Notwithstanding their economic, social, political and cultural diversity, a large number of high-income countries have in common a set of fundamental institutional principles: the rule of law, a representative democracy, a regulated market economy, an active civil society. Yet, recent years have seen the political institutions of these countries come under considerable pressure from internal and external forces. Democratic backsliding has become an important theme for research and policy debate in mature and rich democracies. These developments happen at a time when the world is starting to experience the effects of a series of global challenges: the rise in environmental stresses, from climate change-induced natural disasters and desertification to the accelerated loss of biodiversity; migratory flows on a planetary scale; growing tensions over scarce resources (water, arable land, rare minerals, etc.); food or energy security crises; an accentuation of geopolitical rivalries and local conflicts – to name but a few.

 

Reza is currently finalising the planning of a research project on long-term institutional futures in high-income countries. The aim of the project is to take stock of recent advances in the analysis of institutions in different branches of economics and political science and use these to systematically explore possible future scenarios for the evolution of institutions in various high-income countries.