Since the signing of the Treaty of Paris in 1951, the European Union has emerged from a limited economic confederation to a supranational federal polity. There is, however, little work based in federal theory that seeks to understand the European Union as a federation nor the process by which that was achieved. Federal theory gives us two means of understanding federal government – federalism as techne and as telos. Federalism as techne informs us of the institutions and structures involved in federal governance. Federalism as telos provides the ideas, norms and values of federalism. Thus it is possible to speak of the federal idea (telos) and the institutions that embody it (techne).The process of federalisation of the European Union has seen the separation of these strands. Federal ideas do not necessarily lead to federal governance regimes; federal governance outcomes are not necessarily based on federal ideas. The European Union has adopted, over time, federal governance structures due to pragmatic concerns with institutional efficiency, bargain implementation, defection from agreement, and the equality of member states. The institutions created by the member states have themselves contributed to the federalisation process. Rarely has the federalisation process moved forward due to a belief in the value of federation itself.

In this study, I examine the New Institutionalist Economic History (NIEH) of Douglass C. North from a historiographical and philosophical perspective. As a point of departure for this purpose I take North’s critical engagement with the primitivism-modernism debate in premodern economic history, as represented in his early work by the ‘challenge of Karl Polanyi’. This challenge, I argue, has given shape to the development of the NIEH in its various stages of theoretical elaboration. Therefore, understanding its contextual significance is indispensable for making sense of North’s oeuvre as a whole. On my reading, North interpreted the challenge of Polanyi to mean combining two methodological conceptions previously not united in one work. On the one hand, North’s NIEH extends the scope of economic theory to the study of the longue durée of economic history; while on the other hand North seeks to theorize the importance of historical variation in sociocultural institutions for understanding why there are rarely complete or well-functioning markets in most of economic history. North considers neoclassical economics suitable for neither of these purposes. Yet his critique of Polanyi’s substantivist-primitivist approach is primarily based on the absence of an integration of his project with the tools of economic theory. For this purpose, North therefore adopted the theory of transaction cost economics, also called New Institutional Economics (NIE), to this new ambitious end. More than perhaps any other author North has been responsible for extending the scope and sophistication of this economics based approach in the study of economic history. In the present work, I discuss to what extent this approach has been successful in its own aims, internally consistent, and to what extent it is plausible as a historiographical approach from an ‘external’ point of view. I do this by combining a close reading and interpretation of a variety of North’s writings, focusing in particular on the most contemporary version of his work - which has not been much studied - with a methodological and theoretical discussion of various major themes in or aspects of his work from the viewpoints of historiography, anthropology, and philosophy of social science. These themes include (among others) North’s understanding of the functioning of markets in politics and economics, his approach to choice theory, rationality, and game theory, his use or neglect of evolutionary concepts, the meaning of embeddedness in his work, and North’s contractarian anthropology. As this work shows, North’s NIEH is situated in a difficult intermediate position within larger debates in economic thought: between primitivism and modernism, between substantivism and formalism (in the anthropological sense), and most significantly, between the ‘new mainstream’ of economic theory and the quest for successive endogenisation of the institutional context of economic behavior. This certainly speaks for the ambition and sophistication of North’s historiographical approach, something which has only increased with the further development of his theory. But in his quest to unite the best insights of choice theory with New Institutionalist economics as well as incorporating the ‘anthropological’ level of fully socialized beliefs, preferences, and how they give rise to institutional variation in history, North frequently seeks to have his cake and eat it. The persistent methodological ambiguities in his work give rise to problems of internal consistency and external plausibility, which are present from the very inauguration of his NIEH research programme. The subsequent development of his work has not, I argue, been able to overcome this fundamental problem. For this reason, while much of North’s toolset and his overarching ambitions are valuable developments in economic historical theory, he does not achieve his aim of overcoming the challenge of Karl Polanyi. Without a more decisive break with his original economic microfoundations, North’s NIEH project cannot ultimately live up to its grand ambitions.

