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Law & Political Theory: Institutional Analysis & Development

B592 is taught by L. Alston, B. Blomquist, D. Cole

Formal institutions (e.g., laws) and organizations (e.g., courts, firms) and informal institutions (e.g., norms) are important determinants of individual and group decisions and behaviors. Individual and group decisions and behaviors, in turn, create and change formal and informal institutions and organizations. In this seminar, we will review, discuss, and compare some important analytical approaches to understanding these interrelationships between institutions and behaviors. One of those approaches has been named New Institutional Economics (NIE). The other is the Institutional Analysis and Development (IAD) framework associated with the Ostrom Workshop at IU and what is sometimes called the Bloomington School. Each of these approaches has been influential in shaping current theory and research on how organizations and institutions (including laws, rights, and other rule-governed relationships) develop and change, and how organizations and institutions shape individuals choices and actions at the micro scale and the paths of social and economic development at the macro scale.