Comparative Political Economy: States, Markets and Global Capitalism, 2nd Edition

This is a book about how 21st-century capitalism really works. Modern economics strips away social, historical, and political context from analysis of 'the economic', but the economy is far too important to leave exclusively to the economists. Comparative Political Economy (CPE) is a much broader, richer intellectual undertaking which 're-embeds' the analysis of the economic within the social and political realm. This is at the heart of how to think like a political economist. This text maps the terrain and evolution of CPE, providing the analytical tools to explore the many variants of capitalism, unearthing their roots in competing visions of the desirable distribution of the fruits of growth. Connecting CPE systematically to the subfield of International Political Economy (IPE), the book explains how these visions generate ongoing political struggles over how to regulate and manage capitalism. This is the perfect introduction to the field for all students of CPE and IPE. New to this Edition: - Fully revised and updated throughout to take into account the latest empirical and theoretical developments in this fast-moving field - A brand New chapter on the political economy of inequality, populism, Trump & Brexit - New expanded 'how to use this book' aimed at student readers - More coverage of the types of economies covered, to move from an exclusively Western focus to cover developing and emerging global economies Contents Tables List of Figures and Tables List of Boxes List of Abbreviations Acknowledgements for the First Edition Acknowledgements for the Second Edition How to Use This Book 1: Introduction: The Focus and Rationale of the Book History never ends ... The aims of the book What is political economy? What is comparative political economy? Comparative political economy and the global dimension The rationale, organization and focus of the book 2: Comparative Political Economy: Lineages from Classical Political Economy, Linkages to International Political Economy Introduction Disciplinary politics and classical political economy Why is the history of political economy so important for contemporary comparative political economy? Comparative political economy: the core insights Core insight 1: state/market relations Core insight 2: markets as politically constructed, not natural Core insight 3: economy embedded in social and political context Core insight 4: capitalism as a dynamic, not static, social order Comparative political economy: linkages to international political economy Conclusion: conceptions of the market, disciplinarity and political economy 3: Capitalism and Classical Political Economy Introduction Classical political economy and capitalism Adam Smith and classical liberal political economy The conception of capitalist market relations The individual and society The international order Economic nationalist political economy The conception of the capitalist market The individual and society The international order Marxian political economy Conception of the capitalist market The individual and society within the capitalist social order The international order Conclusion 4: Disciplinary Politics and the Genealogy of Comparative Political Economy Introduction Disciplinary politics To generalize or not to generalize? The origins of the rift in political economy The debate on method in political economy: the German Historical School The debate on method in political economy: Marx and historical materialism The debate on method in political economy: marginalist political economy The Methodenstreit and comparative political economy Comparative political economy after the Methodenstreit Comparative political economy and debates over the role of the state in the economy: Keynes, Hayek and Polanyi Keynes Hayek Polanyi DISCIPLINARY POLITICS, (COMPARATIVE) POLITICAL ECONOMY AND GENDER Conclusion 5: Interest-Based Analysis and Comparative Political Economy Introduction Using interests to explain outcomes: Marxism, corporatism, corporate governance and trade policy coalitions What is ‘rational choice’? Rational choice and environmental degradation: Hardin’s tragedy of the commons Public choice theory Mancur Olson: the political economy of interest groups Public choice, rent seeking and state/market relations Reformulated rationalism: rethinking interest-based comparative political economy Conclusion 6: Institutional Analysis and Comparative Political Economy Introduction The argument: capitalism, political economy and institutions Institutionalisms, path dependency and comparative capitalisms Individuals and the institutional and social context: determinist temptations The functionalist temptation and institutional complementarity Institutional analysis and political economic change Historical institutionalism revisited: ideational institutionalism Institutionalism and capitalist convergence Conclusion: institutions and capitalism 7: Ideational Analysis and Comparative Political Economy Introduction The power and contingency of economic ideas ‘New’ political economy: ideas, structure and agency The power of economic ideas and the ideational turn in political economy Constructivist political economy Critical political economy: Robert Cox et al. Tools for comparative political economy analysis: policy paradigms Changing dominant economic orthodoxies: from the ‘liberal creed’ to ‘embedded liberalism’ Conclusion 8: The Comparative Political Economy of the State Introduction Conceptualizing the state and state/market relations The comparative political economy of the state State transformation and the