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Digitalisation emerged as a central problem in global social governance in the past decade. 'Digital transformation' was expected to bring new social risks, requiring a redesign of the welfare state. This study examines the social policy responses of international actors on the digitalisation agenda in the 2010s and early 2020s. Inspired by sociological institutionalism, it shows different trajectories followed by UN agencies, the OECD and the World Bank in terms of addressing the social implications of this transformation. Despite these divergent organisational agendas, the article reveals the emergence of a new transnational policy paradigm, the 'Schumpeterian consensus', overcoming the antagonism between 'economic' and 'social' institutions from previous decades. In this paradigm, the 'Schumpeterian investment state' is seen as a mediator between the creative and destructive potential of technological change. Its social model encourages governments to invest in skills, universal social protection and flexicurity for the digital era. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous research has addressed how societal demands shape ideas about appropriate practices in physical education (PE) and the consequences for those involved and for society at large. It has also highlighted the influential role of groups and organisations, including PE teachers, in shaping PE practices. However, the significance of school leaders in driving change in PE practices has been largely overlooked, despite their crucial responsibilities in decision-making, division of labour, and resource allocation. To address this gap, this study answers the following research question: what types of institutional work do Swedish school leaders engage in as they navigate government-initiated policy? Guided by the institutional work perspective and data collected in semi-structured interviews with 13 school leaders, the thematic analysis reveals that school leaders engage in structural work, operational work, conceptual work, and relational work when navigating government-initiated policy. In more empirical terms, the results indicate that most of the power to shape the implementation process is passed on to PE teachers. This suggests that although school leaders have substantial control over strategic resources and wield other forms of power, they do not necessarily significantly influence practices and beliefs in PE. The theoretical significance of these findings lies in their ability to shed light on how changes occur and explain how such changes impact widely accepted norms, rules, and structures. In practice, knowledge of how ideas and practices guide future decisions can be used in efforts to support those working in, working with, or striving to develop PE, including decision-makers, school leaders, and PE teachers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rottenberg argued that the reassignment of negotiating rights from owners to players, that would accompany free agency in professional sports, would have little impact on locational or market outcomes. Empirical investigations into such reassignment have produced mixed results. The present paper examines the impact such reassignment had on professional sports athletes' career length. By examining the univariate time series and panel data behavior of Major League Baseball players' average tenure and retention rates, we find that the increased negotiating power associated with the advent of free agency had the impact of shortening average player career length. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gender equality and women empowerment are central to academic and policy debates on development. In the spirit of celebrating and reflecting on 75 years of research published by Public Administration and Development (PAD), this article aims to take stock of the journal's contribution to the knowledge base and practice of promoting gender equality. This article reviews research output published in PAD and identifies key themes and perspectives on gender equality and their reflection on the practical implementation of equalising policies. We use thematic analysis to review 43 relevant articles and evaluate the intellectual landscape, shedding light on the journal's contribution to gender equality research. Four broad themes are discussed along with their implications for practice and future research. We highlight the importance of not only expanding the horizons of gender equality research but also developing keen awareness reflected in the scholarship of the changing landscape of gender and the need to balance constructions of gender and the high variability of gender norms and practices in the Global South that should be taken into account when designing policies. This article concludes with recommendations and several questions that invite public administration researchers and policymakers to take this conversation and develop it further through research, education, and practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores change processes in higher music education by following the development of the Centre for Excellence in Music Performance Education (CEMPE) at the Norwegian Academy of Music (NMH) over the period 2014–2023. The following research question is addressed: How has institutional change been enabled in a higher music education context through the activities of a Centre for Excellence in Education? The theoretical framework for the inquiry is drawn from institutional theory. Applying an instrumental case study design, data were collected from twelve semi-structured interviews with staff in management roles at CEMPE/NMH and from strategic documents, such as applications, action plans, annual reports, minutes from steering group meetings, and publication lists. The findings show that change was enabled through various leadership visions for change and the friction created through centre activities. The most significant area of change is reported to be increased student agency and involvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Value capture (VC) is widely cited as a method for local authorities to provide urban public goods to their cities in the face of fiscal stress. Its application in practice however remains limited. In this article, we aim to explain the implementation process of VC as a strategy to fund public transportation infrastructure through case studies in London, New York, and Copenhagen. Adopting a theory of gradual institutional change, we argue that the implementation of VC depends on the capacity to change distributional institutions that are inherently contested. Particularly relevant is the role of the beneficiary, whose support of VC is necessary but not likely. Our results show that a strategic urban development project can act as a driver to overcome this barrier, but that this driver can, simultaneously, also hinder the institutionalization potential of a VC strategy. We therefore suggest that, for VC strategies to become more commonplace, sharing value uplifts among beneficiaries must become more commonplace too. