Blackwell Reference Online

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There are many definitions of institution in sociology. Most of them are subsumed in the following: institutions are persistent social facts that regulate social behavior. “Persistent” indicates the role of institutions in stabilizing social life. “Social facts” capture the idea that institutions are the product of interaction and association and that they exist externally to individuals. “Regulate social behavior” represents that institutions sanction certain forms of social behavior and discourage others. According to this definition, most targets of sociological study qualify as institutions. At a minimum, organizations, the state, social norms, laws, cultural values, and socially constructed knowledge are, or are enlivened by, institutions, and each of these has been the focus of one or more variants of institutional argument. Indeed, Durkheim (1982 : 59) defined sociology as “the science of institutions, their genesis and their functioning.” There is really no question among sociologists that institutions matter for social life. Instead, sociological institutionalism is directed at questions of which institutions matter most, how they impact individual behavior, and how they emerge and change. There are a number of variants of institutionalism based on different emphases on these three issues. One way to organize these is along two dimensions that identify the social structures ... log in or subscribe to read full text