Why Institutions Matter

Vivien Lowndes is Professor of Public Policy at the University of Nottingham, UK. Mark Roberts is a Research Fellow at De Montfort University in Leicester, UK.

• 1. Why Study Institutions?2. Three Phases of Institutionalism3. Rules, Practices and Narratives4. Power and Agency5. Institutional Change6. Institutional Diversity7. Institutional Design8. Conclusion.

'In this powerful new text, Vivien Lowndes and Mark Roberts put forward a conception of institutionalism that is more comprehensive, integrative and analytically insistent than anything to date. Both those committed to an institutionalist approach, and those who are not, will benefit greatly from this study, which is likely to become an essential point of reference in the literature.' - Andrew MacIntyre, Australian National University 'Well-crafted, readable, and eminently teachable, there is no other text that gives students a handle on this increasingly core subject in political science like this. With a wealth of concrete examples it covers the key elements of, and theoretical perspectives on, the study of institutions in a way that will be ideally suitable for advanced undergraduates and graduates alike.' - Robert Pekkanen, University of Washington, USA