The article "Informal Institutions and Comparative Politics: A Research Agenda" by Gretchen Helmke and Steven Levitsky aims to integrate the study of informal institutions into the mainstream of comparative politics research. The authors argue that while formal rules have been the primary focus of comparative political studies, informal institutions—such as bureaucratic norms, legislative norms, clientelism, and patrimonialism—also play a significant role in shaping political outcomes. They develop a framework to understand informal institutions and their interactions with formal institutions, proposing four patterns: complementary, accommodating, competing, and substitutive. The article explores the emergence and change of informal institutions, highlighting the need to identify the actors, interests, and mechanisms behind their creation and evolution. It also discusses the challenges of researching informal institutions, including issues of identification, measurement, and comparison. The authors emphasize the importance of understanding how informal institutions affect political behavior and the need for more rigorous conceptualization and theorization in this area.The article "Informal Institutions and Comparative Politics: A Research Agenda" by Gretchen Helmke and Steven Levitsky aims to integrate the study of informal institutions into the mainstream of comparative politics research. The authors argue that while formal rules have been the primary focus of comparative political studies, informal institutions—such as bureaucratic norms, legislative norms, clientelism, and patrimonialism—also play a significant role in shaping political outcomes. They develop a framework to understand informal institutions and their interactions with formal institutions, proposing four patterns: complementary, accommodating, competing, and substitutive. The article explores the emergence and change of informal institutions, highlighting the need to identify the actors, interests, and mechanisms behind their creation and evolution. It also discusses the challenges of researching informal institutions, including issues of identification, measurement, and comparison. The authors emphasize the importance of understanding how informal institutions affect political behavior and the need for more rigorous conceptualization and theorization in this area.