Rule-making rules : an analytical framework for political institutions

Stefano Bartolini argues that, despite the growth of a large theoretical literature about institutions and institutionalism over the last thirty years, the specific nature of political institutions has been relatively neglected. Political institutions have been subsumed into the broader problems of the emergence, persistence, change and functions of all types of institutions. The author defines political institutions strictly as norms and rules of ‘conferral’, to be distinguished from norms/rules of ‘conduct’ and of ‘recognition’. They are those norms and rules that empower rulers, set limits to the capacity to ensure behavioural compliance, and define the proper means for achieving such compliance. This book draws logical and empirical consequences from this understanding, to distinguish different types of norms/rules, and to specify the peculiarities of those norms/rules that are ‘political’. The book will appeal to researchers of political institutions in comparative politics, and in political science and political sociology more broadly.-- Introduction: Institutions and Political Science -- Part I On Institutions 1 The Origins of Institutions 1.1 Hunting and Early Normative Orientation 1.2 Homo sapiens and Symbolic Cognition 1.3 Agriculture 1.4 Reciprocal Altruism 1.5 Punishment and Strong Reciprocity 1.6 From Strong Reciprocity to Morality 1.7 Complex Normative Structures and Early Political Institutions 1.8 Conclusion 2 Approaches to Institutions 2.1 Deontic Realities 2.2 Behavioural Regularities 2.3 Games and Equilibria 2.4 Cognitive Templates 2.5 Institutions as Organisations 2.6 A Note on Historical Neo-institutionalism 2.7 Conclusion 3 A Framework for Institutional Analysis and a Typology of Institutions 3.1 The Dimensions of Institutional Analysis 3.2 Types of Institutions 3.3 Types of Normativity: Norms and Rules 3.4 Norms and Rules: Orthograde or Contro-grade Change 3.5 A Vade Mecum -- Part II On Political Institutions 4 What Political Institutions Are 4.1 A Theoretical Definition 4.2 Producing Behavioural Compliance through Commands 4.3 Norms/Rules of Conduct, Recognition and Conferral 4.4 Concentrating/Sharing Political Power in Analytical Terms 4.5 Concentrating/Sharing Political Power in Historical Terms 5 Meso-institutions: Political Institutes 5.1 Political ‘Institutes’ 5.2 Selection Norms/Rules 5.3 Responsibility Norms/Rules 5.4 Inclusion/Exclusion Norms/Rules 5.5 Representation Norms/Rules 5.6 Decision Norms/Rules 5.7 Competence Norms/Rules 5.8 Accountability Norms/Rules 5.9 Delegation Norms/Rules 5.10 Redress Norms/Rules 5.11 Conclusion 6 Macro-Institutions: Territories, Constitutions and Regimes 6.1 The Territorial Institution 6.2 The Fundamental Norm 6.3 Institutional Regimes 6.4 Inter-institutional Links 6.5 A Note on Political Regimes 7 Conclusion: Specificities of Political Institutions 7.1 Primordiality 7.2 Scope 7.3 The Generative Nature of Institutions 7.4 Weak Normativity and Sanctionability 7.5 Particular Enforcement 7.6 Instability and Contestedness 7.7 Intentional ‘Inefficiency