CPO 3930 Exam 1 Study Guide Institutions Rules that govern social interactions Structure preferences govern protocol for implementation of collective decisions Old Institutionalism Emphasis on the description formal rules documentation of procedures rather than the explanation or theory building The intellectual reaction to the Old Institutionalism in the mid 1900 s Placed emphasis on political behavior Disadvantages Comparisons are difficult overly legalistic and sociological Behavioral Revolution Moving beyond mere description Wider variety of date Focus on casual explanation Characterize and identify limitations Rational Choice Institutionalism Objective is to devise a model of human behavior Unit of analysis is individual actors o Snapshot Make assumptions that actors are rational in respect to preferences Arose from the study of the US Congress Individuals act intentionally and do the best they can with what they have with the uncertainty of others Assumes individuals work to maximum utility aka well being Deductive Approach o Theory hypothesis observation confirmation refute o Limitations too many assumptions utility is almost impossible to measure because it occurs within an individuals mind We are NOT all rational beings We don t always maximize payoff We do things out of habit emotion etc RCI and Structured Institutions RCI has been most successful in structured institutions 1 2 Preferences and motivations can be specified with some precision Individuals are a natural object of study a Ex Constituents get re elected 3 Individuals operate in structured environments a Ex restrictions on re election norms for job advancements 4 Outcomes clearly implied by configuration of rules a Ex 60 of Senate to break a filibuster 5 Payoffs and utility are easy to infer a Ex Congress members seeking office are going to work to please voters 6 Possibility of agency problems point to easy opportunity to change assumptions regarding actors preferences Historical Institutionalism Inductive Objective is to understand the process by which institutions are created how they evolve and how those changes influence members goals actions preferences and collective culture Involves the ENTIRE institution How an institution changes over time Inductive Approach o Observation pattern hypothesis theory Path Dependence What happened in the past s consequential to the future Enduring effect of random occurrences Critical Junctures Critical moment that determines the future o Ex many fundamental caused of WWI but the assassination of Franz Ferdinand caused it ultimately occur We don t know if WWI would have happened had Ferdinand Limitations not been killed Less attention to how institutions affect behavior Less careful about identifying the precise causal chain Does not provide obvious opportunity for the generation of falsifiable hypotheses Limits generalizability Considers everything at once RCI vs HI RCI founded on abstraction analytical rigor simplification and insistence on clean lines of analysis HI Dense empirical description and inductive reasoning Normative describing or relating to a standard or social norm Empirical knowledge or information that is gained by observing or experimenting outcome via different routes down Exogenous taken as given outside the model external Endogenous inside the model individual internal Equifinality the possibility that two casual processes will arrive at the same Parchment Institutions the formal rules regulations and protocol are written Example syllabus neither necessary nor sufficient just the act of writing them down does not prove they will work Utility maximum of contentment aka actors top preference Expected Utility what the actor expects to gain from making a decision Preferences wants desires motivations Can be determined through inherent instincts of survival reproduction Self interested people pursue things they regard as important o A persons conception of their self is reflected in their preferences Preferences must satisfy two criteria o Complete Preferences Preferences are comparable in actors mind Ex NOT comparing blue to apple o Transitive Preferences Ordering of preferences principle Ordering preferences and knowing which one is the best for them Rationality wants and beliefs that affect their behavior Adopted as an analytical assumption in order to connect purposeful actors to their actions A rational person is one who combines their beliefs about their external environment and preferences about things in that environment in a consistent manner Assumptions trying to figure out what someone might do External Environment the idea that individuals operate in an external Inherent hunches and intuitions about the individuals character environment is one of the assumptions of rationality it implies everything other than the actor Maximizing Behavior individuals with sufficient sense to choose their top Constraints institution Incentives EXOGENOUS to the model preference when given the chance Individuals seek some goal and aim to do the best they can to achieve it Coordination Games and institutions They highlight o Multiple equilibria are possible o Moving across equilibria o The institutional origins and change contentious o Institutions communicate to come up mutually help expectations o Two Insights The paths between equilibria in coordination games may be lumpy Nature of coordination implies that the relationship between causal factors and outcomes are often nonlinear Choice of institutions is about power AND efficiency Coordination with Conflict when both players prefer to partake in an activity with the other person rather than doing the activity alone they coordinate but what they each want to do differs Methodological Individualism RCI approach Theory about social phenomena that shows how the relationship between society and individuals The individual is the basic unit of analysis Taken as fundamental that the individual have beliefs and preferences cognition and motivation MI and Institutions o Rational choice institutionalism aims to devise a model of the human behavior MI is used because its unit of analysis is individual actors Beliefs what you think about the world based on culture experiences etc Uncertainty people are unsure about how their choices will influence the outcome Table 4 1 in Shepsle pg 58 this deals with a cyclical majority Cyclical Majority it violates transitivity one of the components needed for preferences Condorcet s