Course Theories of Institucionalism

8/3/2019 Course Theories of Institucionalism

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Theories of Institutions and InstitutionalAnalysis

Monday 3:30-5:20Winter 2008

Condon 311

Professor Katherine [email protected]

Office hours: Thursdays 3:00-5:00

This course is designed to help introduce you to the sociological studyof institutions. Many scholars contend that the most interestingquestions in sociology today revolve around how institutions emerge,function, and influence individuals and other institutions. In addition tobeing of significant interest in and of themselves, developing a solid

understanding of institutional dynamics should enrich yourunderstanding of a wide variety of social phenomena.

The course is explicitly organized around three dominant schools ofinstitutional thought: institutions as incentive systems (originallydominant in economics); institutions as cultures (originally dominant inorganizational studies); and historical institutionalism (originallydominant in political science). While each of these schools continuesto have adherents, boundaries between them are blurring. One goal ofthe course is for you to become familiar with these the major tenets ofthese schools of thought, and to understand their theoretical and

empirical limitations.

The course is implicitly organized around a small set of key theoreticalquestions: what do we mean by institutions, where do they comefrom, what keeps them going, and how do they spread, change, andcollapse? As we proceed, we will consider major theoretical modelsthat have been used to account for these features of institutions. Asecond goal of the course is for you to be able to consider how each ofthe schools of thought addresses these life-course of institutionsquestions.

In spite of these two organizing principles, institutions are used inresearch investigating an extraordinarily broad range of substantivequestions. This poses a challenge for a general course on institutionalanalysis, since few students (or even advanced scholars) have thesubstantive expertise necessary to make full sense of arguments andevidence from so many sub-fields. While one strategy would be toconcentrate all the readings around a particular question, instead Ihave tried to select readings that give you a sense of the breadth of

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mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]


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institutional analysis without delving too deeply into any particularproblem. However, I encourage you to begin to develop thesubstantive expertise necessary to advance your own researchagenda, and I hope that the readings in this course will give you sometheoretical and analytic tools to work with.

Finally, I also hope that this course will provide a context for ambitiousempirical work that uses some type of evidence to explore interestingquestions involving institutions or institutional effects. We'll talk aboutboth data and methods throughout, with an emphasis on how toactually do research on institutions. My hope is that the course will bea setting in which you are able to make substantial progress ondeveloping an existing idea, with an eye toward writing a publishablepaper.

Course Requirements:

Two ways to engage with complex material are to write and to discuss.You will have ample opportunities to do both in this seminar.

Each week 1-2 students will be selected to lead our discussion.Discussion leaders have two tasks: to provide a briefoverview ofthe readings, and (2) to focus our discussion by posing a set ofquestions for consideration by the rest of the group. Bringing inadditional material, reanalyzing data, and connecting to issuesraised previously all tend to enhance your understanding of thereadings, the quality of the discussion, and my opinion of your

performance. I strongly encourage discussion leaders tocommunicate with the class at least three days in advance of oursession about core readings.

I encourage you to write short response memos on each weeksreadings, and to come to seminar prepared with questions andcomments. I will read and give you comments on up to three ofthese memos during the quarter, provided they are turned intome before class on the day we discuss a set of readings. You areencouraged to share any or all of your memos with others in theseminarparticularly with the discussion leaders before class; I

have found that this practice often helps identify areas ofconfusion and important lines of criticism.

In terms of formal written work, the primary requirement for thecourse is to make substantial progress on an empirical researchproject that addresses a question that falls under the broadrubric of institutional analysis. It is my belief that substantialprogress stems from regular writing on a set of related topics.

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My expectation is that you will turn in, at regular intervals, atleast three longish-memos (5-8 pages) documenting yourprogress on your project. These memos should contain someevidence of how your thinking about your research is affected bythe course, though they do not need to be explicitly driven by

the course material. At least one of these memos shouldaddress how you intend to use empirical evidence in yourproject. At the end of the quarter, you will integrate thesememos into a single, revised working paper.

o If you do not already have a relevant project underway,during the course of this quarter you could:

1. Identify and describe a research question that interestsyou;

2. Consider appropriate theoretical or analytic ways to

address your question;3. Begin securing appropriate empirical evidence relevant

to your question.

o I am very supportive of collaborative research, andencourage you to develop research projects together.Often this makes it possible to collect more data or toundertake more ambitious study designs. Please talk tome if you would like to work in a small group.

o Whether you are working on an existing project, or

beginning a new one, your first memo should describe yourprogress-to-date as well as provide a short outline ofquestions, issues, and problems that you would like toaddress during the quarter.

o Memos are due by the following dates (you are welcome toturn them in earlier):

Jan 21 (project overview)Feb 11March 3

Your final integrated working paper is due by March17.