This study has been partly inspired by the fact that historical narratives on the evolution of the South African Electricity Supply Industry (ESI), have for the most part focused on the national vertically integrated utility, Eskom; with far less attention being paid to the role that the municipal electricity undertakings (MEU's) have, and continue to, play. Indeed, this is somewhat surprising if one considers that MEU's began operating more than 20 years before Eskom's 1923 formation; and perhaps this lack of focus on MEU's is compounded by Eskom's operational crisis from 2006 (threatening its ongoing viability), which has overshadowed the perilous situation that MEU's have found themselves in. The research thus has two objectives. The first is to provide a detailed historical account of the role of MEU's and their contribution to the country's ESI from their genesis; while demonstrating the linkages between Eskom, MEU's and the three tiers of government. The second then examines how from the formation of the Union (1910), two fundamental but diametrically opposing objectives continue to prevail: 1) An over-burdened, financially ‘self-sufficient', local government, whose limited scope to collect revenue means electricity surpluses must be maximised to cross-subsidise its operations; and, 2) A vertically integrated utility, mandated to generate electricity at the lowest unit price, so as to provide the energy intensive economy with a competitive advantage. These contradictions, which have endured for many decades, reached fever pitch in the last 20 years, contributing significantly to the demise of ESI reforms initiated in 2000 and abandoned in 2010. Simultaneously, they have worsened the crisis of local government, which is constitutionally mandated to deliver basic services to its constituents, whose failure to do so, in many instances now threatens national government legitimacy at the most fundamental level. Within this context, the research, (based on the premise that history and institutions matter), employs the theoretical framework of new institutionalism, as applied through the lens of historical institutionalism (HI). Here, application of HI's core tenets revolves around identifying and explaining the critical junctures which create path dependency and institutional lock-in, while also accounting for incremental change which undoubtedly exists over a 120-year period. However, the unjust social and economic history of the country, where political decisions (pre and post-apartheid) have had a disproportional impact on state entities, requires closer scrutiny. For this, a detailed conceptual framework is employed to disentangle the complex relationship that has developed between the three tiers of government and their respective interacting powers. Ultimately, in delivering a detailed historiography of municipal electricity supply, the research posits that the ESI requires deeper fundamental reform than envisaged in 2000; and that most importantly, this must take cognisance of the extent to which MEU's are embedded within local government. This, the research believes, will increase the likelihood of local government participation and acceptance; perhaps pointing to an as yet unexplored path forward out of the South African ESI's current quandary.

This research draws on New Institutionalist theory as interpreted by Fligstein and McAdam (2012) to explore the relationship between structure and agency within one nonprofit organization, Appalshop, located in Central Appalachia. Since 1969, Appalshop has worked with peer institutions to form a larger community cultural development (CCD) field, characterized by actors that value the potential of art and cultural activities to create space for individual and collective imagining and reimagining of communities. Through an exploration of archival documents and interviews with 18 current and former Appalshop staff, I analyzed the organization's 50-year evolution. I identified ways in which Appalshop has operated in the midst of different enabling and inhibiting structural forces, how its staff has sought to assert agency by contesting or circumventing those extant forces, and how the ensuing tensions have shaped the organization's approach to social change. During its evolution, Appalshop can be seen as having gone through four different stages characterized by changing national policy and culture as well as the actions of different generations of Appalshop staff. In order to withstand the growth of neoliberalism, changing technology and regional socioeconomic circumstance, Appalshop staff have had to adapt the organization's modus operandi to one that is more region facing and service based. / Doctor of Philosophy / Appalshop is a community cultural development organization located in central Appalachia. Community cultural development (CCD) is characterized by actors that value the potential of art and cultural activities to create space for individual and collective reimagining of communities. Founded in 1969, Appalshop and its staff have approached CCD in many ways, including through media production, youth education, theater and community organizing and, more recently, through community economic development. I explored Appalshop's evolution and sought to assess the ways in which this arts nonprofit has reacted to changing circumstances nationally and within its region, how those external forces have influenced the organization, and how its staff members have worked to contest forces that inhibited their organization's avowed mission and preferred activities. I used New Institutionalist theory, an analytic framework that emphasizes the need to explore the different fields of influence on any organization as well as the individual actors within that entity who, through their drive to create and perpetuate shared social meaning, may adopt or contest the narratives of external fields. I employed new institutionalism to make sense of the factors that have shaped Appalshop's trajectory as an institution to date. During its evolution, Appalshop has experienced four different stages characterized by changing national policy and culture as well as the actions of different generations of Appalshop staff. To withstand the growth of neoliberalism, changing technology and regional socioeconomic circumstances, Appalshop staff have had to adapt the organization's established modus operandi to one that is more region facing and service based.

