This article aims to contribute to the debate on institutional change by introducing social structure as the basis for theorizing about the direction of such change. The empirical context is the long-term trends of federal institutional change in the federations of the industrialized West (Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Germany, Spain, Switzerland, and the United States). It is the authors’ contention that institutions change in order to reach a better fit with the underlying linguistic structure. The direction for institutional change in federal systems with territorially based linguistic heterogeneity is decentralizing, for homogeneous ones the direction is centralizing. The argument is based on the growing importance of language as the provider of democratic space. It is through the less formalized interest group politics that the underlying linguistic base finds its way into influencing the direction of institutional change.
Abromeit, H. ( 1992). Der verkappte Einheitsstaat [The disguised unitary state] . Opladen, Germany: Leske und Budrich .
2.
Agranoff, R., & Ramos Gallarín, J.A. (1997). Toward federal democracy in Spain: An examination of intergovernmental relations. Publius, 27(4), 1-38.
3.
Alesina, A., Devleesschauwer, A., Easterly, W., Kurlat, S., & Wacziarg, R. ( 2003). Fractionalization. Journal of Economic Growth, 8, 155-194.
4.
Almond, G.A., & Verba, S. ( 1963). The civic culture: Political attitudes and democracy in five nations. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
5.
Althusser, L. ( 1977). Lenin and philosophy and other essays (2nd ed., B. Brewster, Trans.). London: New Left Books. (Original work published 1935)
6.
Beer, S. ( 1988). Introduction. In T. Conlan (Ed.), New federalism: Intergovernmental reform from Nixon to Reagan (pp. ix-xxii). Washington, DC: Brookings Institution.
7.
Bendix, R., & Lipset, S.M. ( 1957). Political sociology: An essay. Current Sociology, 6, 79-99.
8.
Cameron, D., & Simeon, R. (in press). Negotiating language: Patterns of association in Canadian voluntary associations. Vancouver, Canada: University of British Columbia Press.
9.
Cohen, G.A. ( 1989). Base and superstructure: A reply to Hugh Collins. Oxford Journal of Legal Studies, 9, 95-100.
10.
Crouch, C. ( 2001). Breaking open black boxes: The implications for sociological theory of European integration. In A. Menon & V. Wright (Eds.), From the nation state to Europe? (pp. 195-213). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
11.
Cutler, F., & Mendelsohn, M. (2001). What kind of federalism do Canadians (outside Québec) want? Policy Options , 22(8), 23-29.
12.
Dahl, R.A. ( 1961). The behavioralist approach in political science: Epitaph for a monument to a successful protest. American Political Science Review, 55, 763-772.
13.
Dalton, R.J. ( 1996). Citizen politics: Public opinion and political parties in advanced industrial democracies, Western democracies (2nd ed.). Chatham, NJ: Chatham House .
14.
DiMaggio, P.J., & Powell, W.W. ( 1991). The iron cage revisited: Institutional isomorphism and collective rationality in organizational fields. In W. W. Powell & P. J. DiMaggio (Eds.), The new institutionalism in organizational analysis (pp. 63-82). Chicago : University of Chicago Press.
15.
Eckstein, H. ( 1966). Appendix: A theory of stable democracy. In H. Eckstein Division and cohesion in democracy. A study of Norway (pp. 225-268). Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. (Reprinted from A theory of stable democracy, Research Monograph No. 10, Princeton, NJ: Center of International Studies, Princeton University)
16.
Erk, J. ( 2004). Austria: A federation without federalism. Publius: The Journal of Federalism, 34(1), 1-20.
17.
Erk, J. ( 2005). Substate nationalism and the left-right divide: Critical junctures in the formation of nationalist labour movements in Belgium. Nations and Nationalism, 11, 551-570.
18.
Erk, J. ( 2007). Federalism as a growth industry. Publius: The Journal of Federalism, 37, 262-278.
19.
Evans, P. B., Rueschemeyer, D., & Skocpol, T. (Eds.). (1985). Bringing the state back in. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
20.
Fleiner, T. ( 2002). Recent developments of Swiss federalism. Publius, 32(2), 97-123.
21.
Fligstein, M. ( 1991). The structural transformation of American industry: An institutional account of the causes of diversification in the largest firms, 1919-1979. In W. W. Powell & P. J. DiMaggio (Eds.), The new institutionalism in organizational analysis (pp. 311-337). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
22.
Franklin, M., Mackie, T.T., Valen, H., & Bean, C. ( 1992). Electoral change: Responses to evolving social and attitudinal structures in Western countries. New York: Cambridge University Press.
