Deliberation, Learning, and Institutional Change: The Use of Judicial Forums in Institutionally Diverse Settings

Abstract

We live in an uncertain and ever changing world that is continually evolving in new and novel ways. Standard theories are of little help in this context. Attempting to understand economic, political, and social change (and one cannot grasp change in only one without the others) requires a fundamental recasting of the way we think… . If we can achieve an understanding of the underlying process of change, then we can develop somewhat more limited hypotheses about change that can enormously improve the usefulness of social science theory in confronting human problems.( North, 2005: vii) The Challenge of Changing InstitutionsMost of modern human life is spent within the structure of diverse institutional arrangements. We learn the "proper" rules of interactions with family members and friends as we are raised. Schools not only teach us history, mathematics, and grammar, they also provide instructions about many of the existing institutional structures that affect our lives. What must we do to complete a school year? What must we do if we are to graduate from high school?What must we do to get a drivers license? What must we do to gain admission to college?Learning the "rules of the game" is a major pre-occupation of all humans especially in their youth.Rules are, however, human inventions. Consequently, humans not only learn how to act within a set of established rules, but they also are engaged from time to time in changing rules within a nested set of other institutions that structure the process of changing rules at any particular level. Changing rules is, however, far more challenging than simply trying to do as