This important new text provides a broad-ranging introduction to the 'new' institutional theories which have become increasingly influential in recent years and gives an assessment of their application and utility in political analysis.

1. Why Study Institutions?
2. Three Phases of Institutionalism
3. Rules, Practices and Narratives
4. Power and Agency
5. Institutional Change
6. Institutional Diversity
7. Institutional Design
8. Conclusion.

In this powerful new text, Vivien Lowndes and Mark Roberts put forward a conception of institutionalism that is more comprehensive, integrative and analytically insistent than anything to date. Both those committed to an institutionalist approach, and those who are not, will benefit greatly from this study, which is likely to become an essential point of reference in the literature.' - Andrew MacIntyre, Australian National University 'Well-crafted, readable, and eminently teachable, there is no other text that gives students a handle on this increasingly core subject in political science like this. With a wealth of concrete examples it covers the key elements of, and theoretical perspectives on, the study of institutions in a way that will be ideally suitable for advanced undergraduates and graduates alike.' - Robert Pekkanen, University of Washington, USA

The Political Analysis series is intended to provide a showcase for political science in all its variety and a channel for political scientists in different specialisms and different parts of the world to talk to each other and to new generations of students. Written in an accessible style, books in the series will provide introductions to, and exemplars of, the best work in the discipline and its various subareas.