Dominant Social Paradigm & Institutions

Question 1

What is Dominant Social Paradigm?

Answer 1

Definition: The most widely held set of beliefs, values and ideals that guide thinking about society, governance, and the role of individuals.
Organizes the way people perceive and interpret the functioning
of the world around them.
The dominant social paradigm manifest itself in the totality of our institutions.
Institutions are not defined as organizations per se, but more
broadly as a set of rules and norms that govern the behaviour of
individuals and organizations in the system.

Question 2

What is Dominant Social Paradigm of Western Societies?

Answer 2

Democracy, acceptance of regulated capitalism, individualism,
economic growth, the notion of progress, faith in science and
technology, domination towards the environment

Question 3

Institution VS Organizations

Answer 3

Institution: The accepted rules, norms and
strategies adopted by individuals
operating within or across
organizational settings. Canada’s Constitution and political
system set up under its term: Federalism; Legislative process; Rights and responsibilities of citizens.
Organization: An organized entity/body of
people with a particular purpose. Parliament of CanadaPeople
- Senate and House of Commons- Personnel (e.g., senators, members of parliament, supporting staff, etc.)Purpose
- Govern Canada by making laws, setting taxes and authorizing spending.
We often say that institutions are the rules of game and organizations are the players in these instituations.

Question 4

Institutions Purposes and Roles?

Answer 4

Institutions are sets of expectations or norms that pattern human behaviour; structure social order (authority). “Institutions are the rules of the game in a society or,
more formally, the humanly devised constraints that
shape human interactions.”
Key characteristics: Can be formal and/or informal. Structure policies and influence behaviour; Are not static, they change often; Are often contested and challenged.

Question 5

Example of written institutions

Answer 5

An example of written institutions is Canada’s Constitution, federal and provincial governments are granted jurisdiction over natural resources and the environment.

Institutional and Financial Arrangements for Intern.Environ.Cooperation: Established in 1972 after the UN Conference on
Human Environment (Stockholm Conference) * Foundation for UNEP, a global environ. authority that
has overall responsibility for environmental programs
among United Nations agencies
* Has aided guidelines and treaties on issues such as
international trade of potentially harmful chemicals,
transboundary air pollution, and contamination of
international waterways. * Together with the WMO, the UNEP established the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)

Question 6

Example of Informal/Unwritten Institutions

Answer 6

Informal rules among a group of resource users ; culturally appropriate behaviour; Informal rules among a group of resource users; culturally appropriate behaviour.

Question 7

Take home message, what do we understand by this chapter.

Answer 7

The dominant social paradigm represents most widely held set of
beliefs, values and ideals that guide a society. * Institutions are the rules of the game and organizations are the
players in these institutions
* Institutions influence behavior through policy
* There is the full range from written/formal rules (e.g., constitution) to unwritten/informal rules (e.g., codes of conduct, norms of
behavior) * Are not static, they change often
* Are often contested and challenged
* A paradigm shift occurs when a society changes its institutions