Discursive Institutionalism as an Opportunity: Latin American Political Science and the State of the Art on the Political Power of Ideas

Ideas and discourses are back. During the last two decades, scholars frequently have argued that they are key variables in explaining political change. Despite his intense and well known "Americanization", Latin American political science has not had a similar ideational turn. In this context, discursive institutionalism, the latest of the "new institutionalisms", must play an important role.