The new institutionalism agrees that the institutions are important to explain the development of the political game. But when they try to explain how the institutions emerge and which the relationship with the agents is, the theories offer a diversified panorama difficult to embrace. The central argument in this article is that although ontological and epistemological differences between the different institutionalism variants, while the rationalist approaches are centered in the agent and the culturalists in the structure, is possible to surpass these differences and to use complementary approaches. Thus in this paper will be deepened in the actor-centered institutionalism, relational approach between the agent and the structure for the analysis of the public policies.