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the rise of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) in late 2022, many scholars and thought leaders have wondered about its impact on higher education. This study used a survey methodology (three multiple choice questions and one open-ended question) to explore the perspectives of a nationally representative sample of 1,327 U.S. administrators and faculty, asking questions to understand how much change they anticipate as a result of advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) technology, how prepared their institution is for such change, and what aspects of higher education they expect to change. The researchers used Kranzberg’s Laws of Technology as a lens to interpret the findings and guide the subsequent discussion about how AI might impact higher education. The findings showed that the vast majority of participants expect that AI will change their institution over the next five years and that the majority of participants do not feel that their institution is ready for change. The comments left in response to the open-ended questions fell into one of four themes: concerns about academic integrity and rigor, issues related to AI integration (e.g., anticipated benefits, practices in teaching and learning, issues related to preparedness, and the expected scope of change), the feeling that the current AI discourse is merely hype, and feelings of uncertainty. Ultimately, AI has the potential to be both advantageous and disadvantageous to teaching and learning, with the benefits and challenges of its use varying by context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the rise of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) in late 2022, many scholars and thought leaders have wondered about its impact on higher education. This study used a survey methodology (three multiple choice questions and one open-ended question) to explore the perspectives of a nationally representative sample of 1,327 U.S. administrators and faculty, asking questions to understand how much change they anticipate as a result of advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) technology, how prepared their institution is for such change, and what aspects of higher education they expect to change. The researchers used Kranzberg’s Laws of Technology as a lens to interpret the findings and guide the subsequent discussion about how AI might impact higher education. The findings showed that the vast majority of participants expect that AI will change their institution over the next five years and that the majority of participants do not feel that their institution is ready for change. The comments left in response to the openended questions fell into one of four themes: concerns about academic integrity and rigor, issues related to AI integration (e.g., anticipated benefits, practices in teaching and learning, issues related to preparedness, and the expected scope of change), the feeling that the current AI discourse is merely hype, and feelings of uncertainty. Ultimately, AI has the potential to be both advantageous and disadvantageous to teaching and learning, with the benefits and challenges of its use varying by context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This special issue reflects one of the first systematic inquiries into the effects of revolutions on institutional change, a topic previously explored only tangentially across diverse social science domains. It fosters interdisciplinary discourse on revolutionary outcomes among economists, political scientists, sociologists, and economic historians informed by the public choice research program. The issue is divided into two parts, the first of which focuses on regime overthrow and institutional transformation and the second of which focuses on rational-choice theoretic analyses of revolution and its results. By employing analytical narratives and comparative analyses of contemporary and historical revolutions, the issue advances both theoretical and empirical understandings of revolution, revolutionary dynamics, and their implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article investigates the relationship between the coalitional structure of revolutionary movements and revolutionary outcomes. Noting the chimerical nature of revolutionary coalitions, it introduces readers to the concept of 'movement split': the moment in a revolutionary process when, once a regime is overthrown, the revolutionary coalition fractures into 'radicals', who seek further, social revolution; and 'conservatives' who are satisfied with a limited, political revolution. By means of a comparative historical analysis of the 1789 French Revolution and 2011 Egyptian Revolution, it analyses the role of coalition structure in determining revolutionary outcomes after movement split. In both cases, the distribution of mobilizing capacity between radicals and conservatives was the key factor determining whether each revolutionary movement came to pursue a 'political' or 'social' revolutionary' program. Where conservatives retained control over mobilization, advancement of the revolutionary process ended once political revolution was achieved, while when radicals retained control, a process of social revolution was undertaken. Thus, when seeking to anticipate the trajectory of change an emergent revolutionary movement is liable to undertake, it is fruitful to examine whether it is radicals or conservatives who control its principal mobilizing structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Central among a range of reforms and policy measures aimed at enhancing the quality and social cohesion of Norwegian early childhood education and care (ECEC) services is the 2017 Framework Plan for Kindergartens. In this article, we investigate the policy formation process and how framework plan reform has been carried out by public and private stakeholders at different levels. The reform is explored as institutional layering, referring to theoretical contributions that stress the role of incremental development and gradual institutional change. We ask: What are the policies added, and to what extent do added