Territorial Dynamics in Comparative-Historical Perspective

Abstract

The panel seeks to link analytic approaches grounded in historical institutionalism with studies of territorial dynamics in regionalized or federal systems. Recent works in the field of historical institutionalism and comparative historical analysis have, on the one hand, refined our understanding of path-dependent trajectories of institutions, of different modes of gradual change as well as of the concept of critical junctures and causal mechanisms that drive institutional developments (Mahoney/Thelen 2010; Pierson 2004; Capoccia/Kelemen 2007; Falleti/Lynch 2009). Federal regimes, on the other hand, are characterized by multiple layers that may have been formed at single or various points in time reflecting the specific contexts of these moments of creation. In consequence, each federal regime incorporates different logics and trajectories of institutional adaptation making territorial dynamics one of its permanent features (Broschek 2012; Benz/Broschek 2013). Applying historical institutionalist approaches to the evolution of federal regimes serves to reveal and explain the causes, internal logic and consequences of these dynamics. We welcome papers that approach the analysis of territorial dynamics from a historical institutionalist perspective. Questions guiding empirical analysis (single or comparative case studies; geographical area not specified) should include one of the following: What mechanisms are producing or reproducing territorial dynamics over time? Under which conditions does continuity develop into stability or lock-in of institutional arrangements limiting the opportunities for change? How does the timing and sequencing of reforms or change affect territorial dynamics? What role do critical junctures play for the unfolding of territorial dynamics? How can the relation between change at critical junctures and change over time be formulated conceptually?

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