Towards a theory of the institutional dynamics of federalism. Theoretical notes

Abstract

The new institutional approaches have penetrated heavily into the different social sciences in recent times. These approaches have studied the institutional framework of federalism on new theoretical bases. This note starts by laying the foundations of the bases for a second generation of economic theories of federalism, which point to the central role of institutions in the research agenda on federalisms, and analyses the relevance that dynamic views on institutional change has from the institutional approaches. These theoretical notes open a research agenda that establishes bridges between the programme of institutional analysis of federalism and the programme of institutional change.