| Sumario: | Moving beyond historical and rational choice institutionalism, the writer presents the core of a new theory that can explain the discontinuous, disproportionate, and often wavelike nature of institutional change. He asserts that cognitive-psychological findings on shifts in actors' tendency for assuming risk help explain why periods of institutional stasis can be followed by dramatic breakthroughs, as actors finally respond to an increasing problem load with efforts at bold transformation. He also contends that insights on boundedly rational learning explain why solutions to these problems frequently unfold as emulation of other countries' innovations and experiences. To illustrate the new approach, he presents an analysis of the transformation of developmental states, welfare states, and political regimes.
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