In  Gramsci''s  theory  of  hegemony,  the hegemony  is  a  concept  that  may  explain  at least two things:  firstly,  how the apparatus of the state or a political society can lead strongly the  various  strata  of  society  to  accept  the status  quo,  through  legal  institutions,  the police,  soldiers  and  prisoners,  secondly, how and where  the  political  society,  as  well  as  civil society,  with  all  its  institutions  at  their disposal,  ranging  from  educational institutions,  religions,  and  family  up  to  the production  of  meaning  and  value  of  the product,  directing and confirming agreement forms ''spontaneously'' various strata of society with the status quo.

In the matters of cultural practices, Gramsci has not only highlighted the cultural aspects of consumption or reception only, but also investigated the  importance  of  the  cultural production  or  how  they  are  produced. Gramsci’s analysis of hegemonic cultural production explained that the organization provides material of  hegemonic  structures while  ensuring  a  large  space  for  the development  of popular culture.

Neo-Gramscian theorists agree that a country with a powerful culture and ideology will last much longer as a hegemon. Nye states, ‘the universality of a country’s culture and its ability to establish a set of favourable rules and institutions that govern areas of international activity are critical sources of power’. This argument is proven by the fact that the ideological promotion of American liberalism, based on individualism and free trade, which is also spread by international political economic institutions such as the WTO and the UN, assured American supremacy through the 1970s and was reconstructed in the 1980s. Nye agrees with this by claiming that the values of democracy, personal freedom and upward mobility, which are all  expressed in US culture, education and foreign policy, have benefited the American status as a global hegemon.

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Besides cultural leadership and material capabilities, institutions can be considered another essential part of the neo-Gramscian perspective on hegemony.  There is a close cooperation between powerful elites and international economic and political institutions in order to maintain hegemony. The global governance exercised through political conditionality and international pressure allows for the expansion of global capitalism.

Hegemons create institutions to legitimize their power in the eyes of others. In the case of the United States, the creation of international economic organizations such as the World Trade Organization and the International Monetary Fund has helped to establish international rules that are consistent with the liberal and democratic structures of American capitalism.

The World Bank both reflects and constructs the current neoliberal hegemony. As long as the institution’s rules are accepted by its member states, the hegemon ‘will encounter less resistance to its wishes’. International institutions thus serve to ‘legitimate rules, engage social forces in developing countries in an order, and assimilate ideas’. However, neoliberal principles can also be enforced through coercive policies, such as the World Bank’s Structural Adjustment Programmes which give out loans only to developing countries that agree to privatize and liberalize their national economies. International institutions do therefore not only adopt consensus-based strategies, but may also retain to coercion, ‘particularly in defending the hegemonic principles of the Washington Consensus’.