policies instigate institutional change? This article relies on qualitative document analyses, semistructured interviews, and quantitative survey data. We find high legitimacy for the framework plan in the ECEC sector, and informants broadly regard it as a continuation of earlier versions of the plan. Our analysis further shows that the implementation of the 2017 framework plan reform cannot be viewed in isolation, as it interacts with other reforms, trends, and instruments in the sector. We argue that blending reform design features with existing values and practices adds layers to Norwegian ECEC, instigating change. The analysis points to the need for further research on how national educational reforms are implemented in complex settings and to investigate the relationships between policy design and measures and between policy outcomes and ambitions. The relationships between different measures can be unclear to local implementers. Thus, we stress the importance of considering how reform outcomes depend on intertwined reforms and varying local conditions regarding capacity, norms, and values. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using a unique and novel dataset on the youth, the SAHWA Youth Survey (2016), we apply probit and ordered probit models to study the determinants of voting behaviour change among the youth in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region in the post-Arab Spring era. We find that drivers of voting vary depending on whether we consider the voting behaviour in the last elections or the likelihood of voting in the next elections. Specifically, socioeconomic variables and some Arab Spring factors are significant for both types of elections. However, institutional variables and personal beliefs only affect the likelihood of voting in the next elections. We also document heterogeneous effects for the last and next votes by gender. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article strives to find out how monetary contestation, when brought before the courts, can generate institutional change. The goal is to show if the contestation conveyed by local currencies at a specific point can be considered as a driving force via the evolution of monetary rules. This article focuses on the case of eusko—a French local currency of Basque Country. What has become the most extended French and currently European local currency was the subject to a legal conflict between the State, through the prefecture of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques, and the City of Bayonne. By using a qualitative approach by a set of semi-structured interviews, the article analyzes, helped by the theoretical framework of John R. Commons, how the dissemination of new monetary practices could be selected by judicial and political powers, respectively. Based on empirical results, and considering the Commonsian concepts of "artificial selection" and "institutionalized compromise," I conclude that the legislation changed due to this legal conflict. This change has paved the way for other French municipalities to mobilize the terms of the agreement and aim to pay part of their public expenditure in local currency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article links late Neoliberal Financialized Capitalism (NFC) with biopolitics, identity crises, and emerging death cults. It is argued that late NFC entails spreading violence in state and society, increasing premature and violent deaths in growing subcultures. Individualistic ideologies—which lower social strata now embrace as enabling myths—suggest renewed celebration of struggle for survival and death cults. From an institutionalist perspective, the regressive institutional change increases the predominance of ceremonial values and habits, which indicates a "triumph of imbecile institutions over life and culture" (Veblen, Thorstein B., The Instinct of Workmanship). Contemporary death cults convert violent dying into a consumable merchandise and a form of entertainment. We illustrate the normalization of violent death in the popular youth culture of Mexico's drug trafficking industry. Its musical genre, known as corridos sanguinarios, songs of blood, is analyzed. Our results show manifold ambivalences of contemporary death cults between social compliance and revolt, which may deepen our understanding of the socioeconomic, institutional, and political future under late NFC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global literature recognizes the interactions between endogenous and exogenous forest resource (FR) management institutions. However, a comprehensive understanding of the sources, mechanisms, and outcomes of institutional change in diverse physiographic regions is lacking. We analyzed mechanisms and outcomes of five decades of institutional change across four physiographic regions of Nepal. Data collection involved 45 key informant interviews, 37 expert interviews, and 22 focus group discussions, complemented by a review of 24 policy documents and 8 community forest (CF) management plans and reports. Through directed content analysis, we found that endogenous institutions are rooted more in customs, traditions, and social hierarchies, and formal exogenous institutions are rooted in national and international policies, which are frequently observed for commercialized forest resources. It further revealed transformational changes in forest management institutions from state-oriented to community-based management across the regions between 1976 and 2010. Critical juncture, priming-framing and puzzling-learning were key mechanisms in the middle and high mountains. In contrast, Terai's recurrent mechanisms were negative/positive feedback and patching-up. After 2010, (de)incremental changes linked to exogenous and endogenous institutions were found to align more with a global agenda (e.g., REDD+). Priming-framing, negative/positive feedback, and transposition were key institutional change mechanisms of exogenous institutions across the study sites. Economic growth and exogenous institutions played an important role in (de)incremental changes linked to endogenous institutions. Additionally, exogenous institutions produced mixed socioeconomic and positive ecological outcomes, showing regional variations. Endogenous institutions led to positive outcomes, highlighting their importance in sustainable forest management. Future research should examine power dynamics, shedding light on how local actors employ institutions and power to produce differential outcomes in CF. