Updating Institution-Centred Political Theory

A recent position in the moralism/realism debate seeks to reorient political theory towards institutions as a counter to circumventing the fallible character of persons or prioritising ethical ideals (Waldron 2016). Although explicit on the functions of institutions and their influence on the justice of societies, the view is meagre on considerations about the nature of the social structures at the core of its argument. Yet any normative account of an institutional set-up X depends, at least in part, onX's make-up, efficacy, and aims. This paper begins to address this deficiency by making space for the idea that attention to how institutions act shows a) that they can hardly be distanced from persons or ends; b) that emphasising their causal efficacy reorients principles of institutional design; and c) that an action-centred account of institutions is the kind of view to have if one shares realist concerns. The upshot is twofold: (i) breathing new life into a neglected methodological alternative by flagging up the importance of studying the nature of social reality; (ii) persuade methods-oriented theorists (1st order) and design-engaged theorists (2nd order) to be more perceptive to causal analysis. Raising awareness that causal analysis is not the exclusive remit of political science or empirical social science more generally is a noteworthy payoff. Political theorists do not have to ‘grab existing methodological insights off the empiricists’ shelf’ (Ingham and Wiens 2024) but engage with political science by examining the underpinnings and technical challenges of a notion the latter domain assumes it tracks objective details of the world and warrants comparisons, measurements, or generalisations.