31/Aug/2009
Brazilian Political Science Review (BPSR) is committed to the diffusion of high-work produced on topics of political science and international relations, thereby contributing to the exchange of ideas in the international political science community and the internationalization of scientific knowledge produced in Brazil.
Notice to Readers: All the datasets published by the Brazilian Political Science Review are available at: https://dataverse.harvard.edu/dataverse/bpsr
Brazilian Political Science Review (BPSR) is committed to the diffusion of high-work produced on topics of political science and international relations, thereby contributing to the exchange of ideas in the international political science community and the internationalization of scientific knowledge produced in Brazil.
Notice to Readers: All the datasets published by the Brazilian Political Science Review are available at: https://dataverse.harvard.edu/dataverse/bpsr
31/Aug/2009
DOI: 10.1590/1981-3854200900010005
Abstract This essay critically analyses how historical institutionalists and rational choice scholars study institutional stability and change. Special attention is paid to the thorny issue of how political actors’ preferences are formed, with historical institutionalists considering preferences as endogenously formed, and rational choice analysts postulating that preferences are fixed and exogenous. An argument is made in favour of the perspective that considers preferences as being formed within the functioning of the political system over time, endogenously. The essay also proposes […]
Keywords: Historical institutionalism; institutional change; Neo-institutionalism; Political preferences; Rational choice