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper introduces a novel dataset on working-time regulation for 197 territories between 1789 and 2010 to document how working hours have become globally standardised through public policy. Descriptive analysis shows that working-time reforms are global in scope, rare events, sizable once undertaken and tend to reduce hours. Democracies were historically more likely than autocracies to regulate hours, but this is not the case now, and there has never been a large gap in the content of their regulations. Whereas independent states always regulated hours to a greater extent, over half of all dependent states just prior to decolonisation regulated hours with more generous regulations than independent states. Based on these patterns, the paper first makes a methodological plea for more long-term historical studies and, second, sketches two possible explanatory frameworks for working-time reforms. One highlights shocks to the powerbase of antiregulation coalitions; the other highlights international normative change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past decade, increasingly more colleges and universities have had to address student-initiated demands following racist incidents that occur both locally and nationally. However, the demands to address unfair conditions on campus do not necessarily result in meaningful change. To better understand how student activism facilitates administrative actions that lead to change and the extent to which social media accentuates activism, we examined student-initiated efforts to increase "diversity" at Yale University. Our study combined more than 100 documents with 5 years of social media data to identify key patterns that significantly contributed toward facilitating institutional change. The findings show that to facilitate administrative actions, student activists grew their reach, reiterated their demands over time, and activated the individuals and groups peripheral to the original demands. Their combined efforts were accentuated by the use of social media, which served to make their activism even more consequential for mediating tangible and demonstrable change at the institutional level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research Summary: This article examines whether the Affordable Care Act (ACA) health insurance reform reduced the gender gap in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) entrepreneurship. I argue that the ACA mitigated mobility constraints imposed by employer‐provided health insurance and encouraged entrepreneurship with important contingencies: effects were limited to women because of gender differences in supply‐side cost reduction and demand‐side health insurance needs and were specific to women in STEM (vs. non‐STEM) entrepreneurship because of the human and financial capital needed to navigate insurance markets. Leveraging the ACA quasi‐experiment, I find consistent evidence of a reduced gender gap in STEM entrepreneurship. Surprisingly, the effects were driven by increased STEM entrepreneurship for married women founding unincorporated businesses. Qualitative interview insights and empirical findings provide explanations for these patterns. Managerial Summary: This study examines whether the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) entrepreneurial gender gap can be reduced by institutional factors mitigating labor market mobility constraints imposed by employer‐provided work benefits. Through the lens of the US ACA reform, I find that broadened access to more affordable health insurance in the alternative individual insurance markets disproportionately encouraged female (vs. male) STEM (vs. non‐STEM) entrepreneurship, thus reducing the STEM entrepreneurial gender gap. Contrary to common assumptions, this effect is driven by married (vs. unmarried) women and is in unincorporated (vs. incorporated) self‐employment. The findings help discern which groups benefit from policy efforts to promote diversity in STEM entrepreneurship and imply that the effectiveness of employer‐provided work benefits as retention tools is dependent on various worker characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite capitalizing on many new possibilities offered by the digital revolution, our research community still remains bound by the 17th-century technology of research results reporting. Our work can progress faster and achieve greater impact within and beyond academia if we replace the one-package manuscript form, born three hundred years ago, with a full package that takes advantage of everything digital technology has to offer. However, the switch from paper-bound to digitally enabled logic will not be easy as our thinking and practices have been formed by decades of honing skills that bring success in the current conventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of International Business Studies is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In this article, the authors examine the role of labor immigration as a source of institutional change. They use a "most different systems" comparative case study analysis of the Danish and Australian construction sectors to examine the impact of increased labor migration on skill-sourcing practices in countries with distinct national skill formation and industrial relations institutions. Drawing on 73 interviews with industry stakeholders, the authors find that labor migration has produced liberalizing pressures in both Denmark and Australia, albeit in ways that differ from each other. The article contributes to comparative institutional scholarship by illustrating how labor migration can promote or support institutional change in a liberalizing direction by disincentivizing coordinated skill formation. Findings suggest that while national institutions mediate external pressures, such as labor migration, such pressures may affect the incentive structures that can either maintain or erode national institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding how cities develop climate plans is crucial to capture their potential to achieve ambitious climate goals. Previous literature has highlighted the role of external pressures or heroic actors in driving local changes. By highlighting the everyday practices of actors in urban climate planning, we reveal new sets of contradictions in climate governance. Drawing from social practice theory, this paper examines how contradictions were managed in the process of developing a new climate plan in Bergen, Norway. Through a variety of empirical sources, we explore the strategic value these offer, and the organisational work accomplished by the navigation of contradictions. We highlight three strategic benefits of negotiating contradictions: the