Institutionalism in International Relations - Historical Institutionalism

Historical Institutionalism

The historical institutionalism school believes that institutional factors account for differences in cross-national political outcomes. There are two elements:

1. Institutions could shape actor preferences by structuring incentives, redistributing power, and by influencing the cultural context.
2. History is "path dependent." Choices or events early in the process can force a path from which it becomes increasingly difficult to deviate.

Theda Skocpol's work illustrates an example of historical institutionalism. Responses to the Great Depression of the 1930s differed greatly between Sweden and the United Kingdom, which had similar problems in terms of severity and duration. The two countries responded with vastly different policies due to differences in existing domestic institutional structures.