Policy Institutions and Society Study Guide Policy Analysis Public Institutions Governance Exam Review 2025/ 2026 Updated with Solution

Policy, Institutions and Society Study Guide Policy,
(2026 Update).pdf
Institutions and Society Study Guide Policy,
(2026 Update).pdf
Institutions and Society Study Guide (2026 Update).pdf




Policy, Institutions and
Society Study Guide (2026
Update)




Policy, Institutions and Society Study Guide Policy,
(2026 Update).pdf
Institutions and Society Study Guide Policy,
(2026 Update).pdf
Institutions and Society Study Guide (2026 Update).pdf

,POLICY INSTITUTIONS AND SOCIETY.pdf POLICY INSTITUTIONS AND SOCIETY.pdf POLICY INSTITUTIONS AND SOCIETY.pdf




Agency the capacity of individuals to act independently and to make their own free
choices


Structure The environment around you
- socio economic status
- culture


Role of institutions in policy • Set rules, norms, and structures.
• Constrain actors' room for maneuver
• Shape policy change.
• Both constrain and enable change.


Policy is path - dependent and driven by interests.


Isomorphism a constraining process that directs organization to resemble others that face
the same set of environmental conditions


Types of Isomorphism • Mimetic: imitation of successful organizations.
• Normative: shared professional norms and standards.
• Coercive: adaptation due to formal and informal pressure, dependencies
and power relations.




POLICY INSTITUTIONS AND SOCIETY.pdf POLICY INSTITUTIONS AND SOCIETY.pdf POLICY INSTITUTIONS AND SOCIETY.pdf

,POLICY INSTITUTIONS AND SOCIETY.pdf POLICY INSTITUTIONS AND SOCIETY.pdf POLICY INSTITUTIONS AND SOCIETY.pdf




Criticism of isomorphism theory (Neo institutional • Focus on adaptation and conformity
theory) • Limited room for agency
• Not situating "actors" in a societal context


Institutional logics • Shared patterns of meaning and practice.
• A reference framework for action and organizing.
• Anchored in institutional orders
• Consist of practices material and symbolic elements The principles,
practices, and symbols of each institutional order differentially shape how
reasoning takes place and how rationality is perceived and experienced.
• Are shaped by their histories (path dependent)
• Operate at individual, organizational, field, and
societal levels.
• Based on Friedland & Alford


List of institutional orders - Family
- Community
- Religion
- State
- Market
- Profession
- Corporation




POLICY INSTITUTIONS AND SOCIETY.pdf POLICY INSTITUTIONS AND SOCIETY.pdf POLICY INSTITUTIONS AND SOCIETY.pdf

, POLICY INSTITUTIONS AND SOCIETY.pdf POLICY INSTITUTIONS AND SOCIETY.pdf POLICY INSTITUTIONS AND SOCIETY.pdf




Loose Coupling Actor/practice level strategy to deal with conflicting institutional logics to
maintain legitimacy across audiences while preserving room for judgement
and action.


• Formal compliance with multiple logics, while pragmatically prioritising
one in practice.
• Rules, plans and indicators exist, but do not fully determine day - to - day
action.
• Gap between policy and practice is intentional and managed.


Risk of Loose Coupling If coupling becomes too loose, loss of control and credibility


Near- decomposability Organisational level strategy to deal with conflicting institutional logics


• Complex systems survive through partial autonomy.
• Within components, cohesion is strong; between components, coupling is
loose.
• This allows components to adapt without the whole system grinding to a
halt.
• Institutional orders operate as modular, not fully integrated, systems.


Embedded agency a framework where agents are inseparable from their environment, acting
within it rather than controlling it from the outside.




POLICY INSTITUTIONS AND SOCIETY.pdf POLICY INSTITUTIONS AND SOCIETY.pdf POLICY INSTITUTIONS AND SOCIETY.pdf