The effect of individual identity on social-political processes at the point of view of the new institutionalism political theory

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The effect of individual identity on social-political processes at the point of view of the new institutionalism political theory

Bashtannyk O.V., Candidate of Political Sciences,

Associate Professor at the Department of Political Science

Oles Honchar Dnipro National University

The paper deals with the effect of individual identity on institutionalization of social and political interaction at the point of view of the new institutionalism's basic versions. There have been changes in the principles and methods of studying phenomenon of political institution and we might present this process as a sequential shift in political- institutional paradigm of political science - traditional institutionalism was based on a formalized analysis of the political and legal reality (especially institutions), but today this approach is mostly replaced by new institutionalism (is characterized as a general setting, in which the various studies are combined, based on different methodological principles). The research strategy of new institutionalism allows analysing the political phenomena of complex nature that are typical of the system, implementing and maintaining democratic standards of politics in the modern world, such as individual identity institutionalized at the collective level of political interest aggregation. Institutionalization of individual identity can be defined as the right of an association of individuals to representation and participation in politics who united based on a certain identifiable feature, gender, ethnicity, religion, etc.

It is determined that the analysis of this issue gives an opportunity to indicate on drawing the principle of methodological individualism in new branch of institutional theory near with the analyses of rules and structures in politics. The political discourse about the place of individual identities among institutionalized practices of social and political interaction can transform institutional framework of the political system and to determine the status of the state as a key institution in the political system of the society and an actor in international politics. Ensuring gender equality for the active participation in various political institutions (from NGOs to political parties and state authorities) is one of the typical evidences of the political system democratization, which could lead other social institutions to a crisis, namely, a family, marriage. Granting broad rights to ethnic communities, the government risks facing the challenges of radical territorial conflicts, that could undermine not only the grounds of social consensus, but also the integrity of the government state form. Involvement of a religious factor in politics can consolidate political institutions within the state, but lead to confrontations with other countries within the framework of international structures.

Key words: individual, identity, gender, religion, ethnos, new institutionalism, political-institutional paradigm.

Вплив індивідуальної ідентичності на соціально-політичні процеси з точки зору політичної теорії нового інституціоналізму

В статті розглянуто вплив чинника індивідуальної ідентичності на інституціоналізацію суспільно-політичної взаємодії з точки зору основних версій нового інституціоналізму. В принципах і методах дослідження феномену політичних інститутів відбулися суттєві зміни, в цілому цей процес можливо представити як послідовну трансформацію політико-інституційної парадигми політичної науки - традиційний інституціоналізм базувався на формалізованому аналізі політико-правової реальності (особливо її складових інститутів), але на сьогодні цей підхід здебільшого витіснений новим інституціоналізмом (характеризується як загальна стратегія, в котрій різні дослідження об'єднані на основі багатоманітних методологічних принципів). Дослідницька стратегія нового інституціоналізму дозволяє аналізувати явища складної природи, характерні для політичної системи, що впроваджує та підтримує демократичні стандарти сучасного світу, наприклад можливості для прояву індивідуальної ідентичності, інституціоналізованої на колективному рівні агрегації політичних інтересів. Інституціоналізацію індивідуальної ідентичності можна визначити як право об'єднання індивідів для представництва та участі у політичних процесах, яке реалізується на основі проблематики певної ідентифікаційної ознаки, тобто статі, етнічної приналежності, релігії тощо.

Визначено, що дослідження даного питання надає можливість вказувати на залучення принципу методологічного індивідуалізму в цьому напрямку інституційної теорії поряд із аналізом правил та структур політики. Політичний дискурс про місце реалізації прав індивідуальних ідентичностей серед інституціоналізованих практик соціально-політичної взаємодії може впливати на інституціональний каркас політичної системи та трансформувати статус держави як ключового інституту в політичній системі суспільства та суб'єкта міжнародної політики. Забезпечення тендерної рівності для активної участі в різноманітних політичних інститутах (від громадських організацій до політичних партій та органів державної влади) є одним із складових демократизації політичної системи, що у негативному аспекті може призвести до кризи інші соціальні інститути, а саме сім'ю, шлюб. Так само, надаючи широкі права етнічним громадам, влада ризикує зіткнутися з викликами радикальних територіальних конфліктів, які можуть підірвати не лише основи суспільного консенсусу, а й цілісність державного устрою. Залучення релігійного чинника в політику може консолідувати політичні спільноти всередині держави, але призвести до протистояння з іншими країнами в рамках міжнародних структур.

