Paradigms and Practice

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicolas Jabko ◽  
Sebastian Schmidt
Keyword(s):  
Political Economy ◽  
Political Science ◽  
Policy Change ◽  
Recent Literature ◽  
International Political Economy ◽  
Specific Domain ◽  
Stability And Change ◽  
Norm Change

Abstract Thomas Kuhn's concept of paradigm has long been a part of ordinary parlance in political science. Aside from its role in metatheoretical debate, scholars have enlisted the paradigm concept to explain policy change, particularly in the international political economy (IPE) literature. In this context, policy paradigms are defined primarily in ideational terms and with respect to a specific domain of policymaking. We argue that this stance overstates the ideational coherence of policymaking and runs a risk of reification. We re-evaluate the paradigm concept by drawing a link to the recent literature on norm change that emphasizes the importance of practice and process. This analysis highlights theoretical difficulties in using the paradigm concept, as the relation of ideas to practical logics elides the distinctness of paradigmatic frameworks. Without clear boundaries, paradigms lose much of their analytical purchase. While the paradigm concept initially proved useful in highlighting the role of ideas, it is time to recognize its limits in explaining stability and change in policymaking.

Comparative Political Economy

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Georg Menz
Keyword(s):  
Political Economy ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
International Political Economy ◽  
Adam Smith ◽  
Industrial Relations ◽  
Welfare States ◽  
Comparative Political Economy ◽  
Technological Parameters ◽  
Private Debt

This new and comprehensive volume invites the reader on a tour of the exciting subfield of comparative political economy. The book provides an in-depth account of the theoretical debates surrounding different models of capitalism. Tracing the origins of the field back to Adam Smith and the French Physiocrats, the development of the study of models of political-economic governance is laid out and reviewed. Comparative Political Economy (CPE) sets itself apart from International Political Economy (IPE), focusing on domestic economic and political institutions that compose in combination diverse models of political economy. Drawing on evidence from the US, the UK, France, Germany, Sweden, and Japan, the volume affords detailed coverage of the systems of industrial relations, finance, welfare states, and the economic role of the state. There is also a chapter that charts the politics of public and private debt. Much of the focus in CPE has rested on ideas, interests, and institutions, but the subfield ought to take the role of culture more seriously. This book offers suggestions for doing so. It is intended as an introduction to the field for postgraduate students, yet it also offers new insights and fresh inspiration for established scholars. The Varieties of Capitalism approach seems to have reached an impasse, but it could be rejuvenated by exploring the composite elements of different models and what makes them hang together. Rapidly changing technological parameters, new and more recent environmental challenges, demographic change, and immigration will all affect the governance of the various political economy models throughout the OECD. The final section of the book analyses how these impending challenges will reconfigure and threaten to destabilize established national systems of capitalism.

From Silos to Barns? Regional Institutions in International Political Economy

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Etel Solingen
Keyword(s):  
Political Economy ◽  
Critical Theory ◽  
Transaction Costs ◽  
Political Science ◽  
Economic Efficiency ◽  
International Political Economy ◽  
Regional Economic ◽  
Regional Institutions ◽  
Ongoing Work ◽  
The Common

The explosion of research on regional economic institutions (REI) over the last two decades has led to a richer understanding of why they emerge, what form they take, and what effects they have. This chapter argues that research on REI is not a monopoly of any particular theoretical, methodological, or epistemological approach. Ongoing work leans not merely on standard political science and economics but on sociology, psychology, and critical theory. Yet, REI studies cluster in silos more often than barns, although this chapter highlights some research programs with potential for fostering barns. Exclusive attention to power, economic efficiency, transaction costs, and transnational normative diffusion—the common analytical currency in standard accounts of REI—may conceal deeper domestic drivers underlying REI dynamics.

Development Policy

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Seung-Uk Huh ◽  
Matthew S. Winters
Keyword(s):  
Political Economy ◽  
Development Policy ◽  
International Political Economy ◽  
Review Literature ◽  
Wealthy Country ◽  
Governmental Organization ◽  
Poor Countries ◽  
Development Policies ◽  
The World

A variety of policies implemented by the wealthy countries of the world can have an impact on economic development in poor countries. We argue that the field of international political economy has underinvested in studying the determinants of non-foreign-aid policies that affect development. We review literature from a set of eight policy areas where there are identifiable development consequences and discuss the findings of the International Political Economy (IPE) literature with regard to policy origins, changes, and consequences. We find a consistent role of non-governmental organization (NGO) pressure on wealthy-country governments in bringing about pro-development policies, although we also identify instances where pro-development policies originate in domestic and strategic interests. Overall, we argue that there is significant space for additional exploration through a development lens of how policies come into being in the wealthy countries of the world.

