Conclusion: United in Diversity

Abstract

This chapter summarizes the most important empirical evidence and discusses the ramifications of the findings in the light of the broader research questions. First, it explains why the literature on discursive institutionalism had been missing a quantitative study so far. It accordingly shows how the adoption of a rigorous comparative perspective, and the construction of valid indicators for the discursive actions, make it possible to draw statistically reliable inferences on the structure and substance of public discourse on economic liberalization. Second, this concluding chapters discusses how the results cater to the influential theoretical frameworks in comparative political economy that emphasize divergence, and, at the same time, also acknowledge the propositions by the globalization and neo-Gramscian research, which argue in favor of convergence among advanced economies. Convergence, or unity, is found in terms of the substance of discourse, which is coined by the emergence of a pro-market mainstream in public discourse. Divergence, in contrast, is found in the structure of discourses. This points to influential historical legacies, which keep public discourses on economic liberalization in the six countries on different paths.