Weekly Outline

Jan 7 Introduction and Orientation

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No assigned readings

Jan 14 What are institutions? Some preliminaryanswers

Jepperson, Ronald L. 1991. Institutions, Institutional

Effects, and Institutionalism. Chapter 6 of Powell,Walter and Paul DiMaggio, eds. The NewInstitutionalism in Organizational Analysis. University ofChicago Press.

http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/social-institutions/

Steinmo, Sven. 2001. Institutionalism. In NelsonPolsby, ed., International Encyclopcdia of the Social andBehavioral Sciences. Elsevier Science.

Immergut, Ellen. 1998. The Theoretical Core of theNew Institutionalism. Politics and Society26:5-34.

Preworski, Adam. 2004. Institutions Matter?

Government and Opposition: 527-540.

Substantive Applications

Heimer, Carole. 1999. Competing Institutions: law,medicine, and family in neonatal intensive care. Lawand Society Review. 33: 7-66

Martin, Patricia Yancey. 2004. Gender as a SocialInstitution. Social Forces. 82:1249-1273.

Additional Readings

Hall, Peter and Rosemary Taylor. 1996. PoliticalScience and the Three New Institutionalisms. PoliticalStudies 44:936-957.

Selznick, Philip. 1996. Institutionalism Old andNew. Administrative Science Quarterly, 41:

Stinchcombe, Arthur L. 1997. "On the Virtues of OldInstitutionalism."Annual Review of Sociology23: 1-18.

Schneiberg and Clemons. 2006: The Typical Toolsfor the Job: Research Strategies in InstitutionalAnalysis Sociological Theory24.

Jan 21 The institutional view from Economics:efficiency

University holiday- reschedule class

Ronald Coase. 1937. The Nature of the Firm.Economica 4: 386-405.

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http://faculty.washington.edu/stovel/jepperson.pdfhttp://faculty.washington.edu/stovel/jepperson.pdfhttp://faculty.washington.edu/stovel/jepperson.pdfhttp://faculty.washington.edu/stovel/jepperson.pdfhttp://faculty.washington.edu/stovel/jepperson.pdfhttp://faculty.washington.edu/stovel/jepperson.pdfhttp://faculty.washington.edu/stovel/jepperson.pdfhttp://faculty.washington.edu/stovel/jepperson.pdfhttp://faculty.washington.edu/stovel/jepperson.pdfhttp://faculty.washington.edu/stovel/jepperson.pdfhttp://plato.stanford.edu/entries/social-institutions/http://faculty.washington.edu/stovel/steinmo.pdfhttp://faculty.washington.edu/stovel/steinmo.pdfhttp://faculty.washington.edu/stovel/steinmo.pdfhttp://faculty.washington.edu/stovel/steinmo.pdfhttp://faculty.washington.edu/stovel/steinmo.pdfhttp://faculty.washington.edu/stovel/steinmo.pdfhttp://faculty.washington.edu/stovel/steinmo.pdfhttp://pas.sagepub.com/cgi/reprint/26/1/5http://pas.sagepub.com/cgi/reprint/26/1/5http://pas.sagepub.com/cgi/reprint/26/1/5http://pas.sagepub.com/cgi/reprint/26/1/5http://pas.sagepub.com/cgi/reprint/26/1/5http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1477-7053.2004.00134.xhttp://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1477-7053.2004.00134.xhttp://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1477-7053.2004.00134.xhttp://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1477-7053.2004.00134.xhttp://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1477-7053.2004.00134.xhttp://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0013-0427(193711)2%3A4%3A16%3C386%3ATNOTF%3E2.0.CO%3B2-Bhttp://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0013-0427(193711)2%3A4%3A16%3C386%3ATNOTF%3E2.0.CO%3B2-Bhttp://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0013-0427(193711)2%3A4%3A16%3C386%3ATNOTF%3E2.0.CO%3B2-Bhttp://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0013-0427(193711)2%3A4%3A16%3C386%3ATNOTF%3E2.0.CO%3B2-Bhttp://faculty.washington.edu/stovel/jepperson.pdfhttp://faculty.washington.edu/stovel/jepperson.pdfhttp://faculty.washington.edu/stovel/jepperson.pdfhttp://plato.stanford.edu/entries/social-institutions/http://faculty.washington.edu/stovel/steinmo.pdfhttp://faculty.washington.edu/stovel/steinmo.pdfhttp://faculty.washington.edu/stovel/steinmo.pdfhttp://pas.sagepub.com/cgi/reprint/26/1/5http://pas.sagepub.com/cgi/reprint/26/1/5http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1477-7053.2004.00134.xhttp://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1477-7053.2004.00134.xhttp://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0013-0427(193711)2%3A4%3A16%3C386%3ATNOTF%3E2.0.CO%3B2-Bhttp://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0013-0427(193711)2%3A4%3A16%3C386%3ATNOTF%3E2.0.CO%3B2-B


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Greif, Avner and David Laitin. A Theory of EndogenousInstitutional Change.American Political ScienceReview. 2004; 98:633-652.

