Traditional institutionalism took political institutions to be the key political actors in that it encouraged reflection upon politics to focus upon descriptions of institutional behaviour the analysis of formal or legal rules or a compararive or historical examination of institution structures. the idea of new institutionalism or neo-institutionalism has been increasingly fashionable since the 1980s. although it does not have a clear or developed meaning, it tends to be characterised by recognition of the importance of informal as well as formal institutions and looks beyond traditional institutionalism by accepting that formal-legal approaches to political understanding have only a limited value as such it reflects a shift in perspective away from government and towards governance. The principal forms which new institutionalism rational-choice institutionalism and sociological institutionalism