State institutions are products of history and social contexts and have a layered character that defines their overall nature. Their position within power structures and entrenched hierarchies need to be accounted for in their biographical sketches for a better understanding of their nature and practices. However, as this book argues, the embeddedness of state or formal institutions does not take away from them their agency which influences politics and marks the boundaries of permissible conduct. They are hardly, as is sometimes assumed, mute and passive spectators of political currents and counter-currents. On the contrary, they are agents of changes themselves and embody operative procedures that structure behaviour and stabilise democratic functioning. Through their pursuits and actions, they shape political histories over the long term. Institutionalised pathways are compendium of standardised procedures and coherent rules that sculpt political acts. This operationalisation is repeated from case to case to follow a path-dependent course that is marked by its predictiveness.

Theoretically, the work of institutional structures in any collective endeavour is to make it functional, orderly and goal-oriented. In a democratic system, the multiplicity of demands and interests have the potential of derailing or complicating decision-making. This necessitates a smooth regulatory institutional structure to channel demands into effective and fulfilling outcomes. Institutional structures are expected to work on principles of rationality and be just and equal to all citizens. Modern political systems, where multiple functions need to be fulfilled, possess differentiated structures. Each function of a modern polity, whether of legislation, implementation or adjudication, is performed by a separate institution with its own responsibilities and modes. This is needed to avoid excessive centralisation and to bring in the required expertise and skill for each task at hand. It goes without saying that collective activity often involves tensions, clashes, confusions, disorder and delays. Institutions, signifying procedures and regulations, smoothen out these tensions and remove stumbling blocks to timely and democratic outcomes. These outcomes, whether to do with economic development, affordable healthcare, inexpensive housing, cleaner environment, mainstreaming gender in policy or conducting free and fair elections, provide the mainstay of an effective political order. Powers are divided between institutions that balance each other in performing tasks and taking decisions. Mutual checks and restrictions prevent them from crossing boundaries of permissible behaviour and encroaching on prohibited institutional territory.