The frames and prospects of institutional theory

Mineev M. V.

This article offers criticism on the established understanding of the institution and the process of institutionalization as a system designed to regulate human life exclusively by means of rationing, by creation of rules and sanctions for violation of them. Based on the theory of J. Habermas about the separation of “system” and “lifeworld”, it is shown that modern institutional theory omits the vast layer in the study of its methodology. Researchers do not pay enough attention to the orientation of the institute. There is no clear understanding of what levels of human existence are influenced by the created institution. The paper characterizes the three main levels of human existence–normative, symbolic and existential, and shows that the study of institutionalization is mainly aimed at the normative and partly at the symbolic levels, while the existential is rarely taken into account and its fundamental significance is not considered.

Keywords:institutionalism, institutional economics, system, lifeworld, institution, rules, levels of human being.