Introduction: Studying Social Pacts

Chapter 1 performs a critical review of existing analyses of social pacts and finds them wanting in several respects: their insufficient attention to theory, an over-concentration on structural variables, and a tendency to focus on too few cases. This chapter also presents the core arguments of the book, focusing first on the assumptions and hypotheses of the bargaining model used by the editors and case-study authors to analyse social pacts negotiations, and second on our approach to understanding institutionalization, including the core mechanisms and hypotheses that underpin the rest of the study. It also provides a road map to the book, including an outline of the thematic orientation and content of main comparative chapters, and a short, preliminary statement of our conclusions.