Historical Institutionalism in International Relations

2011/04/01 by Orfeo Fioretos · 601 citations
Social Sciences · #Corporate governance #Discipline #Economics #Epistemology #Field (mathematics) #Historical institutionalism #Institutionalism #International Development and Aid #International relations #International relations theory #Law #Management #New institutionalism #Political Conflict and Governance #Political science #Politics #Positive economics #Social Policy and Reform Studies #Social science #Sociology

paper · doi:10.1017/s0020818311000002

published in International Organization 65(2), 367-399 (University of Cambridge)

openalex publication_date 2011/04/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/02

Abstract

Abstract This article reviews recent contributions to International Relations (IR) that engage the substantive concerns of historical institutionalism and explicitly and implicitly employ that tradition's analytical features to address fundamental questions in the study of international affairs. It explores the promise of this tradition for new research agendas in the study of international political development, including the origin of state preferences, the nature of governance gaps, and the nature of change and continuity in the international system. The article concludes that the analytical and substantive profiles of historical institutionalism can further disciplinary maturation in IR, and it proposes that the field be more open to the tripartite division of institutional theories found in other subfields of Political Science.

Citations

• The Power and Peril of International Regime Complexity
• The Politics of International Regime Complexity
• The New Institutionalism: Organizational Factors in Political Life
• Context and Causal Mechanisms in Political Analysis
• Increasing Returns, Path Dependence, and the Study of Politics
• The Rational Design of International Institutions

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