Dr. Henry Farrell - Institutional Evolution


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  Much of my work deals directly or indirectly with the topic of institutional evolution. I have sought to explore this topic from a variety of perspectives - rational choice, sociological and constructivist. In addition, I am co-directing a project with Neil Fligstein and Alec Stone-Sweet on institutional evolution and change, involving several highly respected scholars in political theory, political science and sociology. This project seeks specifically to encourage dialogue across perspectives and disciplinary boundaries.

Rational choice: Current work with Jack Knight, and Luigi Burroni seeks to examine the applicability of a power-based account of institutional change to industrial districts, and by extension to political economy more generally.

Sociological: Current collaborative work by Colin Crouch and I seeks to provide a more dynamic account of path dependence theory within economics, by building a bridge between path dependence and more sociologically oriented work on embeddedness.

Constructivist. My 1999 co-written article, Gregory Flynn and Henry Farrell, "Piecing Together the Democratic Peace: The CSCE, Norms, and the 'Construction' of European Security," International Organization 53,3 1999, provides a constructivist account of normative change. My current work on the Safe Harbor arrangement between the EU and US seeks to do the same for changes in state-domestic boundaries. My most recent article on the Safe Harbor arrangement employs constructivist theory to understand how hybrid institutions combining state and private actors came into being; it is forthcoming in International Organization.