Beyond codifying common sense: from an historical to critical institutionalism

Abstract Critics argue that historical institutionalism (HI) ignores the social dimension of its research, particularly as concerns social inequality. This article tracks the problem back to the field’s implicit reliance on positivist empiricism and a narrow understanding of what constitutes a theory and argues that these unacknowledged commitments effectively block HI from addressing the issue. Instead, this article argues for critical institutionalism, drawing from nonpositivist approaches to social science research and critical social theory, and provides concrete examples of how this might be pursued.