LIT 1 - Scott 3 Pillars of Institutions Flashcards
SCOTT: What are the three pillars that comprise institutions according to Scott?
The three pillars of institutions are regulative systems, normative systems, and cultural-cognitive systems.
SCOTT: Describe the regulative pillar of institutions.
The regulative pillar emphasises explicit rule-setting, monitoring, and sanctioning activities. It involves the capacity to establish rules, check for conformity, and use rewards or punishments to influence behaviour.
Think of traffic laws – they are explicit rules (rule-setting), police monitor for violations (monitoring), and fines are imposed for breaking them (sanctioning).
SCOTT: What is the basis of compliance for the regulative pillar?
The basis of compliance for the regulative pillar is expedience. Individuals follow rules because they seek rewards or want to avoid sanctions.
SCOTT: Describe the normative pillar of institutions.
The normative pillar focuses on normative rules that introduce a prescriptive, evaluative, and obligatory dimension to social life. It includes both values (conceptions of the preferred) and norms (how things should be done).
For instance, in a classroom, there might be a norm of raising your hand to speak – it’s a guideline on how to participate appropriately.
SCOTT: What is the basis of compliance for the normative pillar?
The basis of compliance for the normative pillar is social obligation. People conform because they feel it’s the right thing to do based on shared values and norms.
SCOTT: Describe the cultural-cognitive pillar of institutions.
The cultural-cognitive pillar highlights the shared conceptions that constitute the nature of social reality and create the frames through which meaning is made. It’s about what we take for granted as the way things are.
For example, the shared understanding of what a ‘classroom’ is and how one should behave within it.
SCOTT: What is the basis of compliance for the cultural-cognitive pillar?
The basis of compliance for the cultural-cognitive pillar is taken-for-grantedness and shared understanding. We follow routines because they are the accepted way of doing things.
SCOTT: What is legitimacy as defined in this chapter?
Legitimacy is a generalized perception or assumption that the actions of an entity are desirable, proper, or appropriate within some socially constructed system of norms, values, beliefs, and definitions. It’s about social acceptability and credibility.
SCOTT: How does the regulative pillar contribute to legitimacy?
The regulative pillar provides a basis for legitimacy through legal sanction. Organisations are seen as legitimate if they are established and operate according to relevant legal requirements.
SCOTT: How does the normative pillar contribute to legitimacy?
The normative pillar provides a basis for legitimacy through being morally governed. Legitimacy arises from conformity to shared values and norms, suggesting a moral base for assessment.
SCOTT: How does the cultural-cognitive pillar contribute to legitimacy?
The cultural-cognitive pillar provides a basis for legitimacy by being comprehensible, recognisable, and culturally supported. Legitimacy comes from aligning with common definitions of the situation, frames of reference, or recognisable roles.
SCOTT:What are regulative rules?
Regulative rules involve attempts to influence pre-existing activities. They are about governing behaviour within an established context.
SCOTT: What are constitutive rules?
Constitutive rules create the very possibility of certain activities. They define what counts as what within a specific context.
For example, the rules of a game define what a ‘goal’ or a ‘touchdown’ is.
SCOTT: What is meant by a logic of instrumentality?
A logic of instrumentality asks, ‘What choice is in my own best interests?’. It’s associated with the regulative pillar and assumes actors pursue their self-interests.
SCOTT: What is meant by a logic of appropriateness?
A logic of appropriateness asks, ‘Given this situation, and my role within it, what is the appropriate behavior for me to carry out?’. It is central to the normative pillar and emphasises social obligations and moral frameworks.
SCOTT: What is the underlying logic associated with the cultural-cognitive pillar?
The underlying logic associated with the cultural-cognitive pillar is orthodoxy, the perceived correctness and soundness of the ideas underlying action.
