From a State-Driven to a Market-Driven Institutional Regime

Abstract

This thesis explains the institutional regime shift from a state-driven institutional regime into a market-driven institutional regime in the International Labour Organization (ILO). This shift took place in 1998 in the form of the Declaration on the Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work. The institutional regime shift will be explained by means of a juxtaposition between historical institutionalism and institutional constructivism. The institutional constructivist approach explains the institutional regime shift better, since the institutional constructivist approach puts more emphasis on institutional change than historical institutionalism. The historical institutionalists can only explain the institutional instability, but not the relationship between institutional instability and the institutional regime shift.