The Role of Culture and Informal Institutions in Politics and Society

Session Submission Type: Full Paper Panel

Session Description

This panel brings together papers that study the role of culture, informal institutions, and everyday life on politics and society. Most studies in comparative politics emphasize the importance of organizations and formal institutions (e.g. legislatures, political parties, and legal systems) for behavior and collective action. This panel brings culture and informal institutions back into the study of comparative politics by trying to disentangle their role from that of formal institutions. In doing so, it suggests different ways that culture and informal norms affect the sociopolitical practices and behaviors of individuals and groups even when they may be subject to the same formal institutions. Notably, the papers demonstrate how culture, social norms, reputation, and informal structures of authority shape political and social development in arenas as diverse as clientelism, activism, conflict, and trust.

Sub Unit

• DIVISION 12: Comparative Politics in Developing Countries

Chair

• Joan Ricart-Huguet Loyola University Maryland

Discussant

• Marc Howard Ross Bryn Mawr College

Individual Presentations

• Demanding Recognition: Citizen Perspectives of Clientelism in Africa - Kathleen Klaus, University of San Francisco; Jeffrey W. Paller, University of San Francisco; Martha Wilfahrt, University of California, Berkeley

• Cultural Emergence and Persistence in a Shared Institutional Environment - Joan Ricart-Huguet, Loyola University Maryland

• Culture Clash: Incompatible Reputation Systems and Intergroup Conflict - Vasiliki Fouka, Stanford University; Alain Schläpfer, Santa Clara University

• The Legacy of Colonial Medicine in Central Africa - Sara Lowes, Stanford University