ABSTRACT
There is no higher authority, courts or police in relations among states, but still they are framed by norms and institutions. Why do states create and often obey rules of the game which limit their freedom to do what they want?
Institutionalism seeks to explain why states opt to lay out rules of the game. There are rational motives in limiting one’s own options in exchange for more predictability and trust. From such a perspective international politics no longer looks absolutely anarchical.
International regimes, supranational institutions and normative effects of hegemony are in the focus of this chapter. Regimes are explained and classified. Supranational institutions are examined through the lenses of integration theories, in particular functionalism and neofunctionalism. Incentives of hegemons to install stability through generating and expanding norms are examined in depth.
Institutions matter and often help the weak ones to deter the strong ones, while also enhancing opportunities of the string ones to shape agendas and increase structural power.
