Publication Type
Book Review
Version
acceptedVersion
Publication Date
4-2012
Abstract
Sven Steinmo’s fascinating new book on the evolution of modern stateschallenges us to view national political economies, tax structures, andsocial welfare policies not as distinct entities but as unique and intertwined“systems” that evolve over time. Two issues stand out in thisexceptional book. First is the application of evolutionary theory, whichposits “social systems” to be “fundamentally different than inanimatematter. Similar to living organisms, they change, adapt and evolve” (10).From this perspective, complex multivariable causation and interactiveeffects are common because the human world is made of complex adaptivesystems and interacting emergent phenomena. Building a prospectivebridge between historical institutionalism and interdisciplinary evolutionarytheory, Steinmo stresses that “when and where something occurscan fundamentally shape what occurs” (13), while explicitly recognizingthat “not all evolutionary adaptations are efficient and not all evolutionis progressive... [there is] enormous frequency of extinction and theoccurrence of regression” (146).
Discipline
International Relations | Political Science
Research Areas
Political Science
Publication
Governance
Volume
25
Issue
2
First Page
351
Last Page
353
ISSN
0952-1895
ISBN
9780521145466
Identifier
10.1111/j.1468-0491.2012.01577.x
Publisher
Wiley: 24 months
Citation
JOSHI, Devin K..(2012). Review of The evolution of modern states: Sweden, Japan, and the United States by Sven Steinmo. Governance, 25(2), 351-353.
Available at: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soss_research/2251
Copyright Owner and License
Authors
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Additional URL
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-0491.2012.01577.x