was driven by 3 combination of causal factors:

Middle-sector democratization Elite competition Joint liberal-labor projects Underestimate the importance of actual unfolding of the strategic interaction that led to the

establishment or reshaping of the democratic institutions.3. Direction of causality between correlates of democratization (GDP per capita) anddemocratization itself.

Theoretical ambiguities will likely persist unless we make use of substantive historicalknowledge (both original research and off the shelf knowledge) of how democratic

institutions actually emerged. This helps us entangle the directionalityof our most important

empirical findings.

Hall, Taylor, Political science and the three new institutionalism (1996)

Rational Choice Institutions- Behavioral assumptions (utility maximization), strategic calculation, politics collective action

dilemmas; calculus approach for how institutions affect individuals

- Institutions creation on voluntary agreement, gains of cooperation Sociological Institution- Broadly defined institutions (symbolic, cognitive), institutions and culture shade into eachother, culture an institution itself- Cultural approach, social constructivism- Institutions change to enhance legitimacy, improve social appropriateness

Problems

Historical- Both calculus and cultural, not very sophisticated- Change: path dependence, slow in aggregating into systematic theory Rational choice- Sophisticated, highly generalizable but very simplistic image of human motivation, difficultyin establishing preferences- Underlines strategic interaction, more dynamic than historical- Change: focus on functions and benefits of institutions; cannot explain origins Sociological

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Political Economy

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- Best for non-instrumental behavior, tells about how preferences are constructed, strategieschosen

- Change: institutions by default, new ones borrow from others; misses clash for power, actionwithout agents