Work

Recasting Institutionalism: Institutional Analysis and Public Policy

Year: 2012

Type: article

Abstract: In its rational, organisational, historical and discursive varieties, the new institutionalism research agenda is arguably the most successful paradigm in comparative politics and public policy analysis. However, neo-institutional practice applied to comparative policy analysis reveals four pitfalls, that is, ‘institutional determinism’, ‘drop in the box’, ‘second best residual explanations’ and ‘theoretical conjectures without foundational mechanisms’. We illustrate and examine the pitfalls and consider the conceptual and methodological implications for the comparative analysis of policies. In the conclusion, we present options for rescuing institutional analysis from bad practice.

Source: European Political Science

DOI: 10.1057/eps.2012.1

Authors: Claudio M Radaelli, Bruno Dente, Samuele Dossi

Institutions: University of Exeter, Politecnico di Milano

Language: English

Topic: Political Science Research and Education

Subfield: Political Science and International Relations

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDG: Peace, justice, and strong institutions

Open Access status: bronze

Funders: Universitetet i Agder, FP7 Ideas: European Research Council