23.
Friedrich, C.J. ( 1968). Trends of federalism in theory and practice. New York: Praeger.
24.
Gagnon, A.-G., & Erk, J. ( 2001). Legitimacy, effectiveness and Canadian federalism; on the benefits of ambiguity. In H. Bakvis & G. Skogstad (Eds.), Canadian federalism: Performance, effectiveness and legitimacy (pp. 317-330). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
25.
Goodin, R. ( 1996). Institutions and their design. In R. Goodin (Ed.), The theory of institutional design (pp. 1-53). Cambridge , UK: Cambridge University Press.
26.
Hawkins, R.B., Jr. ( 1982). American federalism: A new partnership for the republic . San Francisco: Institute for Contemporary Studies.
27.
Hay, C., & Wincott, D. ( 1998). Structure, agency and historical institutionalism. Political Studies, 46, 951-957.
28.
Hesse, K. ( 1962). Der unitarische Bundesstaat [The unitary federal state] . Karlsruhe, Germany: C.F.Müller .
29.
Inglehart, R. ( 1990). Culture shift in advanced industrial society. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
30.
Katzenstein, P. ( 1987). Policy and politics in Western Germany: The growth of a semi-sovereign state. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.
31.
Koelble, T. ( 1995). The new institutionalism in political science and sociology . Comparative Politics, 27, 231-243.
32.
Koja, F. ( 1975). Entwicklungstendenzen des österreichischen Föderalismus [Transformation tendencies in Austrian federalism]. St. Pölten, Austria: Niederösterreichische Juristische Gesellschaft.
33.
Krasner, S. ( 1984). Approaches to the state. Alternative conceptions and historical dynamics. Comparative Politics, 16, 223-246.
34.
Kymlicka, W. ( 2001). Politics in the vernacular: Nationalism, muticulturalism and citizenship. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
35.
Kymlicka, W., & Patten, A. (Eds.). (2003). Language rights and political theory. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
36.
Laitin, D.D. ( 1998). Towards a political science discipline: Authority patterns revisited. Comparative Political Studies, 31, 423-443.
37.
Lane, J.-E., & Ersson, S. ( 1991). Politics and society in Western Europe. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
38.
Lichbach, M.I. ( 1997). Social theory and comparative politics. In M. I. Lichbach & A. S. Zuckerman (Eds.), Comparative politics: Rationality, culture, and structure (pp. 239-276). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
39.
Lijphart, A. ( 1999). Patterns of democracy: Government forms and performance in thirty-six countries. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
40.
Livingston, W.S. ( 1952). A note on the nature of federalism. Political Science Quarterly, 67, 81-95.
41.
March, J.G., & Olsen, J.P. ( 2005). Elaborating the new institutionalism (Working paper No. 11). Retrieved January 29, 2009 , from http://www.arena.uio.no/publications/working-papers2005/papers/wp05_11.pdf
42.
Marks, G., Hooghe, L., & Schakel, A.H. ( 2008). Measuring regional authority. Regional and Federal Studies, 18, 111-121.
43.
Mayer, L. ( 1970). Federalism and party behavior in Australia and Canada . Western Political Quarterly, 23, 795-807.
44.
Mayntz, R. ( 1990). Organisierte Intressenvertretung und Föderalismus: Zur Verbandestruktur in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland [Organized interest representation and federalism: On the union structure in the Federal Republic of Germany]. In T. Ellwein, J. J. Hesse, R. Mayntz , & F. W. Scharpf (Eds.), Jahrbuch zur Staats- und Verwaltungswissenschaft (pp. 145-56). Baden-Baden, Germany: Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft.
45.
Meadwell, H. ( 2005). Institutions and political rationality. In A. Lecours (Ed.), New institutionalism: Theory and analysis (pp. 80-97). Toronto, Canada: University of Toronto Press.
46.
Meisel, J., & Lemieux, V. ( 1972). Ethnic relations in Canadian voluntary associations. Ottawa: Information Canada.
47.
North, D.C. ( 1990). Institutions and their consequences for economic performance . In K. S. Cook & M. Levi (Eds.), The limits of rationality (pp. 383-401). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Obinger, H. ( 2005). Austria: Strong parties in a weak federal polity. In H. Obinger, S. Leibfried, & F. G. Castles (Eds.), Federalism and the welfare state: New world and European experiences (pp. 181-221). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
50.
O’Leary, B. ( 2001). An iron law of nationalism and federation? A (neo-Diceyian) theory of the necessity of a federal Staatsvolk, and of consociational rescue . Nations and Nationalism, 7, 273-296.