legitimisation, expansion and signalling of climate work. In conclusion, the paper argues that considering practices of climate planning reveals novel forms of agency, namely the potential of mundane organisational processes and the pivotal role of civil servants in this work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Institutional change has been identified as inherent to social innovation proposals, especially in developing contexts. However, it is still unclear how these changes occur in the social innovation process. Therefore, our study seeks to answer the following research question: How do attempts at institutional change occur in the social innovation process in an emerging context? We use the qualitative approach to investigate two Brazilian social innovation cases striving to change the institutional environment in which they operate. Our data reveals that institutional change may be necessary before the scalability stage of the social innovation process. We suggest that this finding is related to the developing context, which requires social entrepreneurs and their teams to break institutional barriers to expand their social innovation initiatives. We have also identified some mechanisms used for the attempts to institutional changes: competition with government organisations, influence in formulating laws, and support for the market growth and the entry of new participants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Education Policy Analysis Archives / Archivos Analíticos de Políticas Educativas / Arquivos Analíticos de Políticas Educativas is the property of Educational Policy Analysis Archives & Education Review and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The institutional dynamics around digital Health Information Systems implementations are subject to influences from the technological artefacts themselves or contextual conditions from the setting. These not always obvious and easily visible, appearing intrinsically hidden, may only be made perceptible through analysing patterns across a historical timeframe. Recognizing history's potential, both as a tool and a means for enabling this analysis, we seek to build a situated understanding of the technology adoption and institutionalization processes, valuable to support future implementation efforts. This analysis is conducted as a historical study based on implementing a digital platform for public health management in Mozambique, a low- and middle-income country recovering from the aftermath of colonial rule and violent civil war. While the overall study spans twenty years since 2000, this paper focuses on the first seven years to identify institutional contradictions and how these shaped the adoption and evolution of digitally based systems processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper uses critical archival analysis, paired with textual analysis of grant descriptions, to understand how nine foundations — all with endowments derived from the student loan industry — have motivated their college completion work and the relationship between these commitments and grantmaking over time (2000–2019). Mobilizing concepts of theorization and racialized change work (RCW) to analyze the relationship between funders' deployed racial frames and their theory of change, this paper offers three primary contributions: 1) A methodological approach to analyzing philanthropic or intermediary-led reform campaigns (e.g. the college completion agenda) as a form of theorization — a core mechanism of institutional change and diffusion — inclusive of funders' racial projects; 2) Insights on the qualitative, causal pathway by which one foundation created organization-specific interest convergence that facilitated engagement in RCW, and 3) Evidence demonstrating how race-evasive theorizations, even if efficacious mechanisms for change, fail to deinstitutionalize a core mechanism of racialization: investment in deficit-minded, individual-level projects. These insights speak not only to the material differences between race-evasive and race-conscious theorizations, but also organizational pathways toward durable race-conscious commitments in higher education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What explains the exponential growth of the number of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in China during the recent decades? Moving beyond the extant literature that focuses on the strategic relationship between NGOs and the local state, this article argues that the growth can be also attributed to the central state which has focused on the promotion of different types of NGOs throughout time. The proactive role of the central state has become more conspicuous under the Xi Jinping administration where the party‐state plays a more active role in maneuvering the growth of a service‐oriented third sector. This adaptive strategy has led to the counterintuitive phenomenon of an increase in institutional space for NGOs in authoritarian China, especially the social service‐oriented NGOs in recent years. This article draws from theories of institutional change to explain the process through which the central state has expanded institutional space for NGOs throughout time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Spain has experienced a history of chronically high and intractable unemployment. The Job Guarantee has been theorized as a policy proposal that aims to produce tight full employment and enhances macroeconomic and price stability. This paper provides an overview of some of the explanations to the causes of unemployment and the performance of traditional active labor management policies. A simulation of a job guarantee programme for the historic 1999–2019 period is provided using an econometric model of the Spanish economy. In addition to eradicating unemployment, we find that the job guarantee programme attenuates the economic cycle, sustains higher real incomes, and does not compromise price stability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite research signaling the need to advance racial equity in university policies and practices, power dynamics in institutional change processes are not well understood. Using a constructivist embedded multiple case study design, critical theoretical perspective, and explanation-building technique, we analyzed how four private institutions with demonstrable change in student success and closing racial equity gaps in graduation rates enacted diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts over the last 5 years. Findings led to understanding how institutional agents synergistically used strategies in two phases: one, advocates, partnerships