Ключові слова: індивід, ідентичність, гендер, релігія, етнос, новий інституціоналізм, політико-інституційна парадигма.

new institutionalism individual identity

Introduction

The problem in common conditions. In the studies of political science, which normally occurs within institutional theory, the emphasis of scientists was on direct structural objects (old institutionalism) - it should be emphasized, that the study of political institutions is central to the identifying political science as the academic discipline. Over the past quarter century, along with the organizational aspects, the coordinate system of the researcher includes rules and regulations that stabilize the social and political interaction. Transformation of political systems that occurred during democracy transits after World War II contributed to the development of theories of institutionalization as procedural dimension of the institution existence and created a framework for the new institutionalism conceptualizing. In the studies of the transitional period of institutional theory conceptualization, theorizing regarding the driving forces of institutional development and change, which has pointed to the role of personality factors in the political process, was started. In our opinion, it is the status of individual identity in the collective dimension of intergroup interaction that can have a significant impact on the success of the democratization institutional project.

Analysis of the latest researches and publications explanted the indicated problem. Scientific analysis of the problems of definition, formation and transformation of identity in political science is performed by such scholars as Т Risse, М. Emerson, М. Castells, G.I. Weinshtain et al. The newest directions of institutions theory development are covered thoroughly in the issues of numerous researchers, the most famous of them are W. Streeck, B.G. Peters, K. Thelen, A.S. Romanuk, A.F. Kolodii et al. But, it is important to determine the place of individual identity in the system of structures and practices of institutionalized policies that result from the collision of the regulatory activities of state authority and the interests of various social organizations and community groups.

Object of the research. In our study we consider it appropriate to substantiate the value of the individual identity factor for stabilization of the behaviour institutionalized practices in a society. Tasks of the research. To develop this problem, we need to clarify in general the correlation of the individual and the institution place in the institutional theory as metatheoretic and describe the impact of politics on basic individual identities through the use of new versions of institutionalism.

The main content of the research

We turn our attention to institutional aspects of political research, because we consider that the transformation of them plays one of the most prominent roles in political space as a real political process, for timely conceptual understanding of actual empirical facts makes possible adequate analysing and perceiving the current political situation, thereby enriching political science with a new conceptual and methodological basis.

Actually modern institutional theory comprises two objects of analysis - institutions as structures stay in the field of scientific research, along with persistent patterns of inter-individual interaction practices that can be institutionalized in a formalized way. According to N.M. Bogdan, institutional actors use specific tools to reduce the uncertainty of human activity and interaction by introducing well-known rules and order, thus making the actions of subjects more predictable. The institution becomes a model of behavior and cooperation that conforms to the norms of law and moral norms and dominates society if they are inherent in the majority of the population and have its support [1, p. 122]. At the same time, from the point of view of representatives of the political and institutional paradigm of political science, the political institution is the product of collective organizing activity of individuals. Thus, the theory of rational choice institutionalism recognizes not only the possibility of regulating the targets of political actors by the choice institutions, but also notes the presence of motivation of the subjects to maintain a certain state of affairs. As pointed out by Yu. Chernetskyi, institutions are defined as networks of interconnected rules and norms that govern social relations, contain formal and informal social restrictions that form a system of options for actors [6, p. 41]. In addition to the «norms» («rules»), notion of institute now involves incentive mechanisms for rational actors (persons and organizations) to follow the institutional rules (both formal and informal).

Despite the fact that institutions in new institutionalism are consider as independent political actors with their own goals and interests, the real participants of the social processes are considered the individuals - institutions mostly are constraints that help individuals avoid the negative `emerging effects' of collective action and enable social actors to work together to produce beneficial social goals. N.V. Yeremeieva considers that it provides some opportunity to talk about referring this approach to the principle of «methodo- logical individualism», because the new institutionalism in this sense is based at the micro level on a theory of practical action, which is rooted in Weberian notion of social action as an action oriented towards other people [3, p. 78]. Such epistemological turn made possible in political science due to the golden age of behaviourism research program, in which individual interests are milestones for nomination and proving of the hypotheses about the nature of phenomena and regularities of the political world processes. In turn, behaviourism was to the quite long domination in the political science of the theories of a formalized and legal political analysis primarily as activities of state authorities aimed at the control and regulation of social and political processes, by precisely these institutions. But, in R.M. Smith's opinion, political sciences cannot rely solely on the behavioralism or formal theory at the studying of political institution. Instead, the role of historical contexts and meaning should not be neglected, especially in researching of institution's political identity [11, р. 301-305]. Consideration of the subjective factor provides an institutional theory by a completeness and, for accounting of the approach complexity, allows extend its epistemological status to the paradigm of political science as a stable conceptual model of theoretical standards of formulating political problems by a researcher in a political analysis.

