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Political Science at the Edge of Chaos? The Paradigmatic Implications of Historical Institutionalism

Department of Government and Public Administration, Chinese University of Hong Kong, NT, Hong Kong; syma{at}cuhk.edu.hk

Over the past decade, historical institutionalism has emerged as one of the major research pillars of contemporary political science. However, most historical institutionalists seem to be unaware of the paradigmatic implications of this approach for political studies. The theoretical underpinnings of historical institutionalism, namely, the ideas of path dependence and the economics of increasing returns, are based on a new science called complexity science. The worldview of complexity science is largely inconsistent with the scientific foundation of current mainstream political science, namely, Newtonianism. The emergence of historical institutionalist analyses in political studies thus means serious paradigmatic challenges for the discipline.

Key Words: Complexity science • Historical institutionalism • Increasing returns • Paradigm • Path dependence

International Political Science Review, Vol. 28, No. 1, 57-78 (2007)
DOI: 10.1177/0192512107070403


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