Research On Institutional Effectiveness And Its Influencing Factors

A society is full of uncertainty.And institutions represent an attempt of human beings to change uncertainty into certainty.Throughout all ages,a lot of political scientists,jurists,economists,sociologists and public management scholars recognize the significance of institutions.In a complex and huge society,institutions play an irreplaceable role in practice.When scholars are discussing or studying institutions,institutional effectiveness is always implied in their discussions or studies.And they are also concerned about other related theoretical academic problems,such as how to achieve institutional effectiveness and how to promote the effective supply,implementation and transition of institutions.However,although scholars gradually realize the significance of the effectiveness of institutions,so far it has not been studied as an independent theoretical problem.In terms of the current political practice in China,in the context of building a country according to the rule of law,the problems relating to failure of institutions have become increasingly obvious whilst there is a great progress in respect of institutional construction.Accordingly,the existence of institutions is not sufficient.Therefore,it is necessary to explore how to develop good institutions and how to further their effective implementation.Based on the neo-institutionalism in political science and the possible problems relating to institutions in the realistic world,the thesis examines the definitions of,and the factors influencing,institutional effectiveness from the perspectives of politics and law,which can not only enhance the outlet,range and depth of the current study on institutions,but also provide useful guidance on the institutional practice.Chapter 1 examines the basic theory relating to institutions and effectiveness:it defines institutions in the context of rules,organizations,structures,etc.;discusses the significance of institutions from the perspectives of individuals,power and society;explains the concepts associated with institutions,such as institutional supply,institutional balance and institutional transition;analyzes the types of institutions,such as formal and informal institutions,endogenous and exogenous institutions,and macro,medium and micro institutions;clarifies the characteristics of institutions,such as diversification,convergence and progressiveness;and defines effectiveness as a unity of legitimacy and efficacy.Chapter 2 defines institutional effectiveness.It regards institutional effectiveness as a unity of internal and external effectiveness,which includes the two core factors,i.e.,legality and efficacy.On this basis,this chapter clarifies the definition of institutional legality in the context of rules,procedures,experience,validity,ideas,etc;and explains institutional efficacy as a unity of taking effect,solving problems,achieving aims and increasing efficiency by combining qualitative and quantitative analysis.After resolving the problems relating to the definitions of institutional effectiveness,the thesis tries to identify the main factors influencing institutional effectiveness and to further establish the basic theoretical framework respecting institutional effectiveness.In this context,the thesis focuses on the examination of the core factors influencing institutional effectiveness,including institutional norms,institutional operation,institutional environments and institutional stakeholders in Chapters 3-6.Chapter 3 evaluates institutional norms as a factor influencing institutional effectiveness.The aspects of institutional norms include forming factors of institutional norms,institutional norms themselves and the system of institutional norms.The forming factors,such as legality,scientificity and democracy,are associated with the level of institutional effectiveness.Institutional norms themselves involve their form and content.The form comprises clarity,completeness and openness,etc.,which influence institutional effectiveness;and the content is mainly made up of value selection,information,power,generality,feasibility,perspectiveness,unification and adaptability,etc.,which are directly related to institutional effectiveness.The completeness,unification and self-sufficiency of the system of institutional norms have a close relationship with the level of institutional effectiveness.Chapter 4 focuses on the exploration of institutional operation as a factor influencing institutional effectiveness.Institutional implementation,supervision,guarantee and feedback affect the effective operation of institutions.The subject,cost and unification and stability of institutional implementation;the completeness and reasonableness of institutional supervisory mechanisms;institutional guarantee in terms of organizational structures,resources and relief mechanisms;and the feedback mechanisms of institutions are all important factors influencing institutional effectiveness.Chapter 5 assesses institutional environments as a factor influencing institutional effectiveness.Institutional environments are very complex and also have a deeper influence on the effectiveness of institutions.Institutional environments form the basis of institutional implementation,and are also influenced by institutions.The interrelation between institutions and their institutional environments affects the level of institutional effectiveness.Among all components forming institutional environments,political,economic,social,cultural,psychological and natural environments have huge effects on institutional effectiveness.Chapter 6 explains the influence of institutional stakeholders on institutional effectiveness.Institutional stakeholders have a comparative strong initiative so as to have more direct and various effects on institutional effectiveness.Different types of institutional stakeholders may have quite distinguishing effects on the institutional effectiveness.The preferences,abilities,ideas and moral standards of institutional stakeholders are directly relevant to the level of institutional effectiveness.The main factors influencing institutional effectiveness are a multidimensional and complex body,in which different factors are closely related to,and affected by,each other.To enhance the level of institutional effectiveness,it needs to establish a reasonable relationship between institutional norms,institutional operation,institutional environments and institutional stakeholders.For example,the construction and effective implementation of institutions should be promoted so as to transform institutional environments and to encourage institutional stakeholders to carry out rational and legitimate activities.The improved institutional environments and transformed ideas and preferences of institutional stakeholders can support,and accumulate social capital for,the establishment and implementation of sound institutions.The promoted initiative of institutional stakeholders can encourage social elites and other classes to play a role in promoting institutional formulation and transition.And the improved abilities,transformed ideas and changed preferences of institutional stakeholders can benefit the healthy development of institutional environments.On this basis,the realization of institutional effectiveness should focus on solving the problems in practice,make both the government and civil society play active roles and be based on any formal and informal institutions,so as to ensure the unification of legality and legitimacy,the unification of normative and practical efficacy of institutions,the unification of the formulation of institutional norms,institutional norms themselves and the system of institutional norms,and the unification of institutional norms,operation,balance and transition,and to balance the development of institutions,institutional environments and institutional stakeholders.