Economic sociology, the study of how economic phenomena affect and are affected by social forces, is a field that arguably dates back to classical economists and social thinkers such as Adam Smith. Arguably, however, Emile Durkheim and Max Weber did the most to systematize and outline the field...

During his first presidential term (1885-89), Cleveland opposed the partisan “spoils system” in the civil service, private legislation to benefit particular constituents, federal disaster relief, and protectionism. Public choice theory provides an illuminating framework for examining the...

Abstract: Ha-Joon Chang (2011), in his article ‘Institutions and Economic Development: Theory, Policy and History', argues that economists place too much faith in ‘liberalized' institutions. Institutions matter for growth, he contends, but not the way institutional economists think they do....