Political institution

A durable rule or organization that structures political behavior and decision-making. Institutions shape who can exercise authority, how collective choices are made, and how those choices are enforced.

Formal institution: A political institution established through explicit rules, laws, or written procedures. Constitutions and statutes make some political constraints explicit and legally enforceable.
Separation of powers: A system that divides government authority among distinct branches to limit concentrated power. Dividing authority makes institutions constrain one another rather than rely only on individual restraint.
Electoral system: The rules that convert votes into elected offices or legislative seats. Electoral rules structure competition and determine how citizens' preferences gain representation.
Institutional change: A lasting alteration to the rules or organizations that structure political life. Political institutions persist, but crises and reform can reshape their rules and authority.
Informal institution: A durable political norm or practice enforced through social expectations rather than formal law. Custom and unwritten conventions can shape behavior even when official rules permit otherwise.
Checks and balances: Arrangements allowing branches or offices of government to limit one another's actions. These rules turn institutional divisions into practical constraints on political decisions.
Parliamentary system: A system of government in which the executive depends on the legislature's confidence. It links executive survival directly to institutional support in the legislature.
Path dependence: A process in which earlier choices constrain later options and make some trajectories increasingly likely. Once established, institutions can make their own continuation easier than alternatives.
Political organization: A group with members and coordinated goals that seeks to influence or exercise political power. Organizations are actors; institutions are the rules or durable structures that constrain them.
Veto player: An actor whose agreement is required to change the status quo through a political decision. Institutional rules determine how many actors can block policy change.

Linked from 9 pages