... 1 Do Institutions Matter? 3 1.1 What is an Institution? 4 1.2 The Limit of Institutions 4 1.3 Conclusions 6 Chapter 2 The Problem of New Institutionalism 8 2.1 Historical Institutionalism 8 2.2 Rational Choice Institutionalism 10 2.3 Normative Institutionalism 12 2.4 Conclusions 14 Chapter 3 Questions of Methodology 16 3.1 Conclusions 20 Chapter 4 Comparing Institutional Frameworks in the UK and USA 21 4.1 The Work of Government 21 4.2 Conclusions 27 Chapter 5 The Case Study of Gun Control in the UK and USA 29 5.1 Gun Control Policy in the UK 29 5.2 Gun Control Policy in the US 36 5.3 Conclusions 42 Chapter 6 The Problem of Institutional Explanations 44 6.1 Institutional Accounts and the Case Study 44 6.2 The Limits of New Institutionalism 45 6.3 Institutions Do Not Matter 47 Bibliography 48 Chapter One: Do Institutions Matter? Institutionalist accounts of the policy process have been widely discussed in recent years, with several variants of the theory emerging (March and Olsen, 1999, Tsebelis, 2002, Hall and Taylor 1996). This has resulted in many commentators questioning the legitimacy of the claims that institutions have provided an adequate explanation as to how the policy process works. The ...

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