Institutional stability and change: two sides of the same coin¹

Abstract

The article explores the dialectic relationship between institutional stability and change. It contends that in order to understand institutional change we have to uncover the sources of institutional stability. Four reproduction mechanisms are identified in this article which stabilize institutional settings: (i) the bargaining power of the anti-change coalition; (ii) the interdependence between policy sub-fields; (iii)the costs of switching to another institutional setting; and (iv) the ability to accommodate pressure for change through minor adaptations. Each reproduction mechanism has its individual points of vulnerability. When the reproduction mechanisms lose force, institutional change is likely to come about. The article also sheds light on the difference between formal and informal change. It argues that the form that institutional change takes is influenced by the willingness of actors to bear the high costs of formal change, by the distribution of the power to enact formal change,and by the reproduction mechanism that stabilizes the original institutional setting.