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The New Institutionalism: Organizational Factors in Political Life

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 August 2014

James G. March  and
Johan P. Olsen
James G. March
Affiliation:
Stanford University
Johan P. Olsen
Affiliation:
University of Bergen
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Abstract

Contemporary theories of politics tend to portray politics as a reflection of society, political phenomena as the aggregate consequences of individual behavior, action as the result of choices based on calculated self-interest, history as efficient in reaching unique and appropriate outcomes, and decision making and the allocation of resources as the central foci of political life. Some recent theoretical thought in political science, however, blends elements of these theoretical styles into an older concern with institutions. This new institutionalism emphasizes the relative autonomy of political institutions, possibilities for inefficiency in history, and the importance of symbolic action to an understanding of politics. Such ideas have a reasonable empirical basis, but they are not characterized by powerful theoretical forms. Some directions for theoretical research may, however, be identified in institutionalist conceptions of political order.

Type
Research Article
Information
American Political Science Review , Volume 78 , Issue 3 , December 1983 , pp. 734 - 749
Copyright
Copyright © American Political Science Association 1983

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