The Theory of Political Institutions

(Provisional Syllabus)

Seminar, 1st term 2018-2019

Organised by Stefano Bartolini

Please register online

Contact: Adele Battistini

Description
First, the seminar discusses the ‘pan-institutionalism’ that spread through several social science
disciplines in the last four/three decades. It is claimed that the general theories of institutions mainly
refer to economic and sociological institutions and economic and sociological approaches to institutions.
Admittedly, theoretical contributions from political science have been modest and very often derivative.
The second core question is then whether ‘political institutions’ are like ‘other’ institutions and whether a
theory of ‘political institutions’ can be derived from this sociological/economic literature and by the
varieties of ‘institutionalism’. The second part of the seminar engages in the attempt to delineate a
specific theory of ‘political institutions’.

Therefore, the core questions of the seminar concern what is an ‘institution’ and what is not an
institution; the distinction between social, economic and political institutions; the merits of the
‘institutionalist’ approaches; the risks and the fate of ‘pan-institutionalism’; the possibility and the
character of a specific theory of ‘political institutions’

In the first part, the review of the relevant literature is framed by an introduction of the professor and
the participant(s) in charge of the session and followed by the debate of the session’s main issue. Due to
the paucity of literature, the second part of the seminar will be mainly based on the professor
introduction of specific topics in the syllabus followed by in depth discussion of the whole seminar.

Audience
The seminar is devoted to first and second year researchers, but everybody is welcome.

Requirements
This seminar is worth 20 credits.
Requirements will depend to a certain extent from the number of participants. By choosing to take this
class participants take on the obligation to reading all the materials. Over the course of the seminar
participants must submit at least one 1000-word response papers to the readings for a given session and
post that paper on the course website at noon on the day before class. These response papers are
fundamental for the holding of a good discussion of the materials.
Schedule
The seminar takes place on Mondays 14-16h. The full list of the seminar sessions is the following:

Session 1: Monday 8 October Seminar Room 4

Session 2: Monday 15 October Seminar Room 4
Session 3: Monday 22 October Seminar Room 4
Session 4: Monday 29 October Teatro
Session 5: Monday 5 November Seminar Room 4
Session 6: Monday 12 November Seminar Room 4
Session 7: Monday 19 November Seminar Room 4
Session 8: Monday 26 November Seminar Room 4
Session 9: Monday 3 December Seminar Room 4
Session 10: Monday 10 December Seminar Room 4

SYLLABUS

1. What is an institution?
Hudgson, G. M. (2006), ‘What are Institutions’, Journal of Economic Issues, 40(1): 1-25.

Searle, J. R. (2005), ‘What is an institution?’, Journal of Institutional Economics, 1: 1-22.

2. Varieties of Institutions: Social institutions

Parsons, T. (1934), ‘Prolegomena to a theory of Social Institutions’, American Sociological Review, 55(3):
319-333.

March, J. G., Olsen, J. P. (1989), Rediscovering Institutions. The Organizational Basis of Politics, New York,
The Free Press, pp. 21-67.

Olstrom, E. (1990), Governing the Commons: the Evolution of Institutions for Collective Action, Cambridge,
Cambridge University Press, Ch. 1 and 2.

Powell, W. W., and P. J. DiMaggio (1991), “Introduction”, in The New Institutionalism in Organizational
Analysis, Powell, W. W., and P. J. DiMaggio (eds.), Chicago, University of Chicago Press, pp. 1-38.

Jones, T. (2006), ‘“We Always Have a Beer after the Meeting”: How Norms, Customs, Conventions, and
the Like Explain Behavior’, Philosophy of the Social Sciences, 36(3): 251-75.

3. Varieties of Institutions: Economic institutions and the economics of institutions

Coase, R. (1937), ‘The Nature of the Firm’, Economica, New Series, 4(16): 386-405.

North, D. (1991), ‘Institutions’, Journal of Economic Perspectives, 5(1): 97-112.

Williamson, O. (2000), ‘The New Institutional Economics: Taking Stock, Looking Ahead’, Journal of
Economic Literature, 38: 595-613.

Aoki, M., “Institutional Evolution as Punctuated Equilibria”, in Ménard, C. (ed.) (2000), Institutions,
Contracts and Organizations, Cheltenham (UK), Edward Elgar, pp. 11-33.

Hodgson, G. (1998), ‘The Approach of Institutional Economics’, Journal of Economic Literature, 36(1): 166-
192.
4. What about ‘Political’ institutions?

Moe, T. M. (1990), ‘Political Institutions: The Neglected Side of the Story’, Journal of Law, Economics, and
Organization, 6: 213-253.

