Games Real Actors Play: Actor-centered Institutionalism In Policy Research

TL;DR: In this article, the Stability and Growth Pact (SGP) is used as a case study in European integration and the authors apply the theoretical lenses of various European integration approaches (intergovernmentalism, domestic politics, neofunctionalism and an 'expertocratic' approach) to explain the creation of the SGP as well as its subsequent implementation.

TL;DR: The authors examines the potential contribution of actor-centered institutionalist approaches in explaining how spatial planning systems can retain a very specific nature and form despite experiencing common forces of change and pres sures for harmonization.

TL;DR: This conceptual paper undertakes a reappraisal of institutional thought in order to conceptualise institutional transformation, the establishment of a conceptual linkage between the transformative potential of institutions and symbolic markers, and the design of an operational model of research for the institutional investigation of symbols in the planning of changing cities.

TL;DR: The authors argue that workers and their unions at such sites, where global framework agreements are most needed, have mostly not been involved in their negotiation, and argue for unions to embrace a conflict partnership approach, one that recognizes and addresses the tension between dialogue and conflict in labour relations.