The Evolution of Modern States: Sweden, Japan, and the United States (Cambridge Studies in Comparative Politics) - Hardcover

Steinmo, Sven

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0521196701 ISBN 13: 9780521196703

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 2010

Synopsis

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.

About this title

Book Description:

The Evolution of Modern States: Sweden, Japan, and the United States examines the politics, history, and public policy of three countries in three different continents. Written from an evolutionary perspective, it shows how these countries' economic systems, social welfare policies, and political institutions have co-evolved over time to give these countries remarkably different abilities to adapt to the pressures they face in the twenty-first century. The book's wide-ranging historical analysis will be of interest to students of history, politics, and political economy.

About the Author:

Sven Steinmo holds the Chair in Public Policy and Political Economy at the European University Institute in Florence and is a Professor of Political Science at the University of Colorado at Boulder. He is also an Honorary Professor at the University of Southern Denmark and the NordWel Professor of Comparative Politics at the Institute for Future Studies in Stockholm, Sweden.

About this edition

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 0521196701
• ISBN 13: 9780521196703
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 288