What is an Institution?

Institutions are often seen as any formal or informal arrangement intended to facilitate large-scale (or society-wide) human cooperation.

Another way to think about the nature of an institution is a set of rules a group of people are expected to follow so to govern collective actions.

Institutions can be public or private, meaning centralized and monopolized governments can unilaterally form institutions, as well as people entering mutually consenting arrangements with one another.

Institutions are made up of individuals. No institution can possess rights it was not delegated by individuals.

What is the Role of Institutions?

The intended role of an institution is to make it easier for cooperation when, without the institution, any such cooperation would be difficult or would fail.

A central role of a public institution (that is an institution administered by the state, or centralized government) is the Rule of Law.

The State is an institution for public governance. It is a monopoly on governing society-wide interactions in select areas, such as how to conduct business, how to behave safely in a community and how people may interact with one another.

Live and Let Live’s position on institutions considers any individual or group of people (including a State) must not breach the Legal Principle. This is the standard for law.