CIG - The IGS Center on Institutions and Government

CIG - About



The Center on Institutions and Governance (CIG) promotes interdisciplinary research and education on the origins, effects, and evolution of institutions. CIG is under the direction of Prof. Bob Powell and Director Heddy Riss. The goal of the Center is to advance our understanding of the ways that institutions shape economic and political outcomes as well as the ways that political and economic factors shape institutions.

Mission

  • Support for UC Berkeley researchers doing quantitative work related to institutions, politics and governments.
  • Introduction of a comparative and international perspective to government studies.
  • Outreach, increased visibility and quick reaction to current events.
  • Creation of new interfaces between faculty from different schools, departments, ORUs and disciplines on specific projects.

  • The Center also supports work in three broad areas:

    Politics and Policy in Weakly Institutionalized Environments: In weakly institutionalized environments, T actors cannot appeal to higher institutional authorities to enforce agreements. Consequently, the parties to an agreement must try to enforce it themselves. This may be very costly and may make it difficult for the parties to credibly commit themselves to following through on an agreement. Examples of weakly institutionalized environments include the international system as well as the domestic politics within developing countries in which the rule of law is weak. The Center actively supports research in international politics, political development, and institutionally weak settings more generally.

    Politics and Policy in Highly Institutionalized Environments: In highly institutionalized settings, institutions constrain actors' behavior and do much to define the strategic area in which the actors interact. These environments include states in which the rule of law is strong. Work in this area tries to understand how different institutional arrangements (e.g., presidential or parliamentary, proportional representation or majoritarian, federal or unitary, central bank independence) affect policy outcomes. Comparative institutional analysis is an important research activity at the Center.

    The Interface between Weakly and Highly Institutionalized Environments: The last half century has seen an astonishing effort among European states to institutionalize the weakly institutionalized environment in which they interact. The European Union is at the interface of weakly and highly institutionalized environments. Countries trying to establish the rule of law among competing domestic factions are also at this interface. The Center sponsors research that deepens our understanding of institutionalization, of how institutions take hold, begin to shape behavior, are shaped by that behavior, and may transform weakly institutionalized settings into more highly institutionalized environments.

    Current Visiting Scholars:

    Nicholas Hanley
    (January-June, 2009)
    Head of the Unit in Communication and Governance in DG ENvironment
    E-mail: Nicholas.Hanley@ec.europa.eu

    Areas of interest: Nature and Biodiversity,communication, external relations and governances issues for DG Environment.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     


  • Upcoming Events

    Spring 2009

    April 24-25, 2009: Annual Workshop on Endogenous Institutions and Political Conflict

    April 30, 2009: EU-California Conference in Washington, D.C..

    May 7-8, 2009: Transatlantic Network of Scholars on Muslims' Religious Identity, Secularism, Democracy and Citizenship

    June 27-July 3, 2009: China Summer Economics Institute

    About CIG

    Director:
    Heddy Riss hriss@berkeley.edu

    Faculty Director:
    Robert Powell rpowell@berkeley.edu

    Graduate Research Assistant:
    Jason Anastasopoulos janastas@berkeley.edu

    Address:

    Institute of Governmental Studies
    Center on Institutions and Governance
    130 Moses Hall
    Berkeley, CA





    Website designed and maintained by Jason Anastasopoulos:
    janastas@berkeley.edu


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