Toward a general theory of institutional change

This chapter presents the inadequacy of the two approaches (harmony and conflict) in providing an adequate understanding of institutional change in light of the basic facts of institutional change and the challenges in constructing a good general theory. It highlights a solution that can synthesize the two approaches organically, leading us toward a general theory of institutional change. Power and conflict occupy a marginal place in the harmony approach at best. By purging the attractiveness of ideas from its framework of explaining social outcomes, however, the conflict approach has great difficulty in explaining overall human progress because human progress ultimately depends on the selection and retention of good ideas. The chapter also outlines the social evolutionary approach toward institutional change or social change, thus laying part of the foundation for constructing a general theory of institutional change. Institutions are embodiments of social knowledge or solidified ideas.