The Evolution of Modern States: Sweden, Japan, and the United States

by Sven Steinmo

• ISBN13: 9780521145466
• ISBN10: 0521145465
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2010-07-19
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

The Evolution of Modern States is a significant contribution to the literatures on political economy, globalization, historical institutionalism, and social science methodology. The book begins with a simple question: Why do rich capitalist democracies respond so differently to the common pressures they face in the early twenty-first century? Drawing on insights from evolutionary theory, Sven Steinmo challenges the common equilibrium view of politics and economics and argues that modern political economies are best understood as complex adaptive systems. The book examines the political, social, and economic history of three different nations - Sweden, Japan, and the United States - and explains how and why these countries have evolved along such different trajectories over the past century. Bringing together social and economic history, institutionalism, and evolutionary theory, Steinmo thus provides a comprehensive explanation for differing responses to globalization as well as a new way of analyzing institutional and social change.

Table of Contents

List of Figures	p. xi
List of Tables	p. xiii
Preface: Systems within Systems	p. xv
Evolutionary Narratives	p. 1
Sweden: The Evolution of a Bumble Bee	p. 30
The Japanese Hybrid	p. 88
The United States: Strong Nation - Weak State	p. 149
ôAnd Yet It Movesö	p. 206
Works Cited	p. 235
Index	p. 259
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.