How Institutions Evolve: The Political Economy of Skills in Germany, Britain, the United States, and Japan (Cambridge Studies in Comparative Politics)

by Kathleen Thelen

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Kathleen Thelen explains the historical origins of important cross-national differences in four countries (Germany, Britain, the United States and Japan), and also provides a theory of institutional change over time. The latter is considered a frontier issue in institutionalist analysis, of which there are several varieties emerging from economics, political science, and sociology. Thelen's study contributes to the literature on the political economy of the developed democracies that focuses on different institutional arrangements defining distinctive models of capitalism.

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Cutting Edge Institutionalism, 2006-02-12
How Institutions Evolve is widely considered one of the most important recent contributions to the institutionalist literature. It received the Woodrow Wilson award, the most prestigious book award of the American Political Science Association.

Thelen is concerned with the interplay between continuity and change in institutions. Focusing on vocational training, she demonstrates the persistence of country specific patterns of vocational training through periods of dramatic political change. In an extended treatment of the German case she demonstrates how, in spite of this continuity, the function of vocational training in Germany has dramatically changed over the years. While created against the opposition of organized labor at the end of the 19th century, it gradually changed into an importan pillar of union power in Germany's political economy.
Her argument is directed mainly against the 'punctuated equilibrium' approach to institutional change, which views institutions as stable until a major 'critical juncture' changes them entirely.

Though 'vocational training' may not strike most readers as the most exciting of subjects, Thelen's focused theoretical lense, as well as the historical depth of her treatment make this book a good, at times fascinating, read. It is sure to become required reading for all students and scholars of political institutions.

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