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John L. Campbell, Institutional Change and Globalization. Princeton University Press, 2004, 247 pages.
Since the 1970s, the concept of "new institutionalism" has spread through the social sciences. This umbrella concept, however, should not hide the diversity of approaches with which scholars seek to analyze institutional change and inertia. It is common to distinguish between three main streams of institutionalist research: rational choice, historical, and organizational (or sociological) institutionalisms (e.g. Hall and Taylor, 1996). A partial challenge to the neoclassical model, rational choice institutionalism is more common in economics than in the other social science disciplines. Yet, well-known sociologists (e.g. Raymond Boudon, James Coleman) have long contributed to the rational choice literature. Furthermore, in the United States, prominent political scientists (e.g. Margaret Levy) have embraced this broad micro-analytical perspective exploring the impact of institutional constraints and incentives on the behaviour of strategic actors. Especially well known in political science, historical institutionalism stresses the structuring role of institutional legacies and formal political institutions in policy-making. Authors like Ann Orloff and Theda Sckocpol belong to this macro-analytical and historical perspective. Finally, organizational institutionalism emphasizes the role of shared ideas, norms, and values in the construction of organizational behaviour and institutional legitimacy. Sometimes known as sociological institutionalism, this approach is more prominent in sociology than in political science or in economics. Frank Dobbin and Paul DiMaggio are among the best known figures of this stream of institutionalist research.
In his book Institutional Change and Globalization, sociologist John L. Campbell argues that the three institutionalisms address similar theoretical questions, and that bridging these theoretical streams is necessary to shed new light on institutional change. Although the author is not the first to initiate a dialogue between the three institutionalisms (i.e. Hall and Taylor,...