This chapter examines the contribution that various ‘new institutionalisms’ have made to the study of European governance, with particular emphasis on the impact of institutions on policy-making and the overall development of governance, as well as the shaping of those institutions by political actors. After providing an overview of the origins of rational choice and historical institutionalism, the chapter considers applications of new institutionalisms to the study of the European Union, and more specifically legislative politics, executive politics, and judicial politics and legal integration. It then reviews historical institutionalist approaches thatt focus on temporal aspects of European integration, including phenomena such as feedback effects, lock-ins, and path-dependence. It concludes with a discussion of the new institutionalisms’ arguments regarding EU enlargement.
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