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Can There Be a Feminist Rational Choice Institutionalism?1

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 June 2009

Amanda Driscoll  and
Mona Lena Krook
Amanda Driscoll
Affiliation:
Washington University in St. Louis
Mona Lena Krook
Affiliation:
Washington University in St. Louis
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Extract

Gender and politics scholars have long recognized the importance of political institutions (Lovenduski 1998). Most of this work focuses on formal institutions (Chappell 2006; Kenney 1996), but several studies discuss gendered practices and norms in ways that can be seen as consistent with definitions of informal institutions (Duerst-Lahti and Kelly 1995; Kenny 2007). Despite these shared concerns, few feminists frame their research in relation to institutionalism. To the degree that they do, they tend to view the most promising point of intersections to be with historical, sociological, and discursive versions. In contrast, they seem more wary of rational choice, arguing that this brand of institutionalism is unhelpful to, if not fundamentally incompatible with, the objectives of feminist research (cf. Kenny and Paantjens 2006).

Type
Critical Perspectives on Gender and Politics
Information
Politics & Gender , Volume 5 , Issue 2 , June 2009 , pp. 238 - 245
Copyright
Copyright © The Women and Politics Research Section of the American Political Science Association 2009

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