Higher education in Asian countries and the role of international ...

3.4.4.1 Neo-institutionalism
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Neo-institutionalism was revived by John W. Meyer in 1977 and later on refined by Paul
DiMaggio, Walter Woody Powell and others. Neo-institutional theory maintains that institutions
are socially constructed programs or rule systems that operate as established, constraining
environments (Jepperson, 1991). Neo-institutionalism social theory focuses the approach
institutions interact, react and the way they affect society at local, regional and international
levels. This theory maintains that states are interdependent and there exist complex relations
among them. According to this theory IGOs are not accidental birth but a deliberate and
continuous endeavor of states to achieve shared interests in a complex international network of
different entities. Due to this reason IGOs are gaining popularity and importance, and their
population has seen a big increase during the last century.
3.4.4.2 Institutional liberalism
Institutional liberalism or liberal institutional theory propagates that institutions, at international
level, are a mean to interact, establish and enhance cooperation between/ among states. The
interest constellations, within the context of IGOs, are complex phenomenon because of
interdependent relations among states. As a result no state can achieve maximum gains in
isolation and all powerful states need to depend on other states to establish durable mutual
relations. Liberal institutional theory claims that IGOs foster congenial environment that help to
achieve constellation of objectives, i.e. human welfare and socio-economic development, without
conflicting with states‟ ideologies.
3.4.4.3 Neoliberal Institutionalism
Neoliberal institutionalism school of thought believes that international institutions play an
important role in coordinating international cooperation, and nation-states are concerned with
absolute gains and the prospects for cooperation rather relative gains to other nation-states.
According to this philosophy, states are interested in IGOs because of the possibility of higher
mutual gains. At international level various types of intergovernmental cooperation are possible
even in the absence of centralized system or in an anarchic world system and such cooperation
results in treaties, conventions and IGOs. Neoliberal institutionalists believe that repeated
interactions, among the states, push them to enter into a setup of cooperation in apply game
theory to find solutions to knotty problems while studying institutions. According to Keohane