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Political science, the 'new institutionalism', and the European Union

Q: Thus EU studies have developed lively debat about matter such as what?

Such as the agenda-setting power of the various institutions.

Q: With what do sociological institutionalists / constructivist operate?

With a quite distinct ontology (that is, an underlying conception of the world). This boils down to a very particular take on the nature of actors' interests. While rational choice and (most) historical institutionalists see interests as exogenous (external) to interaction, so sociological institutionalists see them as endogenous (internal). In other words, interests are no pre-set, but rather the product of social interactions between actors.

10 important questions on Political science, the 'new institutionalism', and the European Union

Thus EU studies have developed lively debat about matter such as what?

Such as the agenda-setting power of the various institutions.

What has been another key component of the rationalist argument?

The application of 'principal-agent analyis' to EU politics. Here, self-regarding actors ('principals') find that their preferences are best served by the delegation of certain authorative tasks to common institutions ('agents').

For their opponents, rational choice institutionalists miss the point:

Their focus on formal rules leads them to ignore the various informal processes that grow up aroud the codified practices, but it is these informalities that better explain policy outcomes. Moreover, rational choice accounts of actor preferrences tend to leave these fixed rather than recognize the ways in which processes of socialization can mould interests and identities.

In what are historical institutionalists interested?

In how institutional choices have longterm effects. Institutions are designed for particular purposes, at particular times, in particular sets of circumstances. They are assigned tasks, and in this proces acquire interests and ongoing agendas.

If institutions interact with one another in a decision-making process, then what?

Then patterns that are constitutionally prescribed or evolve in the early lifetime of the institutions concerned may 'lock-in' and also become ongoing. This lock-in means that a 'path-dependent' logic may set in.

The ongoing nature of institutional interests (their continuing bureau-shaping agendas and their preference for self-preservation), means what?

That institutions become robust and may well outlive their creators. This also means that institutions may have an impact that their creators could not have foreseen, not least because they survive to confront new circumstances and challenges. But these new challenges are met throught the prism provided by pre-existing institutions; thus the range of possible action and policy choice is constrained. Policy entrepreneurs may attempt to redesign institutions to meet current needs, but they do so in the face of institutional agendas that are locked in and which are therefore potentially difficult to reform.

What do sociological institutionalists reject?

The other institutionalisms because of their inherent 'rationalism'.

With what do sociological institutionalists / constructivist operate?

With a quite distinct ontology (that is, an underlying conception of the world). This boils down to a very particular take on the nature of actors' interests. While rational choice and (most) historical institutionalists see interests as exogenous (external) to interaction, so sociological institutionalists see them as endogenous (internal). In other words, interests are no pre-set, but rather the product of social interactions between actors.

This leads sociological institutionalists towards concern with which two broad issues?

The 'culture' of institutions; and the role of persuasion and communicative action within institutional settings. 'Institutions do not simply affect the strategic calculations of individuals, as rational choice institutionalists contend, but also their most basic preferences and very identity. '

The roles of communication, argument, and persuasion are seen as particularly important in these contexts. This is likely to occur in settings in which what?

In which norms have been established, but these deliberative processes also contribute to the establishment of common understandings.

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Political science, the 'new institutionalism', and the European Union

10 important questions on Political science, the 'new institutionalism', and the European Union

Thus EU studies have developed lively debat about matter such as what?

What has been another key component of the rationalist argument?

For their opponents, rational choice institutionalists miss the point:

In what are historical institutionalists interested?

If institutions interact with one another in a decision-making process, then what?

The ongoing nature of institutional interests (their continuing bureau-shaping agendas and their preference for self-preservation), means what?

What do sociological institutionalists reject?

With what do sociological institutionalists / constructivist operate?

This leads sociological institutionalists towards concern with which two broad issues?

The roles of communication, argument, and persuasion are seen as particularly important in these contexts. This is likely to occur in settings in which what?

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