新制度主义是在对行为主义理论方法加以批判的基础上重新将制度引入政治学研究的.新制度主义中的诸流派在制度内涵、研究层面、研究角度和对本体论的认识等方面均存在差异.其中历史制度主义、理性选择制度主义和社会学制度主义三个主要流派从不同研究维度入手,揭示人类行为及其与制度间的互动关系,在对政治现象的解释上各有特色.这三个流派在发展中既有所不同,又显现出融合的趋势,使新制度主义学派的研究思路进一步拓宽,从而推动了政治研究的发展.
New institutionalism re-introduced institutional research into political research on the basis of criticizing the theory and methods of behaviorism. Various schools of new institutionalism are different in institutional connotation, research level, research perspectives and ontological understandings. Among these schools, historical institutionalism, ra tional choice institutionalism and sociological institutionalism reveal the interactive relationship between human behavior and institutions from different research perspectives, and display their features respectively. Even though the three schools are different in some aspects, they show the trend of integration as well, which broads the research train of thoughts of new institutionalism and pushes the progress of political study forward.