and coalitions, and capacity-building; second: resources, assessment, and accountability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The institutions of the environmental state are of fundamental importance to addressing environmental problems in the face of growing global crises. Yet limited attention has been given to these institutions outside wealthy, industrialised democracies. This analysis compares how environment ministries in Georgia and Armenia, two critically understudied cases, have changed since independence in 1991. Findings show that despite similar starting points, the two cases diverged significantly over time. In Georgia, the ministry formed early links with NGOs and international organisations, helping it withstand subsequent instability. By contrast, less attention was given to building these relations in Armenia, with the ministry unable to progress reforms. In line with recent advances in comparative environmental politics, these cases highlight the importance of understanding institutions within their broader political context, which as these cases demonstrate, create or restrict opportunities for engagement with non-state actors and drive cycles of reform and restructuring. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anti‐pluralist parties have come to power in democracies around the world. However, only a subset of them have induced democratic backsliding while in government, raising the question of why some anti‐pluralist governments subvert democracy while others are more reluctant. I argue that anti‐pluralist incumbents undermine democratic institutions most severely during times of weak citizen support for democracy. In such settings, anti‐pluralist parties in power face a low risk of voter punishment and public backlash. By contrast, in democracies where citizens' commitment to democratic rule is strong, the cost of attacking democratic institutions for incumbents is considerably higher, making democratic backsliding less likely. I test this theory by combining data from public opinion surveys, party systems and democratic downturns in 100 democracies and implement dynamic time‐series cross‐section models covering the period from 1990 to 2019. Consistent with expectations, periods in which anti‐pluralist parties are in government during times of weak citizen support for democracy predict episodes of democratic decline. These findings have implications for the potential of citizens to constrain anti‐pluralist incumbents in pursuing undemocratic reforms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores the experiences of academic developers engaged in creating a cross-institutional community, the Academic Development Collective (ADC). The ADC was formed to address inequities in resources for educational development across institutions in one U.S. state. Semi-structured interviews with 7 participants were used in a case study approach to examining how the ADC emerged from reacting to crises into a more proactive role addressing inequities in academic development. Findings revealed that participation in the ADC provided members with empathetic support and critical friends, and that cross-institutional collaboration enabled collective action. Members described how distributing expertise through initiatives drove systemic change, particularly in increasing equitable access to faculty development opportunities through resource-sharing. Engagement with the ADC enabled members to expand their capacities, share resources, and provide enhanced development opportunities for local faculty/staff. Recommendations include prioritizing diverse strengths, fostering collaborations beyond resource-sharing, balancing ameliorative and transformative strategies, and institutional investment in leadership and facilitation of collectives. This research illuminates how academic developers can build supportive professional communities to mitigate institutional inequities and transform existing structures through collective action. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, I first recap the major downsides of globalization which clearly inhibit the development of a more just and stable world, hence setting the stage for its transition (re-globalization). Then, I examine the changing role and influence of China in the course of globalization and its current transition by following an analytical framework of institutional change. Specifically, I describe the process where China has evolved from a selective follower/imitator of international criteria/orders to an active innovator in proposing alternatives like the Belt and Road Initiative and internationalization of the yuan to the Global South. These actions have unarguably accelerated the process of re-globalization. Nevertheless, while the initial results are positive, whether a more just and stable world could be ultimately realized will be determined by whether the compatibility of the economic culture of China with other societies could be sustained through recognition by their mass communities, and also consensus from the other world powers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From the perspective of an individual country, it is necessary to implement a series of policy measures and strategies to achieve long-term multiple goals and targets. As a result, whether adjustments or changes in institutions can be timely aligned from the short term to the long term becomes vital. Since "[p]romote sustained, inclusive, and sustainable economic growth" and "[e]nsure sustainable consumption and production patterns" have been clearly stated in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals 8 and 12, respectively, it is necessary to make an institutional transition from the conventional linear economy to a circular and sustainable economy. This transition involves substantial changes in the value structure of society's institutions. For instance, the mainstream curricula have little relevance to the subject matter of sustainability and should be revised to accommodate more socio-economic elements of sustainability in the original institutional economics (OIE) tradition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses why and how institutional change occurs, incorporating power and resources into the analysis, using the example of the relationship between the central government and local governments in Japan before and after World War II. Institutional change is not the result of "rational" choices made by the institutional designers, but the "unintended consequences" of deviant behavior of the agents under their control that deviates from the guidance of the institutional