How do institutions and policies change? Institutions as a mechanism of endogenous changes

Abstract

Mahoney and Thelen's model of endogenous change represented a significant contribution to the challenge posed to the research agenda on the change of institutions and public policies. However, to give it greater consistency, it is necessary (1) to incorporate punctuated ruptures and give them an institutionally endogenous explanation; (2) incorporate a positive and innovative dimension in the status quo to the action of political institutions, resulting from their state capacity and agenda power; (3) focus on agents' assets and their ability to promote political coalitions and, finally, (4) interpret layering reforms as resulting from an opportunity structure that combines high veto points with institutional spaces and degrees of discretion for negotiation between authorities and extra-state agents. A model of endogenous institutional changes under these coordinates can contribute by replacing the fluidity in the use of analytical categories by institutional mechanisms, as well as shifting the focus of studies on the political agenda, from issues to institutional processes and decisions.