2. The history of EU institutions:

EU institutions have frequently been reformed since the origins of what is now the European Union (EU), and particularly so over the past twenty years. This chapter explains why and how this quasi-constant change has taken place. It begins by identifying five phases in this history: the founding, consolidation, relaunch, adaptation, and the current phase of reaction to functional challenges. The chapter then assesses the respective weight of state interests, ideas, and institutions in the evolution of EU institutions. In retrospect, institutional change in the EU appears to have followed a functionalist logic, leading to complex compromises that, in turn, prompt regular calls for ‘simplification’ and democratization.

In Search of Equal Justice (al-ʿadl bis-sawiyya)

In the last century and a half, modern legal ideas and institutions have more or less found their way into traditional Muslim societies. The translation and transmission of foreign ideas, notions, and concepts into the Islamic context brought about a crisis, which has led to the evaluation of a field of discourse over modernity. The current paper seeks to explain the modifications of the legal language and concepts within the constitutional experience of the Islamic world during the 19th and 20th centuries, by reference to Reinhart Koselleck’s “space of experience” and the “horizon of expectation”. For this purpose, the essay deals with the development of the modern concept of “equality” and some related notions, such as “justice” and “fairness”, with a focus on selected source texts in Arabic, Persian, and Ottoman-Turkish.

Ideology and Institutions in the Evolution of Capital

In Capital and Ideology, Thomas Piketty poses the intriguing thesis that ideology, or ideas about how society should be governed, is a powerful determinant for how society will be governed-as long as we take advantage of historical switch points. In this review essay I challenge this thesis by pointing out that many powerful ideas have run aground because of countervailing institutional arrangements. Oftentimes, they are leftovers from earlier times that precede the change and are now strategically employed for reconstituting private wealth. Clearly, ideology and institutions are deeply intertwined. I credit Piketty for putting ideology on the map of institutionalists in history, political sciences, sociology, and law. I therefore call for more research on the interaction of ideas and institutions.

Inconceivable! Possibilistic thinking and the sociocognitive underpinnings of entrepreneurial responses to grand challenges

Due to the radical uncertainty associated with grand challenges, prior studies have emphasized the need for robust action, which preserves future options while taking existing means and institutional constraints seriously. In this conversation on entrepreneurial futures and possibilities, we suggest that for such approaches to avoid merely reproducing or incrementally improving upon existing ideas and institutions, they must be underpinned by a set of cognitive practices that encourage the systematic interrogation of existing assumptions, the surfacing of bold systemic interventions, and efforts to discourage early dismissals of such interventions based on historically grounded feasibility judgments. To encapsulate these cognitive practices, we introduce the concept of possibilistic thinking, noting how such thinking significantly reorients entrepreneurs’ attention and reasoning processes. We conclude by discussing the tensions associated with possibilistic thinking as well as opportunities for further research.

The Evolution of the “Catalan Health Model” in the Twentieth Century. Sources for its Study

This paper presents an overview of relevant sources for the study of the development of the “Catalan Health Model” during the twentieth century, and the ideas and institutions influencing its evolution. The paper indicates that it is a health system configuration where the core is public universal health assistance, complemented by the private health sector. Also, that it is the result of a dynamic traditional mixed model organization. The sources for the study of this health system are scattered in public or private archives and published reports. Due to the disruptions of war and periods of dictatorship, the model has gaps or becomes disjointed.

Bri cooperation system: General framework and development path

Since the Belt and Road Initiative was brought up in 2013, a wide variety of mechanisms and platforms under its framework have sprung up, which actively led the initiative to a deeper and more practical fashion. OECD, WEF and other mechanisms and platforms with long-accumulated experience can inspire the initiative in building its cooperation system. In order to promote the system, we need to highlight the leading, professional, practical, popularity and justice-based characteristics of those mechanisms and platforms, to connect with which advanced ideas and institutions should be integrated dynamically into the process.