There remains a paucity of information on the current institutional design and structure of most governance instruments. Efforts under this theme encompass institutional analyses that are comparative/non-comparative and/or assess single/meta case studies that explore the following broad institutional performance issues: coding and comparing the structure and configurations of a variety of institutions to determine which institutional characteristics may foster or hinder the interplay among rules-in-form and rules-in-use, including exploring the relationship among institutional design, implementation/operationalization, conformance, and desired outcomes of key environmental and social policies, among other information.
Research under this theme also explores institutional performance within institutions over time to better understand how social and environmental change may motivate institutional change and performance.
One of the goals of researchers exploring this theme is the development of a library of open access coded policies and legislation and their translation into policy briefs that are useful to researchers and practitioners interested in policy performance, implementation, and design.