Institutionalization

The process and development or changing of rules and procedures that influence a set of human interactions over time is called institutionalization. Hence, institutionalization is a process in which societies are “made” and “modified” by regulating societal behavior (i.e., supra-individual behavior). Three options can be distinguished: (1) rule making or their installment, (2) rule adaptation or developing “best practices,” (3) rule change or replacing “old” rules by “new” ones.

The German social scientist Max Weber was already aware of processes of institutionalization and its subtle variations. He explicitly differentiated between rule configurations that were goal orientated (zweckrationalität) and those that were idea consolidating (wertrationalität). This nuance between purpose and value orientation is still relevant for studying institutionalization. Institutional processes that direct behavior with reference to a shared goal can be considered as organizational types of institutionalization, whereas modes of (preferred and stabilized) conduct of actors are based on mutual expectations. Institutionalization is thus a human activity that installs, adapts, and changes rules and procedures in both social and political spheres. It affects the interactive behavior of individuals and organizations as well as of political entities (e.g., states). This distinction between individuals, collective actors, and polities is important because the way rules and procedures are developed and subsequently become operational is different for each sphere. For example, the development and establishment of liberal democracy is actually an ongoing process of institutionalization. On the one hand, it reflects a shared value within a society as expressed in its appreciation of individual [Page 454]political and civil rights (wertrationalität), but on the other hand, the relationship between state and society is organized by means of basic laws to define its mode of governance to make it work democratically (zweckrationalität).

With regard to social interactions, rules evolve more often than not in a nonbinding fashion, albeit depending on informal hierarchies and whether or not they are born out of necessity. Eventually, many practical rules are developed into institutionalized behavior that remains more or less stable over time: Practices become shared rules that in turn are formalized in supra-individual terms (e.g., the Ten Commandments in the Bible, but also Jean-Jacques Rousseau's idea of the social contract).

This type of institutionalization may well be typical of organizations and societal development as such. Yet, it is not typical if we consider the political space: Political systems are by definition characterized by the existence of binding rules that are formalized (e.g., by law or constitution) and can be enforced independently from individual actors (like enforcement by the police). Although procedures may differ to some extent, both rules and procedures are subject to scrutiny and external controls (by the judiciary, the legislative, electorates, etc.) that are characterized by a hierarchical relationship. In this view, the human interaction within a polity is prescribed and largely predictable. Hence, the process of institutionalization serves the purpose of a system's stability. Yet, it should immediately be noticed that also in the political sphere rules and procedures do change and are adapted if and when unintended consequences occur and the input legitimacy and output legitimacy of a political system is negatively affected by the relationship between rules and procedures, on the one hand, and political behavior and system's performance, on the other hand. Electoral reform (e.g., recently in Italy and New Zealand) and decentralization (e.g., in Belgium and Great Britain) are examples of restoring the institutional framework of the polity to enhance legitimacy. The debates on a constitution for the European Union (EU) and on establishing democracy in post-communist Europe reflect the attempt to regulate political behavior and to enhance responsible government. Political institutionalization is therefore not a static but dynamic process.

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