Yes / Marital surname change is a striking example of the survival of tradition. A practice emerging from patriarchal history has become embedded in an age of de-traditionalisation and women’s emancipation. Is the tradition of women’s marital name change just some sort of inertia or drag, which will slowly disappear as modernity progresses, or does this tradition fulfil more contemporary roles? Are women and men just dupes to tradition, or alternatively do they use tradition to further their aims? We examine how different approaches - individualisation theory, new institutionalism and bricolage - might tackle these questions. This examination is set within a comparative analysis of marital surname change in Britain and Norway, using small qualitative samples. We find that while individualisation and new institutionalism offer partial explanations, bricolage offers a more adaptable viewpoint.

This study carries forward the new institutional exploration of the legal environment of organizations by examining the dynamics of legalization in the Commonwealth of Virginia Grievance Program. It extends legalization research to the public administration and policy field by exploring and describing how the legal environment of complex, public organizations serve to transform--to legalize--social processes for resolving problems and disputes. This knowledge and insight will educate and empower public administrators to better manage the political, administrative, and institutional change normatively sanctioned by the downsizing, reinvention, and re-engineering government reform movement. A phenomenological or naturalistic inquiry perspective frames the research as a methodological philosophy or research mode that focuses on what people experience and how they interpret the world. Thirty-four key informants were interviewed Statewide from three primary groups: (1) Managers and supervisors, (2) Non-supervisory personnel and grievants, and (3) Administrative hearing officers appointed by the Virginia Supreme Court. As a means of triangulation multiple data-gathering techniques were used to investigate interview data. Other sources include direct observations, official documents, and archival records. The study employs Sitkin and Bies' (1994) new institutional conceptualization of legalization as an investigatory lens to examine and report the findings. Data analysis revealed that the legalization of internal dispute resolution (IDR) in the Commonwealth tends to result in the circumvention of immediate supervisors in the formal grievance process, thereby obviating their positional authority to resolve employee grievances in a nonadversarial way. In sum, data supports the legalization literature that indicates mimicking judicially legitimate procedure in the grievance process alters the way flexibility, trust, and shared meanings govern the essence of organizational relationships and results in economic and systemic costs (loss of organizational trust and legitimacy) while resulting in little substantive justice. This study suggests that public organizations that are better adapted to their legal environments are not necessarily more effective. Thus, public administration theorists and practitioners should strive to understand how organizational forms, structural components, and legal rules (the institutional environment) transform organizational relationships (social and technical environments) in complex, public organizations. / Ph. D.

- / Inspired by Douglass North’s work on the role of institutions in economic structure and change and in particular the role of state institutions, this thesis attempts to explore the process of economic transformation through analyzing state-business community relations in the city of Kunshan, Jiangsu, China. The author uses primary data from Kunshan to demonstrate how the open-door policy of China has led to changes in the institutional environment parallel to the economic transformation. Kunshan’s institutional development is analyzed in terms of two factors. First is ‘autonomy’ as in the ability and capacity of the local state to define and pursue its own development strategy. Second is ‘embeddedness’ as in the local state developing a regular relationship with economic elites that share its goals of economic transformation. These two are seen as complementary necessities for economic transformation. This thesis shows how the local state in Kunshan has strengthened both its capacity and integrity to pursue economic transformation and the actual pursuit of it through closer and more institutionalized relations with the business community.

The Scottish Parliament which (re)convened in 1999 was designed to engender a new style of political practice. This ‘new politics’ was intended to address perceived failures within the ‘Westminster approach’ to policy‐making and the ‘democratic deficit’ believed to have emerged during the 1980s in Scotland. Key to achieving this were four principles around which the Parliament’s operations were designed: power‐sharing; accountability; accessibility and participation; and equal opportunities. Citing accessibility and participation as the ‘cornerstone’ of their work, the Parliament’s institutional architects (the Consultative Steering Group) argued that devolution should deliver a participatory democracy, with proactive efforts to be made by the Parliament to involve groups traditionally excluded from the policy process. Due to the increasing prominence in recent years of discourse relating to young people’s disillusionment with organised politics and the CSG’s recommendation that every effort should be made to include them in the new Parliament’s work, this research examines the degree to which greater accessibility to and participation in the Parliament’s work has been delivered for children and young people during the Parliament’s first two terms (1999‐2007). Findings are based upon a mixed‐methodological case‐study approach, involving an audit of the Parliament's activity and qualitative input from MSPs, Parliament staff, representatives of youth charities / organisations / advocacy groups, and young people themselves. The thesis argues that progress has been more pronounced in relation to accessibility than participation for younger people. The neoinstitutionalist theoretical framework suggests that insufficient rule specification in relation to the value of public participation and younger people has resulted in the emergence of hybridised logics of appropriate behaviour, particularly among parliamentarians. The result is the persistence of attitudes and practices which appear to reinforce aspects of Westminster practice and an adultist approach to young people’s role in politics. Drawing upon recent developments in neoinstitutionalist theories of reliable reproduction, institutional breakdown and gradual change, the thesis examines the institutional logic behind the failure to consolidate the Parliament’s founding vision.

