What is an Institution?

   For my class on the role of Institutions and Development, we are required to succinctly write a one paragraph response to the above question. Over the coming days, weeks, months, and years, I hope to utilize this working definition as a framework for analysis. Today's post is short, yet I feel important.

What is an Institution?
 Institutions are the rules of various political, economic, and social interactions which regulate, normalize, and render predictable human behavior. Human interactions shape them while simultaneously being shaped by them. Institutions are also resistive to change. Once formed, they persist. Their regulation may be formal or informal, codified or assumed. Membership or participation within the institution is either open or selective based upon the characteristics of the individual or entity that desires access. Access may be de jure (legally open to participation) or de facto (actually/practically open to real participation). Institutions also contain other sub-institutions, which impact the operational environment within the institution. As a body, they represent a stock of information, which has been conceptually developed into a form of institutional knowledge that is shared, even if unequally, amongst its members and component parts. Institutions are also amoral as their classification is entirely subjective. Membership, non-membership, and the actions of the institution impact and influence people and groupings in different ways.