Making ideas actionable in institutionalism: the case of trade liberalization in Kennedy's foreign economic policy

Abstract

This article challenges exclusively rationalist accounts of and offers a complementary explanation for the emergence of liberal trade policy in the Kennedy administration. I draw on recent insights in constructivist institutionalism to emphasize the need to take agency seriously in institutionalist research. Using archival records, I analyze the decisive role Kennedy's advisers played as carriers of ideas in advocating for liberal trade policy by ‘constructing the national interest’, thus convincing a reticent president to support attempts aimed at achieving closer economic integration, culminating in the Trade Expansion Act of 1962. Insights from their role as advisers can help in specifying the role of agency in the ideas and institutional change literature, through strategic action which shaped a political leader's belief and put political issues on the agenda. By grasping agency in terms of making ideas actionable, an important step is taken in advancing endogenous approaches of institutional change.

Same but different: On continuity and change in agricultural policy reforms

“…Recent HI contributions have criticised both strands for giving too much prominence to structural factors (e.g., McAdam, 2022) and their role in reproducing order (Carstensen & Röper, 2022; Jabko & Sheingate, 2018). The ‘coalitional turn’ (Emmenegger, 2021; Hall, 2016) in HI seeks to incorporate social coalitions as the basis of institutional genesis and change, as well as of continuity.…”

“…Alongside these developments, an ideational interest has also inspired institutional studies (Béland, 2016). While McAdam (2022) underscores the need to look at how ideas are central to strategic action in institutional change, Skogstad and Wilder (2019), among others, argue that policy ideas that are multidimensional—able to incorporate various interests' wants and needs—may promote stability in the long run.…”