Path dependency and change in international relations: institutional dynamics in the field of intellectual property rights

Abstract

"In the last decade the historic dimension of politics has become more and more important in political science. There are a growing number of articles dealing with questions of political dynamics and political processes. Nevertheless, the interdisciplinary dialogue is rare between history and political science. This article examines first the characteristics of both disciplines and asks for a common methodological ground analyzing political processes. It is argued that the analysis of political processes should be theory-driven, looking for social mechanisms like path dependency and based on agency. The usefulness of this method will be demonstrated by analyzing the international regulation of Intellectual Property Rights. It will be reasoned that external changes in the environment of the international institutions (WIPO and GATT) triggered changes in the development of the path along which the protection of IPRs evolved and switched the modus of institutional change from path dependency to open change and vice versa." (author's abstract)