It should be noted, that the content of the political-institutional paradigm of political science it is possible to determine as a complex, multidimensional combination separate scientific fields, theories and concepts, as also principles, approaches and methods of scientific policy analysis (as power relations) at different levels of practical implementation (from local to global), that developed by numerous groups of scientists, but in the line with a single broad research strategy and are used to study complex of interconnected aspects. There are: symbolic-value - officially established formal rules and traditionally recognized informal practices of individuals behaviour; structural-organizational - the nature and principles of the institutions, created by the common will of individuals associations; procedural-transformational - features of design regulatory-structural, and cultural-ideological foundations of the political system of the society and their subsequent transformation under the influence of internal and external factors.

There are some peculiarities of realization the political-institutional paradigm as research strategy in political science - this paradigm has some main features of implementation of researches in the plane of case studies at different analytical levels through the use of several sets of approaches. Political-legal approaches (formal legal, ideographic, nomothetic, and interpretive) were the basis of institutional research in the framework of classical institutionalism, the subject of which was a state (as the central institution) and governmental institutions (till the middle XX). Political and cultural approaches (historical-comparative, system, structural-functional, 60-70's XX) recorded the change in emphasis on the legal aspects of the functioning political institutions to informal study of factors, influenced the process and the political reality in general - myths, traditions, and informal political practices. The complex of multidisciplinary approaches: in new institutionalism (from 80's XX till nowadays) are widely used achievements of almost all branches of scientific knowledge (not exceptionally legal science or cultural studies, but also sociology, economics, psychological, etc.), specific versions of it enriched by theories that have interdisciplinary nature (economic sociology, gender theory, etc.). Moreover, actively involved the methodology of natural sciences (evolutionism, morphogenesis, etc.), widely used methods of mathematical analysis (e.g., rational choice institutionalism), while retaining the historicity and not rejected completely normative analysis.

In the plane of the political and institutional paradigm of political science, the scholars distinguish various analytical versions of the institutional theory, but we agree with the P. Hall and R. Taylor to identify historical, sociologic and rational choice institutionalism as the most significant. According to named researchers, historical institutionalism defines institutions procedurally through routines, norms, and conventions embedded in the organizational structure of the political economy. But, at the point of view of sociological institutionalists, institutions influence behaviour mostly through the cognitive scripts, categories, and models they provide - institutions and individual action are therefore mutually constitutive, and so any «rational act» is also socially constituted. In rational choice type of new institutionalism as a whole might benefit from more attention to the way in which frames of meaning, scripts and symbols emerge not only from processes of interpretation but also from processes of contestation [8, p. 938-954]. Through historical process studying, historical institutionalism aims to identify the causal mechanisms that lie behind particular empirical processes; for rational choice scholars, connecting micro-level interactions to macro-level processes and events, it is important to pay attention on the ways that individuals make choices within constraints that sociological institutionalists define as frames of meaning, which determine formal and informal collections of interrelated norms of appropriate individual's behaviour.

In order to determine how the established practices of institutionalized social and political interaction influence determination of the political actor behavioural strategies, their motivation to meet their own interests within certain socially designed conventions in respect of their own and group identity and how they affect the macrostructure functioning level in the long-term dimension, we chose to analyse the gender, religious and ethnic criteria.

Gender is present in the processes, practices, images and ideologies, and distributions of power in institutions. Gender relations play out at different institutional levels, ranging from the construction of images, symbols, and ideologies that justify, explain and legitimize institutions and their gendered patterns of hierarchy and exclusion [7, p. 567-568]. As an example of institutional mechanisms for implementing and ensuring gender policy, researches can identify the problems and directions of the elementary strategic vision of the benefits of gender policy in ensuring equal rights and opportunities for women and men. [2, p. 34]. In that sense, it may be noted that social and political institutions also act as factors of behaviour legitimizing standards that identify political actors based on gender differences in their institutional status - whether they can and to what extent participate in the political process (and still while electing a woman as the head of state or government, the media puts an emphasis on her gender, rather than, for example, her educational back ground). For developed countries the discourse of gender equality is a symbolization of commitment to democratic values and the desire to enter the circle of these countries leads to the necessity of political transformation, but as noted by A.A. Grusheva and I.G. Kantsur, even among scientists there is a possible polemic regarding the fact that the issues of gender equality in the democratic state system of Ukraine are imposed on us from Western society and are artificially contrived [2, р. 30]. Outlining what a feminist historical institutionalism analysis of transitions to democracy might look like, G. Waylen concludes that one of the potentially most significant contributions of this type of a theory is in that it can help to understand how positive gender change, such as improvements in women's substantive representation, can come about [12].