Granovetter, Mark. 1985. Economic Action and SocialStructure: The Problem of Embeddedness American

Journal of Sociology 91:481-510. Ingram, Paul and Karen Clay. 2000. The Choice-

Within-Constraints New Institutionalism And ImplicationsFor Sociology. Annual Review of Sociology26: 535-546.

Oberschall, Anthony and Eric M. Leifer. 1986. Efficiencyand social institutions: Uses and misuses of economicreasoning in sociology.Annual Review of Sociology,12:674698.

Jan 28 Origns and Decline: Competition and efficiency

Peter Kollock. The Emergence of Trust in ExchangeStructures: An Experimental Study of Uncertainty,Commitment, and Trust. The American Journal ofSociology, Vol. 100, No. 2. (Sep., 1994), pp. 313-345.

Barzel, Yoram and Edgar Kiser. 1997. TheDevelopment And Decline Of Medieval VotingInstitutions: A Comparison Of England And France.Economic Inquiry XXXV:, 244-260

Greif, Avner, Paul Milgrom, and Barry Weingast. 1994.Coordination, Commitment, and Enforcement: TheCase of the Merchant Guild. Journal of PoliticalEconomy. 102 :745-76.

Milgrom, Paul R.; North, Douglass C., and Weingast,Barry R. The Role of Institutions in the Revival of Trade:The Medieval Law Merchant, Private Judges, and theChampagne Fairs. Economics and Politics. 1990; 2(1):1-23.

Feb 4 The institutional view from Sociology: scriptsand isomorphism

Dimaggio, Paul and Powell, Woody. 1983. The Iron

Cage Revisited: Institutional Isomorphism and CollectiveRationality in Organizational Fields.AmericanSociological Review 48: 147-160.

Meyer, John W & Rowan, Brian (1977). Institutionalizedorganizations: Formal structure as myth and ceremony.American Journal of Sociology, 83, 340-363.

Feb 11 Diffusion and change of institutions

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David Strang and John Meyer. 1993. InstitutionalConditions for Diffusion. Theory and Society22:487-511.

Clemens, Elisabeth S. and James M. Cook. 1999.Politics and Institutionalism: Explaining Durability and

Change. Annual Review of Sociology25:441-66. Walder, Andrew. 1994. The Decline of Communist

Power: Elements of a Theory of Institutional Change.Theory and Society23: 297-323.

Substantive applications

Polillo, Simone and Guillen, Mauro F. 2005.Globalization Pressures and the State: The WorldwideSpread of Central Bank Independence. AmericanJournal of Sociology, 110:1764-1802.

Rao, Hayagreeva, Monin, Philippe., and Rodolphe

Durand. 2003. Institutional Change in Toque Ville:Nouvelle Cuisine as an Identity Movement in FrenchGastronomy. American Journal of Sociology108:795-843.

Kaufman, Jason and Orlanda Patterson. 2005. Cross-National Cultural Diffusion: The Global Spread ofCricket. American Sociological Review, 70:82-110

Additional readings

John W. Meyer; John Boli; George M. Thomas;Francisco O. Ramirez. World Society and the Nation-State. The American Journal of Sociology, 103:144-181.

Alberto Palloni. Diffusion in Sociological Analysis.Pp. 67-114 in Diffu sion Processes and Fertility Transition. John Casterline, Ed. National AcademyPress.

Feb 18 The Institutional view from Political Science:historical contingency

University holiday- reschedule class

Thelan, Kathleen. 1999. Historical Institutionalism in

Comparative Politics. Annual Review of PoliticalScience. 2:369-404.

Steinmo, Sven, and Caroline Tolbert. 1998. DoInstitutions Really Matter? Taxation in industrializeddemocracies. Comparative Political Studies, 31:165-187.

Feb 25 Reproduction: path dependency and inertia

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Narrative in Historical Sociology. Sociological Methods& Research, 33:349-382.

James Mahoney, Combining Institutionalisms: LiberalReform and Critical Junctures in Central America, in IraKatznelson and Barry Weingast, eds., Preferences and

Situations: Points of Intersection Between Historical andRational Choice Institutionalism (New York: Russell SageFoundation), forthcoming.

March 10 Wrap-up and Discussion of Future Directions in IA

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Course Theories of Institucionalism

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