Margaret Levi and Barry R. Weingast (Stanford University – Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences and Stanford University, Department of Political Science) have posted Douglass North's Theory of Politics (Perspectives on Politics, Forthcoming) on SSRN. Here is the abstract:
Few social scientists have equaled the impact on political science of Douglass C. North, co-winner of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics in 1993. His extraordinary influence emanated from his ideas but was also a result of his vast social network of collaborators, students, and friendly critics. North was at the forefront of four revolutions in economics and political economy.
1. The New Economic History;
2. The “property rights” revolution;
3. The New Institutional Economics; and
4. Cognitive science.
North explicitly brought issues of political science into the second through fourth revolution. He became a major leader in historical and comparative political science, and in the study of institutions more generally. His work proved particularly relevant for those interested in questions of state-building, state variation, and long-term secular change.
Recommended.