designers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We explore purposive institutional change and the role of institutional entrepreneurs in initiating and driving relational learning processes. Supplementing new institutionalist theory with an institutional learning lens and using a longitudinal set of rich qualitative interview and observation data, we investigate how institutional entrepreneurs engage in transformational work to effectuate change in dominant institutional logics, thus transforming the institutional field. We propose that institutional entrepreneurs, by skilfully utilizing discursive and material practices to catalyze reciprocal learning processes, can introduce a new institutional logic and ensure its adoption and internalization by pivotal actors and stakeholders. We illustrate these dynamics using a municipality situated in Northern Finland as an example. The municipality has successfully managed to transform its food services as part of efforts to develop more sustainable regional economies and communities. It offers a rare case of successful purposive institutional change and an interesting best practice example both nationally and internationally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research investigates the intersection of paramedicine and environmental sustainability (ES) by using mixed methods (surveys and policy analysis) to analyze organizational policy and professional beliefs. It advocates integrating ES into paramedic training and operations to reflect broader environmental values, and challenges, of a sector providing first response service delivery to climate-induced emergencies. Assessing paramedics' willingness/interest in environmental education, timing (foundational or continuing professional development/CPD and organizational policy governing accreditation and practice in Australia and New Zealand (ANZ) found growing awareness of paramedics' role in environmental stewardship. Disparity, however, exists between individual interest in ES training and its systemic exclusion in CPD policy and standards. The relevance of sociological thought, specifically Durkheimian theory, for construing ES interdependently, rather than individualistically (as predominated in the under-researched area) is advanced to promote ES reconceptualization, goal articulation and measurement. Results and practical recommendations are discussed amidst multidisciplinary literature to further emerging ES values exhibited in ANZ policy and paramedic beliefs. The article concludes systemic change is timely. Specifically, embedding ES into foundational and/or CPD training may leverage the professional interest found in the study and, importantly, ensure emergency practices promote the long-term environmental health prerequisite to supporting human health, congruent with the sector's remit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Sub-federal units in federal systems increasingly participate in international trade policy-making, a domain that historically represents an exclusive jurisdiction of the federal level. A first strand of research emphasised exogenous factors, most notably the changing scope and depth of trade agreements and social contestation, to explain this trend. This study, by contrast, contributes to more recent efforts that focus on endogenous factors to elucidate variation in terms of how and with what implications sub-federal units have entrenched themselves in trade policy governance. The paper makes two contributions. First, it introduces a new theoretical argument suggesting that ideational and institutional feedback effects can explain variation in sub-federal trade policy-making. Second, the paper tests this framework by using two contrasting cases of federalism: Canada and Germany. The study shows that in Canada intergovernmental institutions facilitating sub-federal participation in trade policy-making had to be created through layering, while in Germany existing institutions were activated through conversion. Although both patterns of institutional change have empowered sub-federal units, they differ in terms of their robustness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Employing the social aspect into the blue economy is crucial to ensure equity for communities whose livelihoods are intertwined with the ocean. One way to achieve this is by integrating local knowledge into management practices. Unfortunately, information regarding the mechanisms that influence the effectiveness of this integration remains underexplored, particularly in terms of empirical field-based evidence.. This research adopts a qualitative approach that emphasizes the exploration of case studies on the integration of local knowledge through institutional bricolage. Papadak/Hoholok is one example of this practice. We argue that institutional bricolage practices emerging from external parties are determined by the functioning of change enablers and the appropriate implementation of co-management. The research findings indicate that local knowledge struggles to function effectively due to a lack of resources and commitment from the involved parties. External parties seem more interested in the initiation process rather than collaborating over the long term to ensure the successful integration of local knowledge into management practices. Hence, the long-term commitment of involved parties should be a focal point for similar practices in the upcoming times. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article introduces repetition as a sui generis temporal pattern that is central to the politics of inclusive institutional reform. Pushed by crises or leadership changes, inclusive reform initiatives spring up in moments of high salience only to die back again and be relaunched later, in a seemingly endless cycle. Drawing from public policy, historical and feminist institutionalist scholarships and the in-depth case studies of Birmingham and Turin city governments' equalities offices, this article identifies (a) four drivers of repetition, to do with the nature of the problem, the nature of the institution, the nature of the change agents, and repetition's self-reinforcing nature, and (b) two sets of effects (sedimentation and erosion) which follow concurrent logics of increasing and decreasing returns. Understanding repetition as a specific, non-linear pattern of change eschews teleologies of hope or doom, advancing theories of institutional change and serving as a useful guide for action for equity-driven reformers. It invites other scholars to engage with a new research agenda to systematically identify alternative types of temporal sequence and study their