Scott 2001, Institutions and Organizations. 3 Pillars of institutions Flashcards
What is Scott 2001 about?
The Three Pillars of Institutions
This chapter defines institutions as comprising regulative, normative, and cultural-cognitive elements that provide stability and meaning to social life. It examines these elements as the building blocks of institutional structures and discusses how they guide behaviour and resist change.
The chapter looks at the regulative pillar, which involves rule-setting, monitoring, and sanctioning activities, where compliance is based on expedience.
It also examines the normative pillar, which focuses on values and norms that introduce obligation into social life, and where compliance is based on social obligation.
The chapter addresses the cultural-cognitive pillar, emphasizing shared conceptions that construct social reality, and where compliance is based on taken-for-grantedness.
Furthermore, it discusses legitimacy as related to these pillars, and the philosophical assumptions, such as ontological assumptions and rationality, that underlie the different elements.
How does Scott 2001 define institutions
Institutions comprise regulative, normative, and cultural-cognitive elements that, together with associated activities and resources, provide stability and meaning to social life. Institutions are multifaceted, durable social structures, relatively resistant to change
In simple terms, institutions are like the foundations of society. They’re made up of:
* Rules and laws.
* Social norms.
* Shared beliefs.
These elements, along with what people do and the resources they use, give stability and meaning to how we live together. Institutions are usually strong and don’t change easily.
Front: What are the three pillars of institutions? Scott 2001
Regulative, Normative, and Cultural-Cognitive systems.
These elements form a continuum from the conscious to the unconscious, from the legally enforced to the taken for granted.
What is the Regulative Pillar? Scott, 2001?
The regulative pillar of institutions emphasizes explicit regulatory processes like rule-setting, monitoring, and sanctioning activities. It involves establishing rules, ensuring people follow them, and using rewards or punishments to influence behaviour.
The regulative pillar relies on coercive mechanisms and an instrumental logic, where people follow rules to seek rewards or avoid penalties; therefore, the basis of compliance is expedience. Though regulation can imply repression, it can also empower social actors. According to North, effective rules and norms must be supported by sanctioning power.
What is the Normative Pillar Scott 2001?
The normative pillar centres on normative rules, which bring a prescriptive, evaluative, and obligatory dimension into social life. It encompasses both values, conceptions of the preferred or desirable, and norms, which specify how things should be done. Normative systems shape goals and define the right ways to pursue them.
Here’s a detailed look at the normative pillar:
- Focus: It emphasises how things should be done, defining legitimate ways to achieve valued ends.
- Components: It includes values (desirable standards) and norms (rules for achieving those standards).
- Logic: The normative pillar is associated with a logic of “appropriateness” rather than “instrumentality”. The question becomes what behaviour is appropriate for one’s role in a given situation, rather than what benefits oneself.
- Compliance: The basis of compliance is social obligation. Actors feel obliged to behave in certain ways due to their roles and the expectations of others.
- Mechanisms: The primary mechanism is normative, relying on social norms and expectations to guide behaviour.
- Affect: Feelings include shame or disgrace when norms are violated, and respect and honour when norms are upheld.
- Legitimacy: The normative pillar is morally governed, emphasising a deeper, moral base for assessing legitimacy.
- Empowerment: Normative systems empower and enable social action by conferring rights, privileges, licenses, and mandates alongside responsibilities and duties.
The normative pillar underlines the stabilising influence of social beliefs and norms that are both internalised and imposed by others.
What are the basis of compliance for the three pillars of institutions? Scott 2001
Regulative Pillar - Expedience Individuals conform to laws and rules because they seek rewards or wish to avoid sanction
Normative Pillar - Social obligation. The central imperative is, “Given this situation, and my role within it, what is the appropriate behavior for me to carry out?
Cultural-Cognitive Pillar - Taken-for-grantedness.
Routines are followed because they are taken for granted as “the way we do these things”. The logic is that of orthodoxy
What is the Cultural-Cognitive Pillar? Scott 2001
The cultural-cognitive pillar centres on the shared conceptions that constitute the nature of social reality and create the frames through which meaning is made. It highlights the cognitive dimensions of human existence, where internalised symbolic representations mediate between external stimuli and individual responses. This pillar focuses on how meanings arise in interaction and are maintained and transformed as they are used to make sense of happenings.
*Focus: It stresses the importance of a socially mediated construction of a common framework of meanings
.
*Compliance: Compliance occurs because other types of behaviour are inconceivable; routines are followed because they are taken for granted as “the way we do these things”
. Thus, the basis of compliance is taken-for-grantedness
.
*Logic of Orthodoxy: The prevailing logic used to justify conformity is that of orthodoxy, reflecting the perceived correctness and soundness of the ideas underlying action
.
*Mechanisms: The mechanism is mimetic
.
*Social Roles: Social roles are understood through templates for particular actor types and action scripts
.
*Affect: The affective dimension includes positive feelings of certitude and confidence and negative feelings of confusion or disorientation
.
*Legitimacy: Legitimacy comes from conforming to a common definition of the situation, frame of reference, or a recognisable role or structural template. Adopting an orthodox structure or identity to relate to a specific situation seeks the legitimacy derived from cognitive consistency
.
*Construction of Social Reality: Symbolic processes construct social reality by defining the nature and properties of social actors and actions
. Internal interpretive processes are shaped by external cultural frameworks
.
*Levels of Operation: Cultural systems operate at multiple levels, from defining local situations to shaping beliefs and structuring organization fields, influencing political and economic systems at national and transnational levels
.
*Embeddedness: The cultural-cognitive elements of institutions are more embedded cultural forms requiring less maintenance, ritual reinforcement, and symbolic elaboration than more “living” realms of culture
.
How does Scott 2001 define legitimacy?
A generalised 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
What are regulative rules? Scott 2001?
These rules attempt to influence activities that already exist. They focus on how to control or change existing behaviours through sanctions and incentives
Rules that involve attempts to influence antecedently existing activities
What are constitutive rules? Scott 2001
These rules create the very possibility of certain activities. They define how a scene is set and what it all means. They construct social reality by defining the nature and properties of social actors and actions. An example would be how a dollar bill counts as legal currency.
Rules that create the very possibility of certain activities. They define how the scene is set and what it all means
Define reasonable action. Scott 2001
Reasonable Action: This concept broadens the idea of rational action. It allows that people “prefer more to less of all things considered,” but also considers “other kinds of reasonable action in certain situations,” including following rules. Reasonable action is grounded in social contexts, which specify valued ends and appropriate means, drawing on social rules and guidelines for behaviour.
For example, an individual might donate to a charity even if it doesn’t directly benefit them financially. This action may not seem entirely rational from a purely self-interested perspective. However, it is reasonable because it aligns with social values of generosity and helping others
Encompasses a broadened neoclassical conception of rational action that allows actors to “prefer more to less [of] all things considered,” but also that allows for “other kinds of reasonable action in certain situations” including rule-following behaviour. Social action is always grounded in social contexts that specify valued ends and appropriate means; action acquires its very reasonableness from taking into account these social rules and guidelines for behaviour
