VILLA STEINER ENRICHMENT PROGRAM | SEMINAR 5
Institutions, Law, and Society
Order and responsibility in a shared world
This one-week seminar examines how legal frameworks, governance structures, and institutional norms shape social order—and what responsibility means when acting within systems that sustain society.
Dates: 24–30 January 2027 · Vienna, Austria
Format: Small group · Intensive study · Integrated action learning
Fee: €1,200 · Rolling admissions until December 15
For those who seek to understand how social order is sustained—and where it fails.
Institutions make cooperation possible across time, difference, and conflict. Law, governance, and shared norms provide continuity beyond individual intentions. Yet institutions remain fragile: as Stefan Zweig observed in The World of Yesterday, social order erodes when responsibility weakens and institutional authority loses credibility.
This seminar approaches institutions not as abstract systems, but as human achievements shaped by legal frameworks, cultural traditions, and moral expectations. Participants examine how law structures freedom, how authority gains or loses legitimacy, and how responsibility operates within political, legal, and organizational roles.
The seminar invites reflection on what it means to act responsibly within institutions that shape a shared world—especially under conditions of pluralism, change, and contested authority.
What Participants Gain
- A deeper understanding of institutions as human and normative orders — shaped by law, culture, and responsibility.
- Clearer judgment about authority, legitimacy, and governance — beyond formal rules or procedural compliance.
- Insight into law as a foundation of civic order—
especially in pluralistic and contested societies. - A small learning community
— one that often leads to lasting personal friendships.
What You'll Study
Four interconnected strands examining institutions, law, and responsibility.
20 hours academic core.
6 HOURS
Principles and Practice of Public Policy
Public institutions shape trust, accountability, and civic life. This strand explores how policy frameworks are formed, implemented, and evaluated, and how individuals exercise responsibility within public systems. Using concrete examples, it examines leadership, institutional integrity, and the pursuit of the common good.
OUTCOME
Clearer understanding of public policy as an institutional and moral practice.
6 HOURS
Europe’s Institutional Legacy in a Global Context
Europe’s legal and political traditions—rule of law, human rights, multilateral cooperation—are interpreted differently across global contexts. This strand examines how these principles are perceived beyond Europe, how they interact with post-colonial dynamics, and what relevance they retain in a changing geopolitical landscape.
OUTCOME
Perspective on Europe’s institutional traditions and their global reception and limits.
4 HOURS
Law, Order, and Civic Life
Law provides the structure for democratic order and social stability. This strand examines its historical development, normative foundations, and contemporary challenges—from polarization to technological change. Participants explore how legal systems balance freedom, authority, and competing claims.
OUTCOME
Greater clarity about law as a foundation of civic order and legitimacy.
4 HOURS
Norms, Institutions, and Moral Responsibility
Institutions function as normative orders sustained by judgment, restraint, and responsibility. This strand examines how moral reasoning operates within legal, political, and organizational structures, and what it means to act responsibly within institutional roles.
OUTCOME
Insight into responsibility as a condition for institutional integrity.
Michelle Scobie
Professor of International Relations, West Indies
Tilman Repgen
Professor of Law of at the University of Hamburg
Luis Franceschi
Former Assistant Secretary-General of the Commonwealth
Action Learning
Learning in this seminar does not stop at conceptual understanding.
Alongside academic sessions, Action Learning connects reflection with lived experience.
Action Learning is integrated into each seminar week (12 hours). It connects the academic core with real questions from participants’ own context—through guided reflection, dialogue, and shared examination of experience.
SEMINAR Context & Framework
FAQs
Answers to common questions about the seminar.
NEXT STEPS
Apply for Institutions, Law, and Society
Applications close December 15, 2026. Rolling admissions—early application recommended.
