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Ideas and Social Policy
Since the beginning of the 1980s, historical institutionalism has emerged as one of the most
influential theoretical perspectives in political sociology and policy studies. This is especially true in
the field of social policy research, where students of welfare state politics have frequently cited and
debated the contributions of Paul Pierson (1994) and Theda Skocpol (1992), among others.
Historical institutionalism is based on the assumption that a historically constructed set of
institutional constraints and policy feedbacks structure the behavior of political actors and interest
groups during the policymaking process (Immergut, 1998). Although stimulating and insightful,
most institutional scholars tend to relegate policy ideas to the back of their theoretical constructions
dealing with welfare state politics.
1
In a recent review of the U.S. literature on social policy, for
example, institutionalist scholar Edwin Amenta and his collaborators do not even mention the
possible role of ideas in social policy reform (Amenta, Bonastia, and Caren, 2001). This lack of
interest in the role of ideas is problematic because paying equal attention to ideas and institutions is
necessary for the analysis of policy change (Lieberman, 2002).
2
Yet stating such a general truth is not
sufficient to address the theoretical limitations of historical institutionalism: researchers should put
together a coherent model aimed at understanding the specific role of ideas while acknowledging the
impact of formal political institutions.
The main objective of this paper is to explore in a detailed manner the theoretical tools that
may help institutionalist researchers and other social scientists better understand how and when ideas
matter in welfare state politics.
3
Although this paper deals specifically with social policy issues, it
could also be useful to scholars studying other policy areas. Yet the following contribution does not
oppose ideational approaches and institutional ones. Instead, it shows that the careful study of ideas
is compatible with historical institutionalism’s basic assumptions concerning political structures.
This study would only improve the theoretical effectiveness of historical institutionalism, as paying
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