Institutional Theory in Political Science, Fourth Edition

The New Institutionalism

4th edition

B. Guy Peters, Maurice Falk Professor of Government, University of Pittsburgh, US

Institutional theory plays a significant role in contemporary political science. As in the previous editions, the new fourth edition provides an overview of the major institutional approaches in the discipline, as well as considering the possibility of a more integrated institutional theory. This edition also contains two new chapters. One assesses the role of informal institutions and their linkages with formal structures of governing. The second new chapter provides a detailed discussion of the processes of institutionalization and deinstitutionalization.

‘The book offers by far the most systematic and elaborate account of the importance of institutional theory in political science. It gives both researchers and practitioners a lot of ideas about how to analyze and conduct political-administrative decision-making processes, seen through institutional lenses.’
– Tom Christensen, University of Oslo, Norway and Renmin University of China