Rethinking Political Institutions - by Ian Shapiro & Stephen Skowronek & Daniel Galvin

Book Synopsis

Institutions shape every dimension of politics. This volume collects original essays on how such institutions are formed, operated, and changed, both in theory and in practice. Ranging across formal institutions of government such as legislatures, courts, and bureaucracies and intermediary institutions such as labor unions and party systems, the contributors show how these instruments of control give shape to the state, articulate its relationships, and express its legitimacy. Rethinking Political Institutions captures the state of the art in the study of the art of the state.
Drawing on some of the leading scholars in the field, this volume includes essays on issues of social power, public policy and programs, judicial review, and cross-national institutions. Rethinking Political Institutions is an essential addition to the debate on the significance of political institutions, in light of democracy, social change and power.
Contributors: Elisabeth S. Clemens, Jon Elster, John Ferejohn, Terry M. Moe, Claus Offe, Paul Pierson, Ulrich K. Preuss, Rogers M. Smith, Kathleen Thelen, Mark Tushnet, R. Kent Weaver, Margaret Weir, Keith E. Whittington

Review Quotes

"A timely book...instrumental in focusing the attention and work of feminist sociologists on Durkheim and Weber."-"Sex Roles",

"An enlightening book by a sociological insider."-"Feminist Bookstore News",

"Sydie unequivocally establishes how the idea that woman is to nature what man is to culture has been the singular theme underscoring each of the schools of sociological theory...Useful as a text in teaching social theory as well as feminist sociology, this work also brings us up-to-date on the questions confronting feminist theory in sociology today."-"Sociological Inquiry",