Institutions and Public Policies

Institutions form the context for individual political actors’ interactions with each other; provide stability for policy-making; and constrain individuals’ behaviour (Hassenteufel, 2008: 119). Institutions mediate the impact of other factors such as ideas and interests, provide a ‘strategic context in which political actors make their choices’, and lead to ‘patterns’ in public policy-making (Immergut, 1992: 239).