Rothstein, B., (1996), “Political Institutions: An Overview”, in Goodin, R. E., and H. D. Klingemann (eds), A
New Handbook of Political Science, Oxford, Oxford University Press, pp. 133-166.

Blondel, J. (2006), “About Institutions, Mainly, but not exclusively, Political”, in Rhodes, R. A. W., S. A.
Binder and B. A. Rockman (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Political Institutions, Oxford, Oxford University
Press, pp. 716-730.

Mantzavinos, C. (2001), Individuals, Institutions, and Markets, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press,
pp. 131-158.

5. Political Institutions as games

Riker, W. H. (1980), ‘Implications from the Disequilibrium of Majority Rule for the Study of Institutions’,
American Political Science Review, 74(2): 432-444.

Shepsle, K. A. (1986), “Institutional Equilibrium and Equilibrium Institutions”, in Weisberg, H., The Science
of Politics, New York, Agathon, pp. 51-82.

Greif, A., and C. Kinston (2011), “Institutions: Rules or Equilibria?”, in Schofield, N., and G. Caballero
(eds.), Political Economy of Institutions, Democracy and Voting, Berlin-Heidelberg, Springer-Verlag, pp.
13-43.

6. Political Science Institutionalism

Thelen, K., and S. Steinmo (1992), “Historical Institutionalism in Comparative Politics”, in Steinmo, S., K.
Thelen and F. Longstreth (eds.) (1992), Structuring Politics. Historical Institutionalism in Comparative
Analysis, Cambridge New York: Cambridge University Press, pp.1-31.

Hall, P. A., and R. C. R. Taylor (1996), ‘Political Science and the Three New Institutionalisms’, Political
Studies, 44: 936-957.

7. The confusions of ‘pan-institutionalism’: key questions and a simplified framework.

- The origins of ‘political institutions’: an elusive debate?

- The vertical stretching problem: ‘Principles’, ‘Institutions’ and ‘rules’
- Political institutions as ‘policy institutions’ versus ‘non-policy institutions’
- Can political institutions be defined functionally?
- Can political institutions be defined as ‘behavioral regularities’, as ‘games’, as?
- Can political institutions be considered ‘endogenous’ and ‘efficient’?
- What is the difference between ‘organizations’ and ‘institutions, and namely between ‘political
organizations’ and ‘political institutions’?
- Do institutions ‘constitute’ actors?
- Are political institutions stable and persistent?
- Formal and informal political institutions?
- A simplified framework.

Scott Richard W. (2008, 3rd edition), Institutions and Organizations: Ideas and Interests, Thousand Oaks,
New Delhi, London, Singapore: Sage Publications, pp. ……..
Khalil, E. (1995), ‘Organizations versus Institutions’ , Journal of Institutional and Theoretical
Economics/Zeitscrift fur die gesamte Staatswissenschaft, 151(3): 445-466.

Pierson, P. (2000), ‘The Limits of Design: Explaining Institutional Origins and Change’, Governance, 13(4):
475-499.

Helmke, G., and S. Levitsky (2004), ‘Informal Institutions and Comparative Politics: A Research Agenda’,
Perspectives on Politics, 2(4): 725-740.

Lewis O. and S. Steinmo (2102), ‘How institutions Evolve: Evolutionary Theory and Institutional Change’,
Polity, 44:314-339.

8. Definition of ‘political institutions’:

- The problem of behavioural compliance generation
- Institutions as internal ordering, as external ordering, and as interaction ordering.
- Political institution as ‘generating’ institutions
- Scope of political institutions

9/10. The specificities of political institutions

Internal ordering institutions:
Rules:
- 1) Nomination rules and selectorates
- 2) Organizational tasks rules
- 3) Information access rules
- 4) Decision rules (hierarchy, voting, negotiations)
- (Common to all organizations, associations, etc.)

External ordering institutions (distribution and protection of entitlements)

Rules:
- 5) Rules of inclusion /exclusion (who is a member, citizenship)
- 6) Rules of delegation
- 7) Competence rules
- 8) Distribution rules
- 9) Enforcement rules
- 10) Sanctioning rules

Inter-institutional rules (relation with other institutional orders)

Rules:
- 12) Accountability rules
- 13) Countervailing power rules (chief versus sorcerer, pope versus emperor, council of the elder
versus …parliaments versus constitutional courts. Etc.
- 14) Stabilization (anti-disequilibrium) rules (the president of the republic dissolving the
parliament; the impeachment of the president, the conflict regulation among regions and states,
etc.)

Last updated 06.07.2018