Historical Institutionalism and International Relations. Explaining Institutional Development in World Politics

"Historical Institutionalism and International Relations. Explaining Institutional Development in World Politics", Oxford University Press

Posted: 19 Feb 2016

See all articles by Thomas Rixen

Thomas Rixen

University of Bamberg - Department of Political Science

Lora Anne Viola

Free University of Berlin (FUB)

Michael Zürn

Freie Universität Berlin; WZB Berlin Social Science Center

Date Written: 2015

Abstract

The observation that the international institutional order has proven highly resilient in the face of exogenous shocks, while at the same time undergoing significant changes, has focused scholarly attention on questions of "institutional development" This book addresses the challenge of explaining both stability and change in international institutions. First, we show that historical institutionalism (HI), thus far relatively neglected within international relations (IR), offers a set of analytical resources and substantive insights that are particularly useful for the kinds of questions IR institutionalists are now addressing. Second, we provide a coherent conceptual framework to assess and measure institutional change and stability along the dimensions of speed, scope and depth. Third, the book's empirical chapters demonstrate how applying an HI approach to IR can improve our understanding of international institutional development and also serve to develop HI's conceptual and theoretical foundations. The chapters cover a range of institutions important to IR, including the development of European Union competition policy, the global politics of financial reform after the 2008 crisis, the institutional development of the World Health Organization, membership reforms in the League of Nations and the United Nations Security Council, and civil society access to intergovernmental organizations. The concluding chapter situates the relationship of HI to other institutionalist approaches and assesses the role of HI in future IR research.

Keywords: Institutional development; Institutional change and stability; Historical institutionalism; Speed, scope and depth of change; EU competition policy; Global financial regulation; World Health Organization (WHO); United Nations (UN); Civil society

Suggested Citation

Rixen, Thomas and Viola, Lora Anne and Zürn, Michael and Zürn, Michael, Historical Institutionalism and International Relations. Explaining Institutional Development in World Politics (2015). "Historical Institutionalism and International Relations. Explaining Institutional Development in World Politics", Oxford University Press, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2734806

Thomas Rixen (Contact Author)

University of Bamberg - Department of Political Science ( email )

Feldkirchenstrasse 21
96045 Bamberg
Germany

Lora Anne Viola

Free University of Berlin (FUB) ( email )

Van't-Hoff-Str. 8
Berlin, Berlin 14195
Germany

Michael Zürn

Freie Universität Berlin ( email )

Ihnestraße 22
Berlin, 14195
Germany

HOME PAGE: http://www.fu-berlin.de/presse/expertendienst/experten/z/zuern/index.html

WZB Berlin Social Science Center ( email )

Reichpietschufer 50
Berlin, 10785
Germany

HOME PAGE: http://www.wzb.eu/en/persons/michael-zurn

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Abstract Views
1,176
PlumX Metrics