Student Number : 0005386G - MSc research report - School of Architecture and Planning - Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment / The research recognises the IDP as an important post-apartheid planning tool that can potentially lead to integration within the City of Johannesburg. However, for the IDP to attain its mandated goals, an enabling institutional culture of the City and its units need to prevail. The gap/challenge is that the institutional culture of the City and its departments/units are shaped by Joburg 2030, a purely economic strategy that does not embrace the principles needed for attainment of IDP goals. The principles needed for successful formulation and implementation of the IDP are found in equity planning theories and New Institutionalism. These are the principles that do not form part of the Joburg 2030 vision. The solution is for the Joburg 2030 to include the planning principles as already highlighted. This solution will affect departmental practices for the better.

This thesis examines the institutional design and the procedures regulating the decree-making in the poleis of the Classical and Hellenistic periods. The main contention of this thesis is that Greek decree-making is to be conceived as the result of a multi-layered system of interaction and delegation of deliberative authority among different institutions: councils, officials, assemblies and lawcourts. My thesis argues, therefore, that decree-making procedures were specifically designed to implement the concept of 'divided power', a value shared by both democracies and non-democratic regimes, and to shape the collective behaviour of the citizens when acting as decision-makers within the institutions. By adopting models from the political sciences, my thesis bridges the gap between institutional approaches to political decision-making and more recent approaches that have stressed the role of values and ideology as key factors to understand ancient Greek politics. Chapter 1 lays out the methodology of the thesis informed by the New Historical Institutionalism. Chapter 2 analyses the practice of delegation of power from the Athenian Assembly to the Athenian Council in order to enact additional measures. The careful study of the delegation-clauses sheds light on the administrative power of the Council by demonstrating that the Council played a proper policy-making role through the enactment of a decree, which was the product of Council's expertise in defined matters, such as religious affairs, foreign policy and the navy. Chapter 3 builds on the findings of the previous chapter, and shows the workings and development of delegation-clauses to the Council in two examples from outside Athens, Mytilene and Megalopolis over the longue durée. Chapter 4 deals with the deliberative procedures of Hellenistic Sparta. The Spartan 'divided power' envisaged that the Gerousia shared the probouleutic power with the ephors who could independently submit the bill to the Assembly. The Gerousia, however, held the power of nomophylakia and could veto the final decree. This chapter shows that divided power and the need of legal stability were addressed by Spartan institutions, but with different results because of the wider powers of officials in the decree-making. This chapter introduces the important issue of the balance between people's deliberation and stability of the legal order, which form an important focus of chapters 5 and 6. Chapter 5 discusses the role played by legal procedure of the adeia in fifth-century deliberative decision-making in the Assembly. This chapter provides a new comprehensive account of this legal institution. Adeia instituted a pre-nomothetic procedure, according to which the Assembly could change an entrenched piece of legislation or decree without clashing with the nomothetic ideology. Chapter 6 examines the relationship between deliberation and judicial review in the Greek poleis. The first section discusses the Athenian graphe paranomon, the public charge against an illegal decree. A thorough analysis of the legal procedure and of the institutional design shows that deliberative decisions were made within the framework of the rule of law and the graphe paranomon enforced this principle. This did not imply an institutional prominence of the lawcourts in the Athenian decision-making. The lawcourts performed an important role in the deliberative process through providing a safeguard of legal consistency by adding the legal expertise of the judges to the general rationale of the decree-making. The second part of the chapter is dedicated to the discussion of evidence of judicial review from outside Athens and the multifaceted role of the Hellenistic practice of appointing foreign judges in adjudicating public lawsuits, and especially in the judicial review of decrees.