Culture and the study of comparative political economies

Cathie Jo Martin

Chapter 27 in Handbook of Comparative Political Economy, 2025, pp 487-502 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: Culture casts a long and indelible shadow on varieties of comparative political economies; yet cultural claims seem to explain little about shifts in day-to-day politics. This chapter discusses the role of culture in the study of comparative political economies and institutional change. It reviews dominant approaches to the study of culture and identifies potential problems with cultural theories. It suggests, as an example, a model for analyzing the contributions of cultural agents and structures to policy outcomes, drawing from Martin's (2023) work on literature and education system development. It explores how new natural language processing techniques may help us to analyze cultural tropes and their utility in political struggle. The chapter concludes with a reflection on the study of cultural tropes as a new avenue for research in comparative political economy. Cultural analysis helps us to understand the mysteries of policy persistence through moments of radical change and why similar cultural orientations extend across policy areas, despite diverse institutions, interest group coalitions, and policy legacies specific to each area. Cultural investigations seem particularly apt in our peculiar times, when culture wars call into question hitherto agreed-upon norms of political engagement and fundamental democratic processes.

Keywords: Comparative political economy; Culture; Natural language processing; Historical institutional change; Literature and politics; Varieties of Capitalism (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
ISBN: 9781035327775
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