Historical Institutionalism and International Relations ─ Explaining Institutional Development in World Politics

This book applies the analytical approach called Historical Institutionalism (HI)- so far mostly used within comparative politics-to the field of International Relations (IR). It provides an introduction to HI concepts and makes an argument for why it is particularly well-suited for understanding current developments within international institutions. In particular, it helps us to understand the combination of change and stability that together form the dynamics of institutional development over time.

It is the first book to collect original, empirical research applying historical institutionalism to international institutions. The chapters cover a range of institutions important to IR, including the development of European Union competition policy, the global politics of financial reform after the 2008 crisis, the institutional development of the World Health Organization, membership reforms in the League of Nations and the United Nations Security Council, and civil society access to intergovernmental organizations. The concluding chapter discusses the relationship of HI to other institutionalist approaches and the role of HI in future IR research.

Thomas Rixen is Professor of Comparative Public Policy at the University of Bamberg. From 2007 to 2012 he was a research fellow at the Social Science Research Center Berlin (WZB) in the research unit "Global Governance". His research interests are comparative and international political economy, institutionalist theory and economic, financial and tax policies. He is author ofThe Political Economy of International Tax Governance (Palgrave, 2008) and has published in journals such asRegulation & Governance, Journal of Common Market Studies, Journal of Theoretical Politics, Review of International Organizations, andReview of International Political Economy.

Lora Anne Viola is Assistant Professor in the Politics Department of the John F. Kennedy Institute at the Freie Universitat Berlin. She has been a Jean Monnet Fellow at the European University Institute, a Senior Research Fellow at the Social Sciences Research Center Berlin (WZB) and a visiting scholar at Stanford and Oxford Universities. Her research focus is on international institutional design and development. She has published on the G20, changing patterns of IO governance, sovereignty and inequality in the international system, and US foreign policy.

Michael Zurn is Director of the research unit 'Global Governance' at the Berlin Social Science Center (WZB) and Professor of International Relations at the Free University of Berlin. From 2004 to 2010, he served as Founding Dean of the Hertie School of Governance. From 2002 to 2004 he was Director of the Collaborative Research Center 'Transformations of the State' at the University of Bremen. He is a member of the Berlin Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and European Academy of Sciences. His most recent publications includeBringing Sociology to International Relations (co-edited with Mathias Albert and Barry Buzan, 2013, CUP) and i Rule of Law Dynamics (co-edited with Andre Noelkamper and Randy Peerenboom, 2013, CUP), and he has published in numerous journals such asInternational Organization, World Politics, Journal of Public Philosophy,European Journal of International Relations and International Studies Quarterly.