51.
Padgett, S. ( 2000). Organizing democracy in Eastern Germany: Interest groups in post-communist society. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
52.
Pontusson, J. ( 1995). From comparative public policy to political economy: Putting political institutions in their place and taking interests seriously . Comparative Political Studies, 28, 117-147.
53.
Proudhon, P.-J. ( 1863). Du principe fédératif et de la nécessité de reconstituer le parti de la revolution [On the federal principle and the need to reconstitute the party of the revolution]. Paris : E. Dentu.
54.
Rhodes, R. A. W., Binder, S. A., & Rockman, B. A. (Eds.). (2006). The Oxford handbook of political institutions . Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
Riker, W.H. ( 1969). Six books in search of a subject or does federalism exist and does it matter? Comparative Politics, 2, 135-146.
57.
Rodden, J.A. ( 2004). Comparative federalism and decentralization. On meaning and measurement. Comparative Politics, 36, 481-500.
58.
Rodden, J.A., & Wibbels, E. ( 2002). Beyond the fiction of federalism. Macroeconomic management in multitiered systems. World Politics, 54, 494-531.
59.
Rothstein, B. ( 1998). Political institutions: An overview. In R. E. Goodin & H.-D. Klingemann (Eds.), A new handbook of political science (2nd ed., pp. 133-166). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
60.
Sartori, G. ( 1969). Sociology of politics and political sociology. In S. M. Lipset (Ed.), Politics and the social sciences (pp. 65-100). New York: Oxford University Press.
61.
Scharpf, F.W., Reissert, B., & Schnabel, F. ( 1976). Politikverflechtung: Theorie und Empirie des kooperativen Föderalismus in der Bundesrepublik [Political interconnectedness: The theory and empirics of cooperative federalism in the Federal Republic]. Kronberg, Germany: Scriptor Verlag.
62.
Schmitt, H., & Holmberg, S. ( 1995). Political parties in decline? In H.-D. Klingemann & D. Fuchs (Eds.), Citizens and the state (pp. 95-134). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
Semetko, H., Blumler, J.G., Gurevitch, M., & Weaver, D.H. ( 1991). The formation of campaign agendas: A comparative analysis of party and media roles in recent American and British Elections. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
65.
Simeon, R. ( 1977). Regionalism and Canadian political institutions. In J. P. Meekison (Ed.), Canadian federalism: Myth or reality? (3rd ed., pp. 292-304). Toronto, Canada: Methuen.
66.
Simeon, R. ( 1989). We are all Smiley’s people: Some observations on Donald Smiley and the study of federalism. In D. P. Shugarman & R. Whitaker (Eds.), Federalism and political community: Essays in honor of Donald Smiley (pp. 409-422). Peterborough, Canada: Broadview Press.
67.
Smith, M. ( 2004). Segmented networks: Linguistic practices in Canadian lesbian and gay rights organizing. Ethnicities, 4, 99-124.
68.
Steinmo, S., Thelen, K., & Longstreth, F. (Eds.). (1992 ). Structuring politics: Historical institutionalism in comparative analysis. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
69.
Streeck, W., & Thelen, K. ( 2005). Introduction: Institutional change in advanced political economies. In W. Streeck & K. Thelen (Eds.), Beyond continuity: Institutional change in advanced political economies (pp. 1-39). New York: Oxford University Press.
70.
Taylor, C.L., & Hudson, M.C. ( 1972). World handbook of political and social indicators. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
71.
Thelen, K. ( 2003). How institutions evolve. In J. Mahoney & D. Rueschemayer (Eds.), Comparative historical analysis in the social sciences (pp. 208-240). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
72.
Tomaney, J., & Pike, A. ( 2006). Deepening democracy and engaging civil society? "Economic and social partners" and devolved governance in the UK. Regional and Federal Studies, 16, 129-135.
73.
Weaver, K., & Rockman, S. (Eds.). (1993). Do institutions matter? Government capabilities in the United States and abroad. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution.
74.
Wheare, K.C. ( 1946). Federal government. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
75.
Wibbels, E. ( 2005). Federalism and the market: Intergovernmental conflict and economic reform in the developing world. Cambridge , UK: Cambridge University Press.
76.
Wibbels, E. ( 2006). Madison in Baghdad? Decentralization and federalism in comparative politics. Annual Review of Political Science, 9, 165-188.
77.
Williams, R. ( 1973). Base and superstructure in Marxist cultural theory. New Left Review, I/82, 3-23.
