New opportunities for institutional analysis in public administration research

This Symposium features research that engages an institutional analysis approach, called the Institutional Grammar. Institutional analysis is the study of rules, norms, and strategies (e.g., public policies, organizational bylaws, social conventions) that govern social systems and organizations. The Institutional Grammar is an approach for comprehensively capturing the design of institutions; in particular, for describing the language of directives that comprise them. We posit that the engagement of the Institutional Grammar in public administration research can advance understanding of institutional dynamics of administrative settings and behaviors by lending conceptual and methodological clarity on the definition and measurement of institutions. In support of this position, we (i) provide a brief commentary on institutional analysis in public administration research; (ii) offer a brief overview of the Institutional Grammar; and (iii) highlight how methodological innovations presented in the Symposium articles advance the Institutional Grammar, and present opportunities for advancing institutional analysis in administrative settings.