The Political Economy of Easy Credit Policies

2016 ◽  
pp. 84
Author(s):  
Karim Azizi ◽  
Thibault Darcillon
Keyword(s):  
Political Economy ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Recent Literature ◽  
Consumer Credit ◽  
Majority Voting ◽  
The Political ◽  
Aggregate Consumption ◽  
The Past ◽  
Marginal Effects

During the past thirty years, U.S. economic growth has disproportionately benefited the richest percentiles of the American population, i.e., the top income earners. Although this phenomenon is difficult to explain from a “standard” political economy perspective (i.e., majority voting), recent literature emphasizes the role of consumer credit as a means of circumventing costly public redistribution. According to this theory, most OECD and, notably, American policymakers should have facilitated middleclass and low-income households’ access to consumer credit to cushion the effects of increased income inequality (i.e., an increased share of GDP held by top earners). Our contribution to this literature is to argue that increases in inequality (as measured by expansions in the share of GDP held by top income earners) should be associated with aggregate consumption increases. Indeed, in response to increased inequality, easy credit policies stimulate low-income and middle-class consumption, which contributes to an increased aggregate consumption level. Using a panel dataset of 20 developed OECD economies between 1980 and 2007, we show that such increases in inequality are actually associated with expansions of aggregate consumption. Finally, when computing marginal effects, we conclude that these expansions increase with the size of the financial sector.

10. Global Political Economy

2021 ◽  
pp. 223-249
Author(s):  
Stephanie Lawson
Keyword(s):  
Political Economy ◽  
Global Economy ◽  
Historical Perspective ◽  
International Political Economy ◽  
Global Politics ◽  
Traditional Role ◽  
Global Political Economy ◽  
The North ◽  
Role Of The State

This chapter offers an overview of the field of Global Political Economy (GPE)—also known as International Political Economy (IPE). It builds on themes introduced in previous chapters, including connections with theories of global politics. These are discussed from a historical perspective to enable a better appreciation of how ideas, practices, and institutions develop and interact over time. These theories arose substantially within a European context, although the extent to which these may be applied uncritically to issues of political economy in all parts of the globe must be questioned. Significant issues for GPE include trade, labour, the interaction of states and markets, the nexus between wealth and power, and the problems of development and underdevelopment in the global economy, taking particular account of the North–South gap. The chapter then discusses the twin phenomena of globalization and regionalization and the way in which these are shaping the global economy and challenging the traditional role of the state. An underlying theme of the chapter is the link between economic and political power.

U.S. Domestic Politics and International Political Economy: An Introduction to the Special Issue

2011 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 1-4 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chloe Thurston ◽  
Kathryn Bowen
Keyword(s):  
Political Economy ◽  
Domestic Politics ◽  
International Political Economy ◽  
The United States ◽  
Executive Branch ◽  
Business Strategies ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
Policy Debates ◽  
Critical Issues

The articles in this special issue of Business and Politics weigh in on the domestic political dynamics that continue to shape the international political economy, with a focus on the United States case. In this issue, Richard Carney discusses the role of New Deal–era farmers in shaping modern global financial standards, Daniel Kono analyzes the relationship between social policy and support for freer trade, and Kathleen Rehbein and Douglas Schuler examine the characteristics of business firms that are most likely to gain legislative and executive branch access in the area of trade policy. The two final articles provide insights into critical issues in ongoing policy debates. Irja Vormedal discusses the role of business strategies and “tipping points” in determining the support and failure of federal environmental regulation from 1990 through 2010, while Emily Yixuan Cao, Yong Cao, Rashmi Prasad, and Zhengping Shen argue that domestic politics continues (and will continue) to influence the character of U.S.-China exchange rate negotiations. This introduction to the special issue summarizes the contributions of these five articles and also situates them in relation to other contemporary political science debates.

Imperialism in Context

2015 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 52-93 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claude Serfati
Keyword(s):  
Political Economy ◽  
International Political Economy ◽  
Marxist Theory ◽  
Past Century ◽  
State Institutions ◽  
New Imperialism ◽  
World Economic ◽  
Corporate Elites ◽  
Relative Decline

This article examines the political economy of French imperialism from a critical Marxist perspective. It demonstrates how France has maintained a major role on the international scene, especially militarily, despite experiencing a relative decline in world economic power since the 1990s. In this regard, three features have marked the French imperial project: (1) the core role of state institutions and corporate elites in making French capitalism, and the protracted closeness of the state-capital nexus; (2) the strength of militarism in economic, political, and social realms; and (3) the consolidation of rentier interests not only in the corporate power bloc, but also at a political level. Over the past century, these three dynamics have underpinned and reinforced a particular project of empire in France – one that bears relevance to current debates on globalisation and the ‘new imperialism’. By examining these issues, this paper seeks to further develop the Marxist theory of international political economy.

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