University of Helsinki
Sven Steinmo: The Evolution of Modern States (Cambridge University Press, NY 2010)
The Evolution of Modern States is a significant contribution to the literatures on political economy, globalization, historical institutionalism, and social science methodology. The book examines the political, social and economic history of three different nations – Sweden, Japan and the U.S. – and explains how and why these countries have evolved along such different trajectories over the past century. Bringing together social and economic history, institutionalism, and evolutionary theory, Steinmo thus provides a comprehensive explanation for differing responses to globalization as well as a new way of analyzing institutional and social change.