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Institutionalism and the State: Founding Views Reexamined

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  • Timothy Wunder
  • Thomas Kemp

Abstract

Economists in the institutional tradition have spent a great deal of time dealing with the notions of governance and the state. Yet that school of thought has yet to develop a complete unified theory of either governance or the state. In the work Commons and Veblen we see very different levels of analysis and commentary on these issues. Both authors are recognized as founding thinkers in the Institutional school yet they differ on how they use their methods and they have differing ideas about the usefulness of the state. Still, considered together they present a fairly complete and useable set of ideas about how governance and the state work. This essay summarizes, clarifies, and somewhat expands on the views held by Commons and Veblen with the view of moving towards a clear and concise institutional theory of the state.

Suggested Citation

  • Timothy Wunder & Thomas Kemp, 2008. "Institutionalism and the State: Founding Views Reexamined," Forum for Social Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 37(1), pages 27-42, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:fosoec:v:37:y:2008:i:1:p:27-42
    DOI: 10.1007/s12143-008-9012-y
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. R. A. Gonce, 1996. "The Social Gospel, Ely, and Commons’s Initial Stage of Thought," Journal of Economic Issues, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 30(3), pages 641-665, September.
    2. J. Dennis Chasse, 1997. "John R. Commons and the Special Interest Issue: Not Really out of Date," Journal of Economic Issues, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 31(4), pages 933-950, December.
    3. Phillip Anthony O’Hara & Howard Jay Sherman, 2004. "Veblen and Sweezy on Monopoly Capital, Crises, Conflict, and the State," Journal of Economic Issues, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 38(4), pages 969-987, December.
    4. Yngve Ramstad, 2001. "John R. Commons’s Reasonable Value and the Problem of Just Price," Journal of Economic Issues, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 35(2), pages 253-277, June.
    5. Sidney Plotkin, 2007. "Thorstein Veblen and the Sabotage of Democracy," Chapters, in: Janet T. Knoedler & Robert E. Prasch & Dell P. Champlin (ed.), Thorstein Veblen and the Revival of Free Market Capitalism, chapter 9, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    6. Charles G. Leathers, 1989. "Thorstein Veblen's Theories of Governmental Failure: The Critic of Capitalism and Democracy Neglected Some Useful Insights, Hindsight Shows," American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(3), pages 293-306, July.
    7. Rick Tilman, 1984. "Dewey’s Liberalism versus Veblen’s Radicalism: A Reappraisal of the Unity of Progressive Social Thought," Journal of Economic Issues, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 18(3), pages 745-769, September.
    8. Janet Knoedler & Anne Mayhew, 1999. "Thorstein Veblen and the Engineers: A Reinterpretation," History of Political Economy, Duke University Press, vol. 31(2), pages 255-272, Summer.
    9. Thomas Kemp, 2006. "Of Transactions and Transaction Costs: Uncertainty, Policy, and the Process of law in the Thought of Commons and Williamson," Journal of Economic Issues, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 40(1), pages 45-58, March.
    10. John Dennis Chasse, 1986. "John R. Commons and the Democratic State," Journal of Economic Issues, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 20(3), pages 759-784, September.
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    Cited by:

    1. Wilfred Dolfsma, 2013. "Government Failure," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 15372.

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