onal reform:
According to the bounded rationality hypothesis, policymakers mostly delude themselves when they think that "comprehensive study" or "bold intensive action" can produce useful, enduring change. The world of politics is too rich in both information and uncertainty; once-and-for-all efforts at structural reform must fail.
The idea that institutional change is incremental and evolutionary is supported by other theorists of both national and international politics. In his book Institutions, Institutional Change and Economic Performance, Douglass C. North first discusses the nature of institutions and then attacks the issue of institutional change, developing his theory of how such change is manifested and how it is influenced by the economic structure and by economic forces. His theory addresses questions about the path institutional change takes. His approach shows that change is dependent on the cumulative consequences of a number of incremental decisions made by political and economic entrepreneurs. Inherent in his argument is the idea that over time, systems and institutions will become more efficient and in particular that economically efficient property rights will emerge as an inevitable consequence of institutional change.
North sees the system of institutional change as rational, with rational actors making decisions based on their perception of the costs and benefits involved in various actions. He is building in this book on earlier work he has done in terms of institutional change, and he is trying here to integrate his ideas into a coherent and comprehensive view that will "provide a new understanding of historical change." As he presents his material, he often refers back to earlier conceptions and theories and shows how they have missed the mark, then turns to a different conception which will correct the errors he has describ
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