ABSTRACT
The ‘new institutionalism’, and in particular, the branch of the new institutionalism known as ‘historical institutionalism’ has not only influenced the study of West European politics, but indeed, in some respects, this approach emerged out of the study of West European politics itself. As the editors point out in the introduction to this volume, the field of West European politics in the founding days of West European Politics was very much concerned with the institutions of West European politics. In contrast to a much earlier generation’s concern with institutions in the interwar period – that termed ‘formalist’ in the field of domestic politics, and ‘idealist’ in the field of international politics – the focus of the new generation of West Europeanists was not in the main on formal political institutions, such as constitutions, but on institutions understood as the
informal rules of the game, organisational patterns of political behaviour, and organisational structures both within and outside of government. The world of West European politics also contrasted, however, with the
post-war successors to the formalists and the idealists – the behaviouralists and the realists, respectively – in several respects. First, the state was neither ignored nor treated as either a neutral arena or as just another interest group, as in the behaviouralist perspective. Nor was it reified to be viewed as a unified actor and the sole source of political activity as in the realist view. Second, the geographic range of interest was restricted considerably by comparison to the ‘grand theories’ and search for universal generalisations that had characterised comparative politics in the immediate post-war period and especially the ‘political development’ or ‘modernisation’ approach. This reduced range, with its greater respect for historical context and particularity, was also counterpoised to the enthusiasm for Marxist theory in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Thus, in place of functionalist universals of modernisation or an ineluctable logic of capitalism, the focus was on the unique and conflictual pattern of political and economic development in Western Europe, and the institutional legacies that these political crises had left in place. Consequently, the preferred methodology was one of comparative-historical analysis, and the level of theoretical generalisation was focused on the middle range, or even on the peculiarities of a single case, viewed in comparative perspective. Furthermore, the regional focus allowed sustained interdisciplinary cooperation, for example with sociology (Goldthorpe 1984) and history (Maier 1987). The following sections will detail, first, the influence that the field of West European politics has had on the new institutionalism; second, some problems that have emerged; and third, it will point to potential solutions and avenues for future research.
