The Role of Temporality in Institutional Stabilization: A Process View

The emerging processual view of institutions has eroded the assumption of institutional stability in favor of a more dynamic view of institutions as ongoing processes, thereby foregrounding the question of institutional stabilization. Grounded in a process ontology, we conceptualize institutions as ever-becoming yet enduring social processes that are meaningful and carry prescriptions for actors’ legitimate participation. Building on this conceptualization, we develop a theoretical model of the role of temporality in institutional stabilization that explores how three dimensions of institutions (meaning, prescriptions, and participation) are each stabilized by a facet of temporality (temporal patterns, expectancies, and mechanisms), as well as factors affecting each of these links. Our arguments contribute to writing on institutions in relation to temporality, agency, and process.