institutionalshould
Institutionalshould is a neologism used in discussions of governance and institutional ethics to denote normative imperatives that institutions ought to pursue. The term fuses institutional theory with the obligation marker should, emphasizing prescriptions that transcend individual intention and apply across organizations and systems. Its origins are informal and scattered across policy debates and interdisciplinary governance literature from the late 2010s, with no single definitional authority.
Conceptually, institutionalshould refers to the suite of duties and aspirations that institutions are deemed obligated to
Applications appear in corporate governance to argue that firms should balance profit with social responsibility; in
Operationally, scholars debate how to measure institutionalshould in practice. Proposals include governance indicators, audits, and impact
Critics warn that the concept risks vagueness or normative imperialism, and that translating it into policy
See also: institutionalism, new institutionalism, governance, ethics, accountability.