The concept and coverage of institution

The concept of institution is a rather unclear concept in the contemporary social science literature. In the “Introduction,” I give a survey of the different interpretations of the concept of institution. In the first part, I make a distinction between loose norms and tight norms, and I define the concept of institution in connection with the concept of tight norm. Institution is a system of tight norms and additional norms specifying the validity scope of the tight norms as well as the control of their actual realization. Furthermore, I introduce the concept of quasi-institution to denote the typical transitions between norm systems of a different nature. In connection with the shaping of institutions and the control, I introduce the concept of the coverage of institution. The coverage of institution is the ability to shape and change the norms composing the given institution and to control the actions falling into the validity scope of institutional norms. In the second part, institutions are classified according to their coverage and distinction is made between externally covered, one-sidedly covered, and internally covered institutions. Concerning quasi-institutions, I make a distinction between its two typical forms: the norm system with one-person coverage and institutional morals.