Institutionalism

Institutions – are social structures that have attained a high degree of resilience
The ability to recover quickly from setbacks. the speedy recovery from problems.
-are transmitted by various types of carriers, including symbolic systems, relational systems, routines, and
artifacts.
-operate at different levels of jurisdiction, from the world system to localized interpersonal relationships.
-it connote stability but are subject to change processes, both incremental and discontinuous.
- provide the rules, guidelines, and structure needed to carry out everyday activities
Compositions of Institutions:
1. cultural- cognitive
2. normative
3. regulative elements
- associated with activities and resources, provide stability and meaning to social life.

Main job of Institution

- To regulate three parts of the society. These are the economy, politics, and ideologies.
Two Dominant Perspectives in Institutionalism
1. Old Institutionalism – studies formal institutions that are supported by the government. It is more studied in the field
of Political Science.
2. New Institutionalism – refers to studying institutions and how it affects the society or the social behavior. It is a theory
that develops a sociological view on institutions.
Sub-fields in new Institutionalism
1. Normative Institutionalism- it defines institutions much more broadly than political scientist or economist and it
includes also the symbol system, cognitive script and moral templates, hence it breaks down the division between
“Institutions” and “culture”.
2. Rational Choice Institutionalism- it draws heavily from rational choice theory, but is not identical to it. Proponents of
this theory argue that political actors’ rational choices are constrained. Rational choice theory also argues that
institutions are rules that govern the behavior between individuals and that actions are made in interest of the self.
3. Historical Institutionalism- it is a social, political, economic behavior and change across time. It is comparative
approach to the study of all aspects of human organizations and does so by relying heavily on case studies.
4. Feminist Institutionalism- it is a new institutionalist approach that looks at how gender norms operate within
institutions and how institutional processes construct and maintain gender power dynamics.
5. Sociological Institutionalism- it is a form of new Institutionalism that concerns the way in which institutions create
meaning for individuals, providing important theoretical building blocks for normative Institutionalism within political
science.

Two Kinds of Institutions

1. Formal Institutions – are those officially established in one way or another, often by governments.
Laws, Constitutions, Government
2. Informal Institutions- are not officially established, but are practices commonly accepted throughout society.
Beliefs, Norms, values
Examples of Informal Institutions
1. Non-government organizations (NGO)- is a non-profit, voluntarily citizens’ group which is organized on a local,
national or international level. Task-oriented and driven by people with common interest.
 2. People’s organization- are independent, bona fide associations of citizens with demonstrated capacity to
promote the public interest and with identifiable leadership, membership and structure, as stated in section 15,
Philippine Constitution of 1987. Members come from all sectors of society including the poor and the disadvantage.
3. Community organizations- can represent both community- based organizations, operating as shared work
space, and/or shared experience of concerns. Within community-based organizations, there are many variations in terms
of size and organizational structure.
4. Foundation- is defined as an organization set up to finance or complete projects, usually for a non-profit
organization such as a school or church.

Institutional Approach can be understood as:

1. Subject Matter- the study of political institutions is central to the identity of the discipline of political science.
2. Method- the traditional or classic institutional approach is descriptive, inductive, formal-legal, and historical-
comparative. It is descriptive because it employs the techniques of the historian and explores specific events, eras,
people, and institutions, and inductive because inferences are drawn from repeated observations. Classic institutional
approach systematically describes and analyzes phenomena that have occurred in the past and explain contemporary
political phenomena with reference to past events. It is formal because it involves the study of formal governmental
organizations, and legal because it includes the study of public law.
3. Theory- the classic or traditional institutional approach does not only make statements about the causes and
consequences of political institutions. It also espouses the political value of democracy.

Formal organizations- are generally identified as “Institutions’

- Created by people in society to satisfy basic needs for existence

Proto-Theory of Institutionalism
1. Normative- concerned with good government
2. Structuralist-structures determine political behavior
3. historicist- the central influence of history
4. legalist- law plays a major role in governing
5. holistic- concerned with describing and comparing whole systems of government