politics of economic ideas The empirical assessment: advanced state capacities in a global economy Public expenditure Taxation Public employment Industrial policy Overview Qualitative assessment: state forms and state transformation The Japanese developmental state DS and Japanese state transformation Is China a capitalist developmental state? The transformation of state capacity: ‘new state activism’ and the reinvention of control in the economy Conclusion 9: Comparative Capitalisms Introduction Classical political economy and comparative capitalisms Varieties of Capitalism: interpreting the trajectory of capitalist restructuring How to compare capitalisms: using and abusing ideal types Ideas, embeddedness and institutional change within comparative capitalisms Tracing processes of capitalist change: the changing Japanese political economy The post-war Japanese model of capitalism Japanese capitalism into the 21st century Tracing processes of capitalist change: the American political economy The Fordist post-war American model After Fordism: US capitalism into the 21st century Conclusion: interpreting capitalist restructuring – not convergence but hybridization? 10: The Comparative Political Economy of Finance and Corporate Governance Introduction The comparative political economy of stakeholder and shareholder capitalism Building finance capitalism Global capitalism, internationalizing finance and national financial systems The comparative political economy of financialization What is left of national financial systems? Tracing processes of financial change France’s changing financial system and corporate capitalism Germany’s changing financial system and corporate capitalism Conclusion 11: The Comparative Political Economy of Welfare Introduction Defining and analysing welfare restructuring Welfare capitalism and the politics of retrenchment Classical political economy and the political economy of the welfare state Comparative welfare states, comparative welfare capitalisms Globalization and welfare state retrenchment: a convergent ‘race to the bottom’? The compensation thesis Empirical adjudication: ‘welfare effort’ and welfare spending Empirical adjudication: social rights and welfare state ‘recalibration’ A new welfare capitalist settlement? Conclusion 12: Inequality and the Political and Social Settlement Underpinning Advanced Capitalisms Introduction Trump, Brexit and the backlash against liberal market integration The embedded liberal compromise and the comparative political economy of rising inequality The rise of the New Right and the decline of embedded liberalism Dynamics of inequality within 21st-century capitalism The global financial crisis, the politics of austerity and rising inequality Theorizing rising inequality after embedded liberalism Widening inequalities and the paradox of neo-liberal democracy Capitalism, inequality and the populist politics of ‘taking back control’ Conclusion 13: The Comparative Method and Comparative Political Economy Introduction: disciplinary politics and comparative social science The building blocks of theory: epistemology and ontology The comparative method, political economy and disciplinary politics The goal of comparison: the status of knowledge claims What is at stake in research design? Positivism and interpretive social science Qualitative and quantitative approaches to comparison Large N and small N research designs Where is your evidence? Economics, rational choice and ‘reflectivist’ approaches Comparative political economy and methodological pluralism How to compare: the logic of comparative analysis The logic of comparative research design Conclusion 14: Conclusion Disciplinary politics and classical political economy Methodological pluralism and comparative political economy Comparative political economy: the core insights Recurrent substantive themes for 21st-century comparative political economy Comparative political economy: the international and the domestic Institutions and comparative capitalisms 21st-century welfare capitalism: recalibration or retrenchment? Comparative political economy: the road ahead Comparative political economy and ongoing incorporation of the ideational dimension Combating Eurocentrism and OECD-centrism Conclusion A Guide to Further Reading Adam Smith KARL Marx Karl Polanyi JOHN MAYNARD Keynes FRIEDRICH List and Economic Nationalism FRIEDRICH VON Hayek Ideational Analysis Institutionalism The State Comparative Capitalisms Bretton Woods Finance and the Global Financial Crisis Neo-liberalism Inequality Welfare Comparative Political Economy Method France UK US Germany Japan Korea China Bibliography Index "This is a book about how 21st-century capitalism really works. Modern economics strips away social, historical, and political context from analysis of 'the economic', but the economy is far too important to leave exclusively to the economists. Comparative Political Economy (CPE) is a much broader, richer intellectual undertaking which 're-embeds' the analysis of the economic within the social and political realm. This is at the heart of how to think like a political economist. This text maps the terrain and evolution of CPE, providing the analytical tools to explore the many variants of capitalism, unearthing their roots in competing visions of the desirable distribution of the fruits of growth. Connecting CPE systematically to the subfield of International Political Economy (IPE), the book explains how these visions generate ongoing political struggles over how to regulate and manage capitalism. This is the perfect introduction to the field for all students of CPE and IPE."--Publisher's website