T. Rixen, L. Anne Viola, Michael Zürn, ed. Historical Institutionalism and International Relations, Explaining Institutional Developments in World Politics

Abstract

Historical institutionalism, one of the important traditions employed in the discipline of comparative politics, has recently begun to be used in international relations. Historical institutionalism in international relations attributes a central role to history in the formation, change and transformation of institutions, as opposed to international institutional studies that were under the domination of rationalist theories during the Cold War and proceeding towards the rationalism-constructivism dilemma since the Cold War. However, since it is an emerging theory, historical institutionalism is often seen as a bridge between rationalist and constructivist approaches, or is attributed an auxiliary role where other theoretical approaches are not able to explain institutional developments. Taking this problem into consideration, Historical Institutionalism and International Relations aims to outline its own paradigm. The book consists of three parts, two of which are the introduction and conclusion, and the other is empirical chapters that examine change, stability and transformations of different international institutions