Political institutions
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Question
What is a political institution?
Answer
An established, rule-based body through which politics operates — one that outlasts individual leaders.
Question
How is an institution more than an IGO?
Answer
An IGO is one kind of institution; 'institution' is broader — any established set of rules and bodies, from a constitution to a trade system.
Question
What do institutions provide?
Answer
Rules, continuity, a place to cooperate, and limits on power (checks and balances).
Question
Give examples of domestic institutions.
Answer
A parliament, the courts, a central bank and the civil service.
Question
Give examples of international institutions.
Answer
The UN, the EU and the WTO.
Question
What is a central bank?
Answer
The institution that runs a country's money and interest rates.
Question
Why is the EU a good example?
Answer
It binds members with shared rules, a market and a court, locking in cooperation but also limiting their sovereignty.
Question
Why do institutions matter (liberal view)?
Answer
They lock in cooperation, reduce uncertainty, provide continuity and constrain even powerful actors.
Question
What is the realist view of institutions?
Answer
They mainly reflect the power of strong states and are only as strong as the powers behind them.
Question
Why do institutions give continuity?
Answer
They outlast the leaders who pass through them, so politics keeps running as leaders change.
Question
What is liberal institutionalism?
Answer
The view that institutions shape behaviour and help states cooperate, not just reflect power.
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