Since religious institutions and organizations implement regulatory impact on their members, facilitating to create particular targets, values and ideals, they just cannot be involved in the political process. Religion remains one of the most important social institutions that play a significant role in the construction of social reality, namely, it is an effective way to legitimize and support the existing social order. For example, social doctrines and social teachings of Christian churches became a reaction to questions about the place and role of the Church in modern social life. They reflect the views and instructions of the Church not only regarding the personal behaviour of believers, but also regarding the duties of a Christian towards society as a whole, that is, his social responsibility [5, p. 57]. According to M.D. McGinnis, religion is might be envisioned as conveying a multifunctional configuration of private and club benefits to its members as well as public goods to society as a whole. By helping establish a widespread sense of morality among the population, religious institutions help secure the foundation for a stable and prosperous society, by lowering the transaction costs required to impose limits on the actions of private actors and public authorities. Religious activities can generate positive externalities, particularly a general level of social capital upon which all members of society can build it. In other circumstances, intense religious belief may provide the fuel for deep-seated political antagonism and war. A religious actor confronts the same fundamental trade-offs inherent in any form of agency - in this sense, considers M.D. McGinnis, a religious actor is a rational actor like any other [10]. Protection of religious beliefs as an identity part of the dominant social group under certain conditions may become an ideological doctrine element that can transform the institutional system, rejecting the ideals of democracy - e.g., conversion of the presidency institution to the life and inherited position justified by the higher order factors hides maximization individual or narrow class preferences.

Ethnic communities are political subjects as well, and thus they can engage in political institutions or create their own intergroup unities as a manifestation. The purpose of the community activities is to preserve and develop ethnic identity, but therewith organization, streamlining and formalization of relations with other communities and state authorities - institutionalization with the inevitable politicization of operation takes place (Y.V. Kosmii). At the same time, ethnic groups are the objects of state authority activities through a broad set of the state ethnic policy measures. For example, establishment of special bodies for the ethnic relations regulation, regulatory consolidation of ethnic communities' status (legalization of potential representation) and even granting the right to form independent territorial units [4]. R.C. Smith in «Mexican New York: Transnational lives of new immigrants» (2006) traces the origins and evolution of the institution of «transnational life» through examination of relationship practices between immigrants. He posits transnational life as embodied in identities and social structures that help form the life world of immigrants and their children and constructed in relations among people, institutions, and place. For Smith's ethnographic population, the institutional change unfolds slowly - and non-linearly - over the course of lifetimes and generations rather than months or years. He explains shifts in the migration experience over time as an outcome of the complex interplay of institutions with each other and with individuals, wrangling admirably with the structure/agency dialectic - the ultimate goal of historical institutionalism [9]. Politicization of ethnic identity makes problematic the implementation of national policy on specific issues (e.g., language), escalates internal state or regional conflict to the level of international politics, seeking international recognition of the representative nature of the institutions of a new territorial entity.

Conclusion

There have been changes in the principles and methods of studying phenomenon of political institution and we might present this process as a sequential shift in political-institutional paradigm of political science - traditional institutionalism was based on a formalized analysis of the political and legal reality (especially institutions), but today this approach is mostly replaced by new institutionalism (is characterized as a general setting, in which the various studies are combined, based on different methodological principles). The research strategy of new institutionalism allows analysing the political phenomena of complex nature that are typical of the system, implementing and maintaining democratic standards of politics in the modem world, such as individual identity institutionalized at the collective level of political interest aggregation. Institutionalization of individual identity can be defined as the right of an association of individuals to representation and participation in politics who united based on a certain identifiable feature, i.e., gender, ethnicity, religion, etc.

The political discourse about the place of individual identities among institutionalized practices of social and political interaction can transform institutional framework of the political system and to determine the status of the state as a key institution in the political system of the society and an actor in international politics. Ensuring gender equality for the active participation in various political institutions (from NGOs to political parties and state authorities) is one of the typical evidences of the political system democratization, which could lead other social institutions to a crisis, namely, a family, marriage. Granting broad rights to ethnic communities, the government risks facing the challenges of radical territorial conflicts, that could undermine not only the grounds of social consensus, but also the integrity of the government state form. Involvement of a religious factor in politics can consolidate political institutions within the state, but lead to confrontations with other countries within the framework of international structures.

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