The essays in this book contribute to emerging debates in political science and sociology on institutional change, providing a theoretical framework and empirical applications.

1. A theory of gradual institutional change James Mahoney and Kathleen Thelen; 2. Infiltrating the state: the evolution of health care reforms in Brazil, 1964-88 Tulia G. Falleti; 3. The contradictory potential of institutions: the rise and decline of land documentation in Kenya Ato Kwamena Onoma; 4. Policymaking as political constraint: institutional development in the US social security program Alan M. Jacobs; 5. Altering authoritarianism: institutional complexity and autocratic agency in Indonesia Dan Slater; 6. Rethinking rules: creativity and constraint in the house of representatives Adam Sheingate; 7. Historical institutionalism in rationalist and sociological perspective Peter A. Hall.