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I wish to thank Steven Vogel for his insightful and generous reading of my book. He nonetheless suggests some concerns and areas for further elaboration.
Vogel’s first concern relates to the challenges of disentangling the causal effects of ideas from variables such as institutions and political leadership. While policy outcomes are clearly shaped by multiple causal factors, I contend that broad patterns of change across policy and partisan domains are difficult to explain through institutional or actor-centered accounts alone, particularly at moments of institutional instability, when ideas come forcefully into play. By encouraging elites to frame new policy challenges in certain ways—such as the French view of the Great Recession as a demand crisis, as opposed to the German emphasis on strategic sectors—national liberalisms help frame distinctive menus of policy options—in this case, varying patterns of fiscal...