distinct logics and effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Innovation politics impact the development and introduction of innovations, yet knowledge about the influence of specific political behavior or behavioral patterns remains blurred. Based on a literature review and the articles in this Special Issue, we propose a three‐part framework that identifies the building blocks of political behavior in innovation: what motivates actors to be political, the different types of political actors, and the effect of various political behaviors on innovation outcomes. Emphasizing the evolving landscape of innovation politics, the framework aims to highlight research gaps and guide future studies toward improving our understanding of the functional and dysfunctional aspects of innovation politics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The academic literature and policy discussions on the role that central banks and financial supervisors (CBFS) should play in the ecological transition, almost nonexistent five years ago, have since grown at an impressive pace. This has resulted in a wide range of proposals that often generate debates and even misunderstandings, for lack of a coherent analytical framework. Against this backdrop, this article provides a comprehensive overview of the different theoretical backgrounds and worldviews that inform existing proposals, and discusses the challenges and debates they generate when assessed from other perspectives. We identify three main approaches, or three "tales" of central banking and financial supervision in the face of ecological threats: (i) one that argues that CBFS should focus on assessing the (so‐called "physical" and "transition") risks that environmental issues pose to price and/or financial stability; (ii) one that places great emphasis on the ability of CBFS to help trigger systemic change, and thereby promotes proactive actions by CBFS to steer financial markets toward greening their activity beyond a risk‐based approach; (iii) one that sees CBFS transformation as necessary but part of broader institutional change that they cannot deliver on their own, thereby requiring an evolutionary perspective. Through this comprehensive literature review, this article seeks to provide a coherent framework through which future academic contributions and policy proposals can be better understood and assessed. This article is categorized under:Climate Economics > Economics and Climate ChangeClimate Economics > Economics of Mitigation [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Netherlands Climate Change Agreement aims to reduce CO2 emissions and seismic events by halting natural gas usage by 2050. This will require widespread societal acceptance by 90% of households. The study investigates the social acceptance of a district heating network (DHN) among social housing tenants in Haarlem, Netherlands. The findings of a survey administered to ninety-five tenants revealed a substantial level of support for the DHN project. A significant portion of respondents, 75%, expressed their approval for the DHN, surpassing the legally required threshold of 70% for implementing building retrofits. Findings imply that although the participants possess an adequate comprehension of the rationale for energy transition, their familiarity with the precise particulars and practical information pertaining to the proposed transition to DHN is inadequate. The level of trust in housing corporations, energy providers, and the municipality is uniformly low, indicating a lack of institutional trust. Generally, the interpersonal trust among tenants tends to be lower than their trust in the broader public, which in turn restricts their capacity for self-organization and exercising influence over energy institutions. Although DHNs are typically regarded as environmentally friendly and secure, there are several challenges that need to be addressed, including the uncertainty about who will cover the costs of transitioning and the doubts surrounding DHN feasibility (warmth and reliability). We suggest implementing interventions to improve tenants' comprehension of the DHN project's particulars (capability), provide practical information regarding costs and feasibility (motivation), and foster trust at both interpersonal and institutional levels (opportunity). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Institutional change is being called for to renew higher music education (HME). But what institutional pressures, specifically, are driving these calls, and how are HME organisations responding to pressures to change? By turning to institutional theory, we lean on the concept of institutional isomorphism to shed light on how HME organisations may be navigating pressures to appear legitimate in the field to secure organisational survival. Drawing from a comparative case study of two HME organisations from Norway and the Netherlands, in which strategic plans and interview transcripts with students and professors have been analysed, we discuss how change processes are intertwined with an organisational quest for legitimacy. The findings suggest that there are overarching pressures to change in the field of HME and that variables in the institutional environment indicate how processes of change may unfold. Finally, implications of this unveiled landscape are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Debates about the effects of covid-19 on the dynamics of food systems abounded in the last years. Initial analyses projected major changes in these dynamics due to, among other things, the digitisation of markets. Based on data collected between 2020 e 2023 by means of direct observations and 64 semi-structured interviews with farmers, rural extensionists, public officials, and community leaders in the scope of a multi-case study, and in dialogue with the sociological literature on institutional change and social construction of markets, this article analyses grassroots initiatives of market digitisation in two regions (Litoral Norte and Médio-Alto Uruguai) of the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. Findings suggest that the pandemic promoted a barred window of opportunity for social movements’ initiatives of alternative food markets. By the end of 2023, half a year after the World Health Organization declared “with great hope” an end to covid-19, it did not seem to be much hope for these initiatives. This is because neither the pandemic proved to be a “critical juncture” that opened the space for significant institutional changes, nor the challenging actors in the field were able to become